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I had a bit of a surprise the other day. When checking my mail, I found a package from Hudson Software. Opening it, I found a Wii game, plus some extra stuff such as a headband! What could this be for?

Hudson wanted to show me Deca Sports, a new sports game coming out this summer. I don't have a Wii — yet — but I was going over to a friend's house for a party the upcoming weekend, and he and his wife had a Wii. It'd be the perfect opportunity to try out badminton, supercross, figure skating and beach volleyball.

One of the great things about the games ended up being how much they felt like playing the game. Given that it was just a demo of the game, and not the full game, and that we'd been drinking tiki drinks like they were going out of style, it took us by surprise how intuitive some of the controls were.

Beach volleyball was a great example. Quickly we found ourselves passing, serving and spiking the ball. The ability to pick out what kind of team you like to play as was an added bonus, and we had a great time taking on the computer.

Badminton worked much the same way. If you've ever played badminton, you know how the shuttlecock feels different when hitting it than playing any other similar sport, such as tennis or racquetball. (Yes, I know, those aren't really that similar, but in all three, you're hitting something with a racquet, and tennis and racquetball come together more in feel, to me, than with badminton.) I felt like I could feel the air lift the shuttlecock into the air and over the net when playing.

Supercross had us turn the Wii-mote onto its side and play like it's the handlebar for a supercross motorcycle. I'm a fan of supercross, to a point, and once I got the hang of it, I had a great time — and was reminded of why you shouldn't drink and ride supercross.

Finally, with figure skating, you plug in the nunchuck controller and use the left hand to control your movement — following a path that is marked for you — and the right hand to do tricks. This was one that made me wish we'd watched "Blades of Glory" before playing!

When the game itself comes out, we'll get to see more games and more modes to play them in. We were only able to play in "open match" mode, where we played as a team or against each other with CPU opponents (and we only played with two players). You can play up to four player, and there will be three single-player modes — Tournament, Deca Challenge and Deca League.

The other sports that will be added are snowboard cross, basketball, curling, Archery, soccer and kart racing. While some of those games are fairly straightforward, it's cool to see lesser simulated sports, like figure skating or curling, given a chance to be played.

Deca Sports looks like another great party game for the Wii. It'll definitely be on my list after I finally managed to snag one of those systems!