When the Wii came out a few years ago, my friend and I had to camp outside Best Buy for three hours to get one on release day. We stood out there in the snow, sipping hot coffee and eagerly waited for the store to open. About 10 minutes before the doors officially opened, an employee came out and started handing out tickets to the people in line. If you got a ticket, you got a Wii. We got the last two tickets, apologized politely to the people behind us, and hurried into the store to claim our prizes.

I didn’t have to do any of that when I bought my PlayStation Move last month.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Move, it is a lollypop-shaped motion controller for the PlayStation 3 that uses the EyeToy camera and a Move wand to track your motions. Using the camera gives the Move incredible motion control and allows for near-perfect movement in all directions, including forward and backward. Like the Wii, it features a second, navigation controller that wirelessly connects to the main wand. You can also play games using two wand controllers.

The day the Move was released, I didn’t have to camp out or even wait in any lines. I went to my local video game retailer after work and they had plenty available for sale. I bought the bundle, which came with one wand, the EyeToy camera, a copy of Sports Champions, and a disc full of Move demos. I also bought a second wand and one navigation controller (something I couldn’t do when I first got my Wii.)

When I got home, I set it up and put in Sports Champions, a title that includes ping-pong, bocce ball, Frisbee golf, volleyball, archery, and gladiator combat. Each game has single-player and multiplayer modes, and as you progress you can unlock new costumes, sporting equipment, and playable characters. My wife and I tried all of the games and had a blast doing it. The motion control is amazing, and you actually feel like you are pretending to throw a Frisbee or swing a sword. The games are responsive, and more importantly fun. After losing a handful of volleyball matches, I decided it was time for Gladiator. Gladiator is a combat-based game in Sports Champions that gives you the option to use one or two Move controllers at the same time. The motions on-screen follow your movements with the controller and the damage you do is dependent on how hard you swing the remote. If you are using one wand, you can press a button to switch over to your shield so you can maneuver and block attacks. With a second wand, you can control your sword and shield at the same time.

The next day I tried several of the demos that came with the bundle. Most of them seemed pretty unexciting, but Beat Sketchers (a game that allows you to draw on the screen while creating music) and Start the Party (a fast-paced mini-game rush that uses the EyeToy camera to put you on screen as you play) were both a blast. While holding the Move wand in your hand during Start the Party, it changes depending on which mini-game you are playing. On screen, it’ll appear as though you are holding a hammer, a sword, or a tennis racket as the mini-games change. I thought this was a really neat feature, but my younger cousins absolutely loved it. They would spend the entire sword mini-game just posing for the camera.