Get your party on with 'Birthday Party Bash' on the Wii

— -- In today's economy, families looking for ways to spend less on a child's birthday party might want to pick up 2K Play's new Birthday Party Bash. This Nintendo Wii game is really a birthday planner in which the Wii becomes the central hub around which you can build a contemporary birthday party. Birthday Party Bash blends new technology with old-fashioned birthday traditions to create a 21st century birthday party.

For many parents, the thought of hosting 12 little kids for a couple of hours of entertainment can seem daunting. The key to managing so many children is planning. That's what Birthday Party Bash provides you.

It starts with a six-week plan. The game manual sets out how to organize the party from setting a date, choosing a theme and sending out the included invitation cards to planning the food and crafts and practicing the Wii games that will be played during the party. The manual also gives you some fun food recipes, including healthy fruit smoothies and traditional birthday cupcakes.

Lest you think that this game promotes playing video games as your sole entertainment, it does not. It is full of ideas on how you can combine playing some fun multiplayer minigames on the Wii with other nongaming activities. Birthday Party Bash is best described as a useful tool for planning a high-tech party.

Birthday Party Bash offers three ways to use the game in a party setting: Custom Party, Quick Party and Free Play. In the Custom Party mode, the game does some of the organization for you. Before the party begins, you choose a theme (10 are available, from pirates to stuffed animals) and customize up to 12 players' names and looks; then the software keeps track of whose turn it is to play the 15 randomly selected minigames. Each minigame is played by four players at a time, with the computer controlling extra players if you have less than four. After every minigame, the party will earn a decoration to place in your in-game party room. When the room is fully decorated, the game will have everyone sing "Happy Birthday."