Having a party? Don't forget the video games

You’re having a party, and you’ve sent out the Evites and bought the chips and dip. What’s missing? The video games!

Video games are no longer solitary affairs. These days, there are plenty of games on the market that will get your group singing, dancing — even swinging a controller like a golf club. But which games are best to jump-start your party?

To find out, we invited over a group of 20- and 30- somethings on a chilly winter night to test out six games: Nintendo’s “Wario Ware: Smooth Moves,” “Wii Sports” and “Wii Play;” Konami’s “Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA,” and “Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol” and  Red Octane’s “Guitar Hero 2.”

'Wii Sports' the clear winner
While many games got high marks from our testers, one emerged as the clear winner: Nintendo’s “Wii Sports.” This rated-“E” game comes free when you buy a new Nintendo Wii, and its a great way to get accustomed to the Wii’s unique, two-piece motion-detecting controller, which consists of the Wii remote and a Nunchuck.

Unlike “Madden” or “Fight Night,” “Wii Sports” is a snap to figure out. “Wii Sports” consists of five sports: boxing, bowling, baseball, tennis and golf. Our testers loved the game because you didn’t need to master a complicated controller to be proficient at any of the sports. Anyone could jump in and play.

“Wii Sports” also lets two players challenge each other directly — as long as you have a second controller, that is. Our crowd loved picking sides, as well as picking on the loser — all in good fun, of course.

Sara Loken — at 21, our youngest tester — took on Kevin Swantek, 30, in a boxing match. She beat him two games in a row, despite never having thrown a punch in real life.

“Punching is pretty universal,” she said.

'Wii Play' stirred up friendly competition
Another game that stoked the competitive fires was the “E”-rated “Wii Play” ($49.99) also by Nintendo. Its player-versus-player style is very similar to “Wii Sports,” as is its use of the Wii controller. But instead of playing sports, you try your hand at nine simple arcade-esque games like table tennis, cow racing, and even a “Duck Hunt”-inspired shooting range. It may not be as intuitive as “Wii Sports” (how could it be if you’ve never raced cows?) but the group quickly picked it up.

A big plus for “Wii Play” is that a Wii remote comes packaged with the game, allowing you to challenge an opponent right out of the box. Otherwise, a separate Wii remote will set you back $39.99 a good chunk of change all in the name of a party. And if you want an extra Nunchuck, it will cost you $19.99.

Dancing for a crowd
For $59.99, you can pick up the “E10+”-rated “Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA” from Konami, which comes complete with a touch-sensitive dance pad. This game had our testers clamoring to try it, although our crew wasn’t necessarily familiar with all the available songs.

Players of “Dance Dance Revolution” use their feet to control the game, stepping in time on a big, arrow-covered mat while following cues on a TV screen.

“It’s a lot harder that it looks,” said Diana Landas, 31.

The virtual dance competition brought out the killer instinct in our players, with each one trying to out-dance the last. All that jumping around made “Dance Dance Revolution” Landas’ favorite game to watch.

“I was impressed to see my husband move like that,” she said.

But even with everyone eager to play, "Dance Dance Revolution" didn't rate as high as "Wii Play" because of its high learning curve.

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