First of all, you may notice during this report there are no pictures, I was planning to take some but my mom took her digital camera with her on holiday so I was left without a camera. I planned to buy a disposable one from the Big W but when I got there I didn't see a reason. The event looked okay but it seemed a bit disjointed and there was just too much of a stark contrast between the fact they tried to make it seem like a beach when they were on a car park. The London Zoo one will probably look more natural though.

At the start of the day we queued just outside the main truck which held in it a lot of GameCube and Game Boy Advance SP units. We could see the red jeep parked outside, with a sticker promoting the tour. By the side of the truck was all the other stuff, such as the Pikmin slingshot game (with Pikmin toys as the balls), the Mario Surf Run, which was basically a game where you had to run but had a rope pulling you back, the Donkey Kong banana throw and a little hut in the centre. The hut was kitted out with five flat screen televisions and GameCubes, two on one side and three on the other. The other two sides were dedicated to the free milkshake samples that were given away, "You need to keep your energy up if you're playing those drums."

The event itself started at a slightly delayed 11am. As it was the first day we presume it was just because they had never done it before. When we were finally let into the truck we found it to get very crowded very quickly. There were screens either side, so when people were playing you had to squeeze through. All of the games are listed below.

• Donkey Konga
• Shrek 2 (GameCube & GBA)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (GameCube & GBA)
• Animal Crossing
• Pokémon Fire Red and Leaf Green
• Pikmin 2
• WarioWare Inc: Mega Party Games (that's what the display said, but at the bottom of the screen it said "Game Boy Advance")
• Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
• Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
• The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
• Mario Golf: Advance Tour (GBA)
• Sonic Advance 3 (GBA)
• Super Mario Advance 4 (GBA)
• Spyro Fusion (GBA)
• Crash Fusion (GBA)
• Pac-Man NES Classic (GBA)
• Mario Bros. NES Classic (GBA)
• Donkey Kong Country 2 (GBA)
• Mario vs. Donkey Kong (GBA)

I managed to play on a lot of these but you know what kids are like, didn't manage to play Pikmin 2 or Mario Golf: Advance Tour and I didn't play Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban out of choice. It is safe to say Donkey Konga was the most enjoyable and most painful game there, I can imagine it being a really fun game with friends, especially if some alcohol is involved (providing you're of legal age of course). With Donkey Konga only a few songs were unlocked however, which I suppose stopped people from hogging the bongos saying they want to play all songs.

The event itself was okay, as I said it looked a bit out of place in a car park but there is not much they could do to stop that. The people there did not seem to be employees of Nintendo but rather just a company who was hired and told a bit about the games and given a test run of them. I figured this out when one guy asked a kid playing Wario Ware if he liked it, the kid responded "Yeah, I really like it. I can't wait until the DS version is out." To which the guy responded, "You got the DS version eh? Any good?"

One thing I must moan about, games such as Mario Kart: Double Dash!! would have been made a lot more fun to play if more then one controller was included. While some people may have gone by themselves I'm sure they wouldn't mind if someone else asked to play along. Multiplayer is one of Nintendo's strong points but they just didn't get it right here.

Everyone was entitled to enter the jeep competition but as ninety percent of the people attending were under fifteen I don't know why (and a warning, if you are under sixteen and wishing to enter you need a parent's signature) it was so open. The Donkey Konga competition however required you to play "Alright" by Supergrass (another warning, this will be in your head all day) on "Monkey" mode, which is just the easiest. When I left the highest score was 35,000 and as I got a measly 28,000 I didn't bother entering. As this was the first day they messed up a bit but I noticed towards the end they started to give out forms which you had to fill in to enter the Donkey Konga competition. The form required you to play all the other events, such as Mario Surf Run, which seems a bit forceful. As they initially messed up we just gave our scores to one of the employees.

The last thing I must comment about is after about an hour Donkey Kong (meaning a guy dressed as Donkey Kong) came along in a jeep and was guided around the tour. I get the feeling the guy in the suit couldn't see too well, he did wave at the Big W first of all. The costume seemed a bit used as well, one of the arms was falling off. However Donkey Kong seemed to enjoy himself though when he finished and sat in the jeep with one of the ladies handing out milkshakes.

Overall it was a nice few hours, I was preparing for a whole day of fun but it kind of wore thin, the waiting and the constant kids annoyed me a bit and it just seemed lacklustre a bit but that may be because I was expecting a lot more. It was good for about two hours and I manage to play on most games. The team were helpful and nice, if not a bit trigger happy with the air horn, and the Crusha milkshakes (which had special Nintendo-themed names; Mario Strawberry, Wario Chocolate and Donkey Kong Banana) were alright considering they are free. I recommend if you can make it go but don't expect to spend all day there, but do expect lots of kids hogging the games.