No, I’m not sliding down a bannister.  Instead, Santa brought me a Wii for Christmas (or rather Boots.com did a few months ago, before stocks starting running out, and I had it in a cupboard until Tuesday).

Wow, great machine. Immediately bought some Wii points and splashed out on a Virtual Console game (Mario 3, which Laura was struggling to play on her laptop) and the Internet Channel. So, if you’re thinking of getting one, here are some tips that I wish I’d known before…

•  Super Mario Galaxy is THE game to get. Very, very addictive.
• I didn’t think I’d need a second Nunchuck, but I was wrong. Lego Star Wars requires one for the second player. Cheapest price is £13.99 from DVD.CO.UK
• Some of the virtual console games WON’T work with a Wii controller, and require you to buy a classic controller. That will be an extra £15 (play.com, Argos, etc). Depends if old NES and N64 games are your bag though.
• You can buy Wii points from outlets such as Amazon but you can also buy via the Shop Channel on the Wii. It’s £7 for 1000 points (Internet Channel was 500 points and virtual games are usually 500-1000 points each).
• The Shop Channel is dog slow unless it’s on certain router channels (1 or 11 I think). I use 6 as I have a Super-G option.

And, thankfully a tip I found beforehand, Nintendo are providing free protective “jackets” for the controller. If you’ve not got one (or how many you need) then they’re recommended.