'Hey honey, fancy playing some games tonight? I have this great first-person that you'll love, just let me drag the desk in here and set you up with the mouse and keyboard and you're gonna love it'. Maybe not the best way to transition you're nearest and dearest from Sports to some proper games. Certainly a flexible and accurate control scheme, but not the most lounge friendly of set-ups. Okay, let's rewind and try that again.

'Hey honey, fancy playing some games tonight? I have this great first-person shooter that you'll love, grab this controller. That's it, just use that stick to move left and the other one to turn right. Want to shoot? Oh, just reach round to the back and tap the right bumper. Bit further, bit further, there you've got it! Then use that blue button to reload and that yellow one to crouch, simple!' Certainly, this is convenient for lounge play but pretty daunting for new players. Right, bear with us here, one more time!

'Hey honey, fancy playing some games tonight? I have this great first-person shooter that you'll just love, grab Wiimote and Nunchuck, and away you go.' And away she goes running, looking, jumping and shooting. There you go, that's the pay-off right there. No need to justify the controller any more than this, it lets anyone play first-person shooters in their lounge with no desk and without multiple button presses and inverted control sticks. It just works.

This may all seem a little forced, but I am making a point here that I really believe in. For me the best aspect of the Wii controllers is that they provide a new alternative to the either-or of Gamepad or Mouse/Keyboard. Hardened supporters of these different control schemes will argue till the cows come home about their relative benefits and pitfalls. The genius of the Wii's controls is that they take the middle ground between these previous dichotomies.

They are not as intimidating as the plethora of buttons and oppressive dark hues of the various gamepads we have littering our homes. What buttons there are have been designed to meld into the overall aesthetic, only the transparent A button and trigger B buttons stand out. It is no accident that gamers of any age have been happy to pick them up since the system launched. And the reference familiarity of the universal TV remote completes the offensive on the living room.

Add to this look-and-feel the simplified control implementations that are enabled by the pointing and gesturing combinations. The whole set-up is just so much less fiddly than the gamepad, and not tied to a desk like the mouse/keyboard. This accessibility is combined with the higher degree of aiming accuracy provided by the Wiimote. Mouse/keyboard proponents had always highlighted the awkwardness of analogue stick aiming and use this to justify their loyalty to the more complex control setup. The Wii answers this point confidently through its aiming scheme that has the analogue feel of a mouse, without the need to sit at a desk.

Whilst this compromise could well alienate both existing gamepad and mouse/keyboard users, it makes so much more sense in a setting. If you are a parent who wants to keep games as a shared experience that happens in the shared family rooms, the Wii controls are a real boon. They take away a whole raft of reasons for consoles or PCs to gravitate upstairs and for the games to become a solitary pursuit. Now the Wii provides a workable lounge play option, games can become more of a family experience. This not only means that parents gain a better understanding of the games their children play, but also that the hardcore gamer can get genuine appreciation of their skill and achievement at their hobby of choice.

What has previously been seen as something of a gimmick to grab a chunk of the gaming market turns out to have more applications and wider benefits. Not that really planned it all for this purpose, but the result of their approach actually enables parents to re-engage with a games that they found largely threatening and unhealthy. As we wait to see this in full force with the release of Prime on the Wii in Europe, we can sit happy in the knowledge that the Wiimote - Nunchuck combination is looking ever more promising as a long-standing control system. Here ends today's lesson from the gospel according to Nintendo.

By Paul Govan