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One of the fun scenes from Playground on our Wii (Courtesy Electronic Arts)

I am so not a video game person. I'm like this: I play a game (not a shoot-'em-up type, but a puzzle or logic game). I get really really into it for a few days and play so much my husband threatens to throw the TV or computer out the window. And then I stop and never play again. It's like there's this huge obsession, then it withers into complete disinterest.

So it's definitely possible that the same thing will happen with the Nintendo Wii system our family just bought. But I'm not so sure. This time, I think the magic will stay.

I had thought about getting one for a while, but it wasn't until this weekend, when we had adult and kid friends over when I was convinced. Pretty much spur of the moment, at a friend's suggestion, we ran out and bought the system. And oh my goodness, it was so much fun for all of us!

We have two games: Wii Sports and Wii Playground. Both are "physical," meaning we move all the furniture out of our family room, stand up, and move around to play. The Sports game includes tennis, boxing, golf, baseball, and bowling. And once you get the hang of it, everyone can play - from my four-year-old daughter to my 60-something year old father-in-law. My seven-year-old and I are equally as good at tennis and bowling, so it's really fun to play each other.

I also like that the games don't take a long time to complete. Even a tennis tournament, where you're playing best of five games, takes at the most 10 to 15 minutes. So last night, when I got home from work and my son was playing, I could say, "Okay, I'll go one round with you - and then it's time for homework!" Other video games, especially those in which you don't have "lives" or whatever, can be played for hours.

Obviously I'd rather my kids get outside and play, and even in the rainy winters, we do. But sometimes, you've just got to stay in (or you want to!). I wouldn't call it an equal alternative to actually playing tennis or baseball, but it's much better than the car-racing or skateboarding games my son likes to play on the Xbox.

And ow! I've never really played tennis, and it's definitely possible that I'm overdoing it on the Wii. But my shoulder actually hurt after a good match with my son! I think I'm going to work on playing with my left hand, too, in an attempt to even myself out.

I know that not every game for the Wii is physical like these are, but, well, my kids don't know yet. And I'm thinking I'm not going to tell them!