Gail On Tech

The great Christmas game play-off

OK, all that Christmas food and grog has been polished off, the last of the cracker crumbs have been vacuumed up, the Christmas wrapping and packaging has been assigned to the wheelie bins, and I’m back on deck. And for the foodies out there, a  my Royal Family Christmas Pudding and my panforte were a triumph!

For years, the Lipscombe Christmas has largely centred on eating lots of food and everyone dozing off for a few hours, only to awaken from the coma to begin again.

However, the last couple of years have seen a transition to a much more active Christmas following the acquisition of an Xbox 36o, a Nintendo Wii and a Nintendo DS — not to mention the addition of three toddlers to the family in the last couple of years, which means even a Nana nap is now out of the question.

Last Christmas, we only had the Xbox, and Guitar Hero III reigned supreme. As a result, I hope never to hear Pat Benatar’s ‘Hit me with your best shot’ ever again! But this year, while Guitar Hero got a fair workout, the Wii was definitely the crowd favourite.

OK, so what games were the most popular? The new Just Dance program for the Wii definiitely had the edge with pretty much everyone up on their feet, even the two year old, but perenneial favourite Wii Sports made a late surge  — we knew it was game on when my 80-year-old dad got the cardigan off for the 10-pin bowling championship.

Perhaps the worst gaming move was to bring out the Wii Fit after Christmas dinner. While everyone certainly in need of a bit of exercise, the BMI assessments were a bit confronting and a few wines played havoc with players’ balance!

For those who couldn’t wrest the controls off the rock gods and dance divas, the DS favourites were Scribblenauts and The Sims 2.

So, do games consoles get an airing at your place at family get-togethers? I’d love to know what ones get the rels off the couch at your house.

PS. Photos were taken, but in the interest of family harmony, I resisted the urge to post them here.