Eight? Surely, the party is dragging on by now. The earlymorning sun is starting to show on the carpet, where pringles,dip, and last night's chinese takeaway have all been mashing up into a peculiar paste. Everyone's having awkwardconversation with the person they got off with last night. Nintendo'smost economic Mario spinoff - eight games in nine years - is,conceptually, wearing thin, but in the Wii it has found a reason for invigoration.

The Wii is enjoying its party games at the moment. Theirreverent and delightful Rayman: Raving Rabbits at launch andthe recent kaliedoscope of bizarrity and ingenuity that isWario Wario: Smooth Moves have proved to be two of the console'smost endearing titles. Wii Play too, with a few fun games, andthat obiquitous free Wiimote, has found its way into gamers'homes. It seems fitting, then, that the game thatkickstarted the genre on the N64 would get in on the actionthen - and its board game setup comes almost fine-tunedfor the social, quick-bursts nature of the Wii's appeal.

Anyone familiar with Raving Rabbits and the like knows what toexpect here: a variety of short mini-games based on all sortsof physical Wiimote contortions, structured on the Mario Partyformula of board game movement and random luck. Hands-on reports from demoshas noted Barrel Lasso (you wave the Wiimote like a lasso tograb rotating barrels), the wonderfully named Colored Ball Game(roll a maze, a la Monkey Ball), Shooting Gallery (seriously,guess) and other demands for Wiimote twisting, turning and shaking. We're sure the minds at Hudson and Nintendo willimprove with more fun mini-games, and will guarantee boutsof jumping and shouting in multiplayer.

Mario Party 8 has a lot going for it, but it has more goingagainst it than previous instalments. The weariness of repetitionis the first threat: we've been here seven times before, cananother one really excite gamers? The possibilities for Wiimoteexploitation are ripe, but haven't Rabbits, Wii Play and SmoothMoves done the mini-game collection gag already, and to acompetent degree? With the acerbic and visually explosive WarioWare, any Mario Party seems prosaic and dull by comparison, thoughobviously the former can't boast simultaneous multiplayer fun.Wii Sports, too, has succeeded in cornering the 'family night in,bit of a laugh in the living room' crowd. The title will finda difficult time in getting recognition.

The future, too, seems uncertain. Outside of an EA sports franchise, or a top-tier IP, eight sequels is like scrapingbutter over too much bread. Wiimote fun will give the seriesanother short leise of life, but even that's temporary.Online play is a possibility, but Mario Party has always beenmore at home on a Friday night, with some friends, pizza andalcohol: not in the faceless world of networked leagues.

Mario Party 8 may be worth an investment this spring/summer if yougrow tired of Wii Sports or WarioWare, but after this, it'sprobably time for Mario, Luigi and company to start callingtaxis home.