In the last-minute Christmas gift rush, JOHN HARRIS turned to a pack of Millennials for advice about the perfect tech toy

Over Christmas, I’ve watched my Kiwi niece Talia, nephews Luc and Zane and my daughter Eden take turns standing in front of my mum’s TV set, gesturing wildly.

Although no TV shows are beaming out of Nanna’s antique goggle box, the kids crouch, leap and swipe in response to images that appear on the small screen.

While anyone walking into the lounge might feel concerned about the physical or mental wellbeing of these youngsters, it is apparently fairly typical behaviour for anyone who uses the Wii gaming console.

Talia, Luc and Zane, who received their Wii as a Christmas gift, are brushing up their skills with the Wii Sports and Big Beach Sports games that came bundled with the compact console, which costs about $400.

The Wii - pronounced “wee” or whee! if you’re in a gleeful mood - is Nintendo’s answer to the Sony Playstation3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

But, according to Talia, who has played the PS3 and Xbox, the Wii is much better because it is much more interactive.

“It keeps you fit,” enthuses Luc, which is an admirable achievement when you’re stuck in the lounge on a wet New Zealand summer’s day.

As well as the console that plugs into the TV, the Wii comes with a cordless hand-held controller, called a Nunchuk, that manipulates an on-screen action, such as hitting a tennis ball, a baseball, a golf ball or even boxing.

This high intensity interactivity is highly engaging, to the extent that eight-year-old Zane gave my mum’s china cabinet a good clip as he was trying to knock out his rival. Instead he almost knocked out mum’s best crystal glasses.

Not only does the Wii exercise their bodies, but even their creative muscles get a workout using a feature called Mii (pronounced me) Creator.

As with the online world Second Life, Mii Creator lets you design on-screen characters, including colour of hair, eyes, body shape, noses and even facial fuzz.

“The cool part of this is that you get to design do-it-yourself characters,” says Luc.

“Also, you can use memory cards from a digital camera to insert your own photographs into the gaming world you’re playing in,” adds Talia.

“This makes it much more personal, which is the whole point of the Wii. It really takes you into the game.”

The Wii console even gives players feedback about their fitness levels.

“My fitness age is 54,” admits Talia, aged 13.

“And I’m 53,” adds Luc, 12.

Talia believes the Wii holds more value than the typical one-week wonder Christmas present.

“As well as getting new games, you can buy extra remotes, so you can have as many as four people playing at once. That means you don’t have any problems with people hogging the console.

“You can also get new console skins and Nunchuk covers to personalise it even more.”

So if you’re planning a birthday gift for your kids, Talia, Luc and Zane give it a six-thumbs-up rating.

John Harris is managing director of Impress Media Australia. You can view his website at www.johnharris.net.au .

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