Students are bowling in their dorm rooms. From the dinky, stale rooms of McCollum to Corbin, students are getting together more often.

The Nintendo Wii, released in November of 2006, has not only caught gamers off-guard by its success, it’s got all kinds of people surprised by just how fun and involving it is.

Nursing homes, such as Sedgebrook Retirement Community in Chicago, Ill., are getting the elderly bowling again. Girls like Lynn Jones, Topeka freshman, are playing video games, which was a rare sight nine months ago. Now, college students are getting together to play.

“When I first got mine, I was living in GSP, and I think every girl on my floor stopped by to give it a try,” says Jones, who is also a member of the Facebook group “KU Wii Gamers.” She says that people were waiting to take turns to play because her console only came with one remote. Even now that she’s out of the dorms, her friends stop by just to play games like Mario Party 8 and Wii Play. Her friends even demand that she bring it with her when she visits them.

Using a sensor bar and TV-remote-shaped wireless controllers, the console mimics your every movement. When you slice your remote through the air like a racket, it mimics that movement to serve a ball in tennis.

“I think the reason the Wii is more popular than other consoles is a sense of skill,” says John Sams, owner of WiiParty.com. “Anyone can punch a few buttons and control a joystick, but with the Wii you put more into your game. This is one of the few situations where a good baseball player will have a hand up on the competition.”

Sams’ website facilitates Wii players to put together what are now being referred to as “Wii Parties.” A Wii party brings people together to play and compete amongst both old and new friends.

Wii parties can also facilitate drinking games. Bradley Friedman, Leawood sophomore, says that he hasn’t ever thrown a Wii Party, but it’s definitely enhanced parties already going on.

“It is used as a very fun side show,” Friedman says. “Or in many cases, as a great drinking game.”

Video game publishers aren’t blind to the college population, and they recognize that college kids are playing the Wii a lot. IGN Entertainment revealed this July that the video game publisher Midway will be releasing what is tentatively titled “Party Game.”

However original the title, the game will include shuffleboard, table hockey, hoop shoot, trivia, darts, ski ball and a game they call “ping cup.” The object of ping cup is to use the Wii remote to throw a ping-pong ball at a pyramid of cups. Sounds familiar.

“The Nintendo Wii is an amazing idea,” Sams adds. “Take everything gaming already is and make it more tactile. The gaming industry is rare to come up with something that is truly new, we’ve seen it all.”

Sams says that many consoles, like the Playstation Company and Microsoft’s Xbox consoles, focus on graphics and high definition and forget to think about what is fun and what brings people together. This attention also makes the other consoles more expensive. The price of the Wii ($250 as compared to Xbox 360’s $350, and Playstation 3’s $500) also makes it ideal for a college student on a budget.

The next time you plan a party, get your hands on a Wii and see how much it enhances the festivities. Harrison Hems, El Centro, Calif., sophomore, says his Wii Parties were never planned.

“Most of the time the Wii party would turn out to be a Wii Epic, because everyone gets really competitive and wants to be the best,” Hems says.

Remember to keep your Wiimote strap secure and your friends at arms length, and Wiiparty on.