'Playing is believing' ran the motto. Surely it's something that was cooked up in the steamy minds of Nintendo's marketing rooms, but its validity cannot be contested. The Wii subverts normal expectations of console gaming by placing the control interface, the experience of playing itself, in the forefront of its appeal. Its philosophy is ill-translated by electronic media: to get people to understand the Wii, Nintendo need to start putting controllers in people's hands. That's that the curiously-named 'Wii Move You' tour aims to do. It kicked off this weekend in Dublin, and myself, Features Editor Mark Cullinane and Media Director, and perennial podcast sidekick, Franklin Hughes went down for a few days. It was an illuminating experience.

The Wii is going to have to do two things to be successful: satisfy the normal gamer, or at least a great percentage of them, and pull in those non-gamers Nintendo likes to talk about. The Nintendo stand at the excruciatingly named Toys 4 Big Boys event in the RDS hall allowed us to gauge both: it was NE's three reporters' first experience with the Wii and, more importantly, it was a chance to see the public reaction to it.

Our time there did not begin well. Thursday night attendance was limited to the press, and so-called VIPs, and upon entrance the podcast's dynamite duo was shocked to discover that Nintendo didn't have their Wiis set up for play. Delays in getting the units in, apparently. Justified or not, it did not inspire confidence in Nintendo's ability to reengage with the mainstream, and we turned to chocolate waffles and alcohol to dull the disappointment. All grumbles were forgotten in the next morning's rush to the stand though, and beams broke through cloudy skies upon getting the Wiimote and nunchuk in our hands. For the next two days we were surgically attached to Nintendo's stand, and came away believing that Nintendo could indeed pull their revolution off.

The Nintendo booth

Most of the core launch titles were present for judgement: on Friday we played Twilight Princess, Wario Ware: Smooth Moves, Wii Sports and Wii Play. Word from the Nintendo reps was that Red Steel would be introduced the next day, but a subsequent technical fault denied us a chance to slice with katanas: thankfully Rayman: Raving Rabbits and ExciteTruck appeared in compensation. So how did they stack up?

Generalisations permitted, the Zelda demo was probably the busiest demo in the roadshow, a fact that we should be more thankful for then we originally apparent. It meant that most of the people playing were more enthusiast than casual � the common man wouldn't be willing to wait thirty minutes for a turn, watching the same level repeated � and Zelda is a game casuals should avoid. Honestly. The average man's anticipation for the console would be torn to shreds if the Zelda demo was the first software he sampled. The first ten minutes of playing the demo are the antithesis of what a Wii game should be like: it's clumsy, frustrating and abhorrently artificial. It's like trying to do algebra with a pineapple. More than anything, it hinders the gameplay, and makes you pine for the Gamecube controller.

But this is not the most suitable venue for Zelda: it's a game played over tens of hours, presumably with a learning curve that doesn't force you to comprehend archery, boomeranging, swordfighting simultaneously (it was the deep end, and we were drowning). It will be easier in our living rooms, with the game easing us in in degrees.

Controls aside, the game is obviously promising. The visuals are relatively impressive (motion is much better than screenshots) and the build looked solid. A fishing mini-game was available � thankfully, not everyone chose the dungeon � and while a little unwieldy, it should be an enjoyable diversion to the main quest. The problem Zelda has is that its inclusion is necessary to assure the hardcores that the Wii can 'do' the grand game, as well as the party game. But its presence in a space like this demonstrates ostensibly the inadequacies of the new controller.

Editor-in-Chief Conor Smyth gets his hands on a Wiimote

In opposition stands Wii Sports. Intentional or not, the delay of Mario until 2007 has placed Wii Sports as the flagship title, a position that is well-deserved. Smooth Moves offered my first Wii playtime, but it was Wii Tennis that triggered the mythical moment of recognition, when the Wii 'clicked' for me. Serving the ball, I flicked up the Wiimote, and my mind's eye tracked the invisible ball as it rose above me, faltered, and dropped to connect with my balanced follow through swing. Practically, a few jiggles is all one really needs to do, but the Wii invites self-deception in the player. I 'stepped out'.

Wii Sports is far from perfect (Bowling and Baseball are tedious), but something like Wii Tennis more than validates its bundled-in status. The best demo present, in my opinion, it demonstrated the communal, active, dynamic spirit of the console. It is, in a manner of speaking, the non-gamer's Zelda. The promoters, recognising this, give it the greatest time in the game, and the crowds loved it. Seeing four random members of the public leaping and swinging, and onlookers clapping and laughing, is a million miles away from the solitary adolescent hitting buttons and killing aliens. Scenes like these inspire hope in Nintendo's mission to broaden gaming's appeal.

The other titles were a more mixed affair. Smooth Moves is great for the same reasons that previous Wario Wares were great, with a new control slant. Its warped design, brash sense of humour, restless energy and endearing simplicity continue to delight, and the motion sensitivity takes ideas of Touched! to their logical endpoint. Use the Wiimotes to hammer nails, balance objects, exercise with dumbbells, and a whole host of other actions. Its absence on Western launch lists is more discouraging when you realise how great and intuitive an introduction to the console it is.

This absence is partly filled with Rayman though, a surprisingly similar title. Again, it's a collection of mini-games, that struck us because of its wonderful style and accessible range of Wii actions. It has more depth than WarioWare though: first-person shooting, PilotWings-esque skydiving and even cow-swinging all feature. What impressed most was both the variety of game styles available, and their excellent responsiveness to our movements. The on-rails shooting section, in which you assault rabbits with plungers, absolutely nails Wiimote sensitivity, and it bodes well for the console's proper shooters. We couldn't also help but notice the interest from members of the public, and after tentative approaches and the obligatory head shaking, they were indeed having a great time madly shaking and swinging the controller. For us, the prospect of UbiSoft developing the ideas into a coherent, fuller game in the future is an exciting one.

Franklin grabs some Wii

Wii Play wasn't as successful. The hunting mini-game was very fun, and very accessible to the public, and the billiards game, while presenting some problems with the Wiimote's recognition, impressed with its physics and responsiveness when it did function well. Most of the other mini-games were rightfully ignored � the 'find the Wii' game is a downright non-entity. ExciteTruck was bland but fun, though worth its presence just to see people's amazement at being able to drive the vehicles with the Wiimote. It was a reminder of the extraordinary nature of the new control interface: we're used to the idea, but it was delightful to see people trying to process this new idea of games without wires and buttons. Swinging, not pressing, dazzled many.

The crowds were divided between traditional gamers and non-gamers, and both had positive things to say about the console. Traditional Nintendo fans we talked to were wowed by the simple appearance of Zelda. Its presence alone is likely to satisfy the Nintendo hardcore until Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Bros. Brawl etc. start arriving. For those for a more casual interest, the hilarities and party spirit of Wii Tennis and Rayman are enough to draw the eye, and promise many enjoyable evenings with friends.

Trips to the Xbox 360 booth offered interesting comparisons. There your typical gamers infiltrated buildings as Sam Fisher, bashed buttons on Dead or Alive and shed blood in Gears of War. The games, the latter particularly, looked fantastic, but there was a different atmosphere present. Here players played alone, while others looked on silently. In the Nintendo booth onlookers were cheering on an OAP swinging the Wiimote around his head to launch an on-screen cow into the air. At times Nintendo's aim to renew game didn't seem so impossible.

Not to get too rosy about the experience, mind you. Chucking tennis balls about on Wii Sports was marvellously simple, but navigating even its simple menus was difficult for some of the non-gamers, prompting numerous restarts. Wii Baseball was impossible for anyone to really play properly; sensor problems reared their dastardly head on different occasions; and Zelda's new controls seemed beyond the comprehensions of many. The Wii is indeed an imperfect product, but this is only the beginning� what will be really interesting is how developers work through the imperfections and build new ways of playing in the coming years.

A final shot before parting the Wii (Franklin, Conor, Mark)

At the end of day 3 of our trip, the proceedings at the Nintendo booth were winding down. Most of the crowd had left to get home for dinner, but we remained until the very end. After two days straight of the Wii I leant against a podium, watching a Nintendo promoter messing with deformed bunnies, my feet throbbing, but my mind content that Nintendo had delivered, and excited about getting my hands on a final Wii in a couple of weeks. "You getting a Wii yourself then?" I ventured. "I don't really play games much," the rep replied. "I mean, I have a PS2, and play the odd shooter or Pro Evo� I think I will buy a Wii though." I enquired. "It's something really cool... something different, you know?"

I smiled. I did know. And evidently, so did Nintendo. With the rest of the roadshow, and a whole new console generation, ahead of them, they knew all too well.

Conor Smyth
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The fun doesn't end here! Expect our special video of the trip, and the new The N-Europe Show, recorded live from the RDS hall, online in a day or two. Stay tuned!