A few weeks before Christmas, our family got a Wii. We bought it specifically because we had heard that the Wii Sports Resort Table Tennis game (all links go to the product pages on Amazon) was the most realistic table tennis video game on the market.

I’ll write the good followed by the bad followed by a little more opinion and observation about the game and Wii Resort as a whole. Some of the good and bad come together as you’ll see.

The good:

• As soon as kids can get the ball timing down, they can play the game with some success. My 3 year old can do it OK, but my 5 year old can actually play a game.
• With practice, you can put a little spin on the ball.
• My wife, who is the best player in the family also does best on the Wii. I think this is a sign that the play is relatively realistic.
• The Mii characters are cute, and one of my opponent was playing with a slipper instead of a racket. Reminiscent of being at an onsen (hot spring) resort.
• It comes with one Wii MotionPlus although you will need to buy another if you want to play two player.
• It’s also a great motivator for kids. Having a little success in this game while getting a feel for the rules, sounds, and movements is definitely a big plus… especially if you are a parent that wants to give kids a very fun, positive initial experience with table tennis.

The bad:

• The character automatically does the footwork for you. There doesn’t seem to be any way around this problem, but it would also be a great advance in the technology if there were a way to move at your own pace.
• Sometimes when I switch from forehand to backhand or vice-versa, the Wii seems to think I’m trying to make a shot and as a result,  I lose a point.
• I haven’t figured out a good way to control the direction of the shots… it could be something in the timing, but this is one part of the game that is actually harder on the Wii (if it’s indeed possible) than in real life. I will update this post if I figure out how to do it.
• The same things that make it easy for kids to play also make the shots a little unrealistically good sometimes… it’s a video game so, again, that’s to be expected, but you definitely would not want to rely on this as your primary training method. You still need to get out there (if you, like me, don’t yet have a table tennis table in your home) and get some real life playing experience.

Overall, Wii Sports Resort is a great game to have. There are lots of games that kids as young as 3 can do fairly well at after mastering some simple controls. The sword fighting game, Frisbee games, and bowling games are very easy to master. The Wii MotionPlus improves the game sensitivity and brings Resort to a level above Wii Sports.

Another great game for kids is the skydiving one because it’s just a matter of how you hold it. Kids as young as two could probably enjoy holding the Wii Remote Control at various angles and watching the character skydive safely down to Wuhu Island.

It’s good for the family, good for getting in shape, and has a wide variety of games for all members of the family. I highly recommend Wii Sports Resort not just for the table tennis game, but for all the games and family fun.

Truth be told, the bowling and swordfighting games are almost as popular as the table tennis game in our household.

Until we have a real table tennis table sitting in the house, we are hoping to get by with Wii Sports Resort which includes several fun games and has been around in Japan for a few months now. I haven’t had a chance to play it yet, but the videos look encouraging. The way the ball bounces seems pretty real with spin. I don’t believe that it’ll replace a real table, but if we end up living somewhere in the US that lacks space, it could be our best option. Price-wise it could be more expensive than if I tried to get a table on Craig’s list, or found something who was moving and willing to give up the table for a reasonable price, but the Nintendo Wii won’t take up a whole room in a house, so if it’s even close to the feel of a real table tennis game, it might be worth it.

For those of you who’ve never seen it, here’s a commercial that’s been on the air in Japan lately featuring Kasumi Ishikawa, one of the top young table tennis players in Japan. She’s currently 16 years old. In the commercial Ishikawa is playing against Takashi Okamura from the Japanese comedy team called “Ninety-nine”. They are quite famous and have been featured in most of the Wii Sports Resort commercials.

The video is in two parts below.