It feels somewhat treacherous to admit that some of the Wii games have slightly duff graphics. But that’s not really the point of the whole Wii concept is it? Whatever the case Nintendo has not rested on the laurels of its positive E3 reception and has obviously been hard at work to make improvements wherever possible.

Take the much-vaunted Wii Sports, for instance. Early shots were rather basic, to say the least. But these latest screens show that the graphics envelope has been pushed in recent weeks.

Tennis is the most apparent demonstration of this. Textures have obviously been enhanced, in-game logos have been changed and, hey, there’s even an audience now too. Similarly the textures in the golf game have been improved, lending the courses a more solid, realistic feel. The attached screens are arranged ‘before’ and ‘after’, in case you can’t tell.

Aside from better visuals the gameplay has been improved too. We’ve spent a bit of time in Nintendo’s fully-stocked ‘Wii House’ recently and can confirm that things have certainly moved on since the E3 in terms of the Wii Remote’s sensitivity and overall ease of playability. For instance in tennis the Remote is now more responsive to the speed and angle of your shots, allowing for faster gameplay, devious slices, topspins and the like. In short it now feels more, well, authentic. Similar enhancements have been made to the other sports games included too, but, for our money, boxing remains the most riotous fun, and shows off the Wii Remote/Nunchuk dual-wielding control system to frequently hilarious effect. A guaranteed mood-enhancer for Xmas.