Walk into just about any video game or department store — Walmart, EB Games, whatever — and there’s a good chance that you can leave that day with a PlayStation 3, be it a 20GB or 60GB version. By contrast, it is still surprisingly difficult to get your hands on a Nintendo Wii. I guess I should feel lucky, since I grabbed one during launch week. I didn’t have a pre-order, I didn’t line up outside in the cold, I didn’t phone around like a madman. I just went to a Toys R Us, asked if they had any in stock, and sure enough, they had “a few.” Since that fateful day, I’ve enjoyed vanquishing darkness in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and beating up on screaming bunnies in Rayman Raving Rabbids, but probably where I’ve spent the most time is enjoying some virtual exercise in Wii Sports. It’s very much a pick-up-and-play kind of game, but it takes much more to master. The most enjoyable event is Bowling.

I’ve experimented with a few different strategies in Wii Sports: Bowling. Now, let me preface this by saying that I’m a pretty mediocre bowler in real life, and I’m pretty happy when I manage to break into the triple figures. By contrast, my average score in the Wii Sports version is probably about 160, with an all-time best of about 220. Goes to show you, I’m better at video games than the real thing. But what strategy seems to work the best?

In the video that I embedded below, you will see three different methods that I’ve experimented in with Wii Sports: Bowling. The first is trying to bowl it down the middle, pretty much, performing a late release to minimize the spin factor, aiming to hit just to the right of the front pin. This is my most consistent strategy and the one that I easily use the most. With the second, I put a pretty heavy right-to-left spin on the ball, release a little earlier to let the spin take effect, but put plenty of mustard on it so that it literally flies down the lane. Less consistent, but more explosive results. The third method is where I have put in the least amount of practice and it shows. It’s essentially the mirror image of the second method, producing a left-to-right fade. I’m still not all that good at controlling that spin.

What kind of Wii Sports bowler are you? Leave a comment below and share your tips, tricks, and expertise!

P.S. I still haven’t figured out for sure why one of my Wii Remotes appears to be possessed by the devil. I plan on visiting the Nintendo office in Richmond some time next week.


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