The Gamer in Me

I know I'm a bit late to this party (considering The Half Blood Prince video game will be out a in a few months), but I just started playing the Order of the Phoenix videogame on the Wii.

I'll admit, I'm not much of a gamer. My husband watches me play and gets so immensely frustrated with my lack of hand-eye coordination that he leaves the room, or takes over the controller. This videogame ineptitude has not been alleviated by OoTP videogame, but I charge on, dammit!

The Wii controller is your "wand," which makes gameplay fun, though not always accurate. Harry tends to wave his arm around like an insane person under my control. Tiny footsteps tell you where to go, which is good for a spatially challenged person like me. And the best part--if you Reparo a bunch of things, you reveal mini making-of featurettes. Lots of Rupert Grint interviews (squee!). That alone motivates me to go on.

The game is not really challenging, which again, fine for me, but serious gamers will probably get bored Reparo-ing half the castle. Also, Hermione spends much of the game urging you to "Get to the library," while Ron incessantly tells you to "Check your map!" No worries. You can always throw benches at them when they get really annoying.

Here's a preview featuring the cut scenes. The graphics are quite good, and Hermione, especially is, creepily, Emma Watson to a T: