The Wii has made a really big difference to gaming, making it more participative and active, and making it seem more of a group or family activity, and the Wii remote is the gadget that really makes it all possible. Although it looks like a normal console controller, although in a weird shape, it´s actually ingenious. It has a motion sensor, which means that when you move the remote in a certain way, that action is replicated on screen in the game you´re playing. For example, when you´re playing tennis in Wii Sports, you use the remote like it´s a racket and hit the ball as it comes at you on the screen. It feels really realistic, and it has been improved even further by the addition of the Wii Motionplus, which is a small extension to the remote which makes the detection of your movements even more accurate, so it can sense even the slightest move you make.

The remote has a number of buttons on it too, which means that it can be used to select options, or make choices etc. When you´re browsing menus and so on, it acts a bit like a mouse, so you get an arrow on screen, and you point to move this around and press the button to click. There´s a button on the back as well, like a trigger, and you can also use these to play games in various ways. All in all, it takes a while to get used to, but not long, and soon it feels very natural.

The Wii Remote is well-made, and I´ve had no damage done to mine. It has a strap attached, and you loop this around your wrist to stop you throwing it accidentally - which is good for your remote and other people!

The only thing I don´t like about the controller (actually, there are two things ...) is that it´s difficult to play more traditional games, as although you can hold the controller sideways and use the D-pad, it´s not very comfortable to hold, as it´s just a rectangular shape, with no curves or recesses for your fingers. There is a separate controller with a more traditional design, but you already have to buy enough additional things for the Wii, I don´t want to spend a lot of money on another thing I´ll only use for one or two games. The second thing is the battery life - this eats batteries at an incredibly fast rate, and you need to change them often, which is fiddly.

Overall, though, this is a great design that opens up a whole new type of gaming, and is enormous fun, so I would definitely recommend it.