• The Nintendo Wii launched in November 2006 and came packaged with "Wii Sports," which includes baseball, bowling, boxing, golf and tennis games for single and multiplayer athletics. It features a training mode in which you can practice your techniques with the Wii remote. Each sport poses its own challenges.
  
  

Baseball

• When pitching, it's helpful to mix up your pitch types to avoid following a pattern, as your opponent will start to anticipate pitches. If you don't hold any buttons, you'll throw a fastball, but you can pitch a curveball by pressing the "A" button, a screwball by pressing the "B" button and a splitter by pressing both "A" and "B." To switch to underhand mode, press the "2" button, and press the "1" button to return to overhand throws.
  
  

Bowling

• You can change the color of your bowling ball by pressing on the directional pad when the screen fades to black after you've selected "Bowling" from the game menu. Press left on the directional pad for a red ball, right for a gold ball, up for a blue ball and down for a green ball.
  
  

Boxing

• You'll unlock silver boxing gloves in single-player mode after you defeat Matt, the boxing grand champion. Press the "1" button at the beginning of a match to don these special gloves.
  
  

Golf

• As in real golf, you can take practice swings in "Wii Sports" golf to determine how hard you should swing your club. The power meter helps you gauge the velocity of your shot. If you exceed the 100 percent mark on the meter, the ball will curve unpredictably in its flight, so it's necessary to use restraint in your swing.
  
  

Tennis

• The tennis game in "Wii Sports" features a power shot that nearly always results in an ace on your serve. To execute a power shot, press the "A" button to toss the ball into the air and immediately swing the Wii remote to serve.
  
  

Pro Status

• As you play games in single-player mode, you earn points based on your performance. Once you earn 1,000 points in a sport, you achieve pro status and the game will become more challenging.
  
  

Training Mode

• Every sport has three different games in its training mode, but only one is available for each when you begin "Wii Sports." Complete the challenge posed by the first game in each sport to unlock the second training mode game, and beat the second challenge to access the third.
  
  

Warm Up

• "Wii Sports" is a physical game. Stretching prior to a session can help prevent injury and muscle strain, particularly to the shoulder and wrist of your dominant arm. Obstacles should be removed from the playing area, and players should maintain a safe distance from each other to avoid injuries.