A Nintendo Wii game that features a compilation of sports - now that is a novel idea. After Deca Sports, Summer Sports and Big Beach Sports, Ubisoft has announced the launch of its Play Zone range, exclusive to the Wii, which kicks off with Sports Party - a disc stuffed with nine different activities.

Sports Party is set on a tropical paradise island, where up to four players can compete against one another in nine different disciplines: basketball, croquet, lawn darts, badminton, volley-ball, horse shoes and mini-golf – all which make use of the Wii Remote and Nunchuck’s motion-sensing abilities.

There isn’t a lot else to say about it; although Ubisoft lists one of its key features to be “short gaming sessions”… a reflection on the game’s pick-up-and play nature, or how long you’ll endure what is already becoming a tired format?

“With our new PLAY ZONE party titles, the Wii gamers who like to spend time with friends and family will have fun with the Wii through innovative and involving mini-games. The PLAY ZONE label will provide them with the best games to mingle and compete together in a fun and friendly atmosphere” said John Parkes, Ubisoft’s EMEA Marketing Director.

After Ubisoft showing, disappointingly, its casual gaming priorities for Nintendo platforms at its Ubidays event recently, Sports Party, we feel, isn’t going to do too much to recapture the imaginations of those legions of players feeling let down by the French developer.

And worryingly, this is only the beginning. It’s released on July 11.