Nintendo’s big E3 reveal last night wasn’t so big in the end, at least not as far as anyone with more than a passing interest in videogames was concerned. Still, if their presentation failed to sparkle it was no better or worse than any of their rivals’, and at least they unveiled a product which, in the finest Nintendo-at-E3 traditions, left all present scratching their heads.

No, we’re not talking about the ‘Wii Zapper’ lightgun (pictured, for your amusement), although we are still scratching our heads wondering where the cable that connects the Nunchuk to the Remote is going to go. Instead we refer to Wii Fit – less a game, more an integral part of the smiley-faced nuclear family’s daily wellbeing regime. Or so Nintendo is dearly hoping, as they seem to have bet a goodly part of the (Moo Moo) farm on this product’s success.

Anyway, first pictures of this 'thing' in action are in and we thought you might like to see them. Ignore the apple-cheeked participants, who are clearly insane, and try to picture your own sweating, corpulent self in their place. Now try to picture your Ma and Pa doing the same. And now try to picture your whole family doing it a week or two down the line once the window of novelty has slammed shut. Difficult, isn’t it, but this is the future, folks!

An altogether more entertaining proposition is Mario Kart Wii, which is not the game’s final name, we’re assured. Here’s something we can all understand and can be confident that we’ll all be playing weeks, months even years down the line – long after the Wii Balance Board (also pictured) has found its true calling propping up a dodgy leg under the kitchen table.

There’s still not an awful lot to know about the game other than what was announced last night and which can be gleaned from these brand new screens. So, it looks like Double Dash without the two-player Karts, it’s online if you want it, it’s got something that looks like a Mine Cart level (they’re back, hooray!) and it’s coming in the first quarter of 2008. The back end of March, we’ll wager, to get as close to the Easter holidays sales spike as possible.

As you will have read Nintendo are all about bringing down the psychological barriers that separate veteran gamers from newcomers, to which end Mario Kart Wii will also herald the launch of the wireless ‘Wii Wheel’, which is claimed will be nice n’ easy to use for cack-handed noobs. Notwithstanding the obvious missed opportunity to call it the ‘Whiil’, this device simply contains a slot where the Remote sits. There’s no official picture of it yet, but perhaps Mario and Luigi are giving us a clue what to expect.

More details soon.