This is the twenty-sixth post in our Game of the Day series.
People weren't necessarily sure what to make of the Wii when it first arrived on the scene, especially with its name (and code name of Revolution). It's aim to bring people together was moderately supported by the bundled Sports title, but the extreme casualness of that didn't necessarily lend enough party gravitas. At least for my group of friends, the point at which everyone got a Wii was after the first time they played Raving Rabbids at a social gathering.
Having zany rabbits bent on the thoughtless domination of humankind made for perfect emotional conduits to the sometimes frustrating challenges. Rather than an eerie Mii mocking you with a soft, wry look, these berserk bunnies bellowed in your face. Identifying with gaming rage made them akin to an anti-conscience sitting on our shoulder, swinging a pitchfork with red-rimmed eyes.
All those mini-games provided a fairly wide array of stick-waggling skills and in group situations this often spotlighted a select few, good at a specific ones. I remember the "marble" labyrinth where you had to tilt a rabbid's brain to get the thing to roll through a maze. It turned out to be incredibly difficult until one person, forget who now, picked up the controller on their turn and completely crushed it without batting an eyelash. Even among competitive matches there arose a cooperative spirit.
And let's not forget how the high-pitched renditions of certain songs ruined us for them forever. Nor how certain motions required of some games caused massive fits of laughter and countless inappropriate jokes. When isn't a "butt shot" funny?
In the end, it could only last so long. Some people took the game home and conquered it in its entirety; from then on their domination of the levels tended to put others off from making an attempt. I think that happens in a lot of skill-based social games. Eventually we stopped having "Wii" parties, but this will always remain in my mind with many fond memories. As they say, "WAAAAAAAAA!"
