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If you've snagged a Wii for someone you know, then check out this list if you want ideas for a game to go with it. As with its DS counterpart, this list assumes a situation where you don't know exactly what your gamer wants. That means the focus here is on easy-to-find titles with simple gameplay, stand-alone stories, and universal appeal.

Of course, universal appeal affects some potential players more than others. (In fact, there are games on this list I personally dislike.) To help make using this list a little easier, we've tagged each entry according to what kind of player is most likely to enjoy that game.

We divide players into three simple groups with slightly different needs and interests: Serious, Casual, and Kids. Serious games are tests of skill or strategy that require a significant investment of effort to play and enjoy. Casual games are easy for anyone to pick up and begin playing immediately. Kids games tend to be very imaginative and open-ended, usually emphasizing the ability to live out a fun fantasy life. If you want more details, please check out this post.

All set? Then onto the list of games. Now, most people say the problem with the Wii is that only the first-party games are worth playing, but over half of this list are third-party game recommendations. Of course, about a third of them probably wouldn't come back for a 2008 Gift Game list...

Super Mario Galaxy

• Genre: Platformer
• MSRP: $49.99
• Type: Serious
• Why: While you only need 60 stars to defeat Bowser, you need 120 stars to full-clear the game and unlock the challenging Super Luigi Galaxy mode. Kids may make it all the way through, but Casual players probably won't.

As far as Wii recs go, this is kind of a no-brainer. Anyone who owns a Nintendo system probably likes Mario games, and Galaxy is the best Mario game since... well, either Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario 64, depending on your personal hierarchy. While the sheer patience required to get all of the Stars in this game and unlock all of the levels leave it Serious in my mind, this game has obvious appeal to Kids and a great feature for Casual gamers as well. Co-Star mode lets two players work together co-operatively; player 2 can highlight Mario and press A to make him jump, hold A over enemies to freeze them, shoot star bits, or gather them by moving the cursor around. A skillful co-star can be a big help to a player who might otherwise struggle, or you can use it to let a non-gaming spouse watch you play and interact a little. So far I've played Galaxy purely with co-stars, and it takes the gameplay to a whole other level of enjoyment.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

• Genre: Adventure
• MSRP: $49.99
• Type: Serious
• Why: Like most Zelda games, mapping dungeons, finding power-ups, and solving puzzles is a big part of this game. Completing it takes dedication, and despite the simplified controls, Casual players may find themselves lost easily.

This is the other real no-brainer of the list. I'd be shocked if the launch Wiis didn't sell with Twilight Princess at a near 1-to-1 ratio. While not the toughest or even the best Zelda title, it's a very good introduction to using the Wii remote in a more "traditional" kind of game. Twillight Princess has dungeons to explore, some decent bosses, and pretty much everything else the owner of a shiny new Wii would want to go battle. The cinematography in this game is especially nice, and can do a lot to convince you that you don't really need a more powerful system to improve the aesthetic experience of gaming. It doesn't offer much of anything to Casual gamers, but you can expect most Kids (especially boys) to get into the escapist fantasy easily. Note that it is rated T, so think carefully before you hand it to a young gamer.

Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition

• Genre: Action
• MSRP: $29.99
• Type: Serious
• Why: Resident Evil 4 is a fast action game with a lot of shooting, gore, and general violence that ensues when you fight off the monstrous, zombie-like altered humans called "los ganados" in addition to a lot of other nasty creatures. It's rated M and so not for Kids, and probably too intense for Casual gamers.

Resident Evil 4 on the Wii is probably the best single edition of one of the greatest modern action titles on any system. The graphics may seem a little sub-par (this is a GameCube port), but the special shooting controls Capcom implemented for the Wii edition are smooth as silk. Despite being the fourth entry in one of Capcom's longest-running series, the storyline is pretty easy to grasp and almost stands alone. If you've played prior Resident Evil games you'll enjoy some things more, but you shouldn't find yourself getting lost outright. Between the great combat sequences, some light puzzle-solving, and hideously gory death sequences, Resident Evil 4 is pretty much everything a Serious gamer could want in a single title, and one of the best buys for the Wii at its budget price.

Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure

• Genre: Adventure
• MSRP: $39.99
• Type: Kids
• Why: The bright colors, silly humor, and point-and-click puzzles are going to have a lot of appeal to young gamers, who are also going to have more patience for the game's "deaths" than Casual or Serious players might.

Zack & Wiki is something of a throwback to old-school PC adventure games, but uses the Wii remote to substitute for the traditional mouse features. Note that it's more like a Sierra game than a LucasArts game (ie, you not only can die but it happens a lot), and that may turn some adventure purists off. Everyone else can enjoy the brainteasting puzzles, which really hit the sweet spot for driving a kid nuts to finish them without ever seeming "too hard". Serious gamers may also dig on this, since the later puzzles are challenging, and the overall game approach very novel for a console titles. Casual gamers can contribute to a session if you have a group playing together, but are probably going to feel frustrated by puzzles where wrong moves result in death. All of this is contingent on enjoying the bright and cartoony anime-style graphics and humor, which will be a plus for some and a negative for others.

MySims

• Genre: Life Sim
• MSRP: $49.99
• Type: Kids
• Why: Kids love games that encourage lots of creativity while having basic gameplay that's fairly simple and linear. Serious gamers probably won't find this quite as charming as Animal Crossing, and Casual gamers are unlikely to have time to sink into it. This game really hits a sweet spot when it comes to pleasing young, and especially female, gamers.

MySims is the cute, cuddly branch of EA's long-running The Sims franchise, but bears very little resemblance to its PC parent. MySims is designed more in the vein of the Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing titles that tend to hit it off really well with pre-pubescent gamers who like to just run around making stuff while they play. MySims gives you a lot of customization freedom when it comes to designing clothes, buildings, and other things, but the basic gameplay formula is simple (and repetitive) enough that it's hard to get lost in it. It's a little rough around the edges, but Kids who really want something like this to play on the Wii won't care too much. At worst, you'll end up trading this one in or selling it off once something better in the same vein comes out, like an actual Animal Crossing or Harvest Moon title.

Mario Strikers: Charged

• Genre: Fantasy Sports
• MSRP: $49.99
• Type: Kids
• Why: Soccer is a simple game everyone can grasp, and all Kids know that every game is improved by the addition of flashy super moves, ghosts, and dinosaurs. It isn't quite deep enough to keep Serious gamers going for long, but it makes for a great Casual party game for the family.

Despite the startlingly hard-edged artwork, Mario Strikers: Charged is about what you'd expect from a Nintendo soccer game. Everything is very simplified and not too realistic, and you can use an assortment of wacky, charming creatures to flesh out your team. As you play you can swap from character to character as necessary, and you can use super moves to try and get a goal in past your opponent's defense. Serious gamers may get frustrated with some easy exploits you can find, but Kids and Casual gamers are going to eat this one up, especially if you can get lots of people together for four-player games. The basic controls are smooth and intuitive, and picking up the more complex elements of the game really isn't difficult at all. If you're worried about not having a use for the game between Wii parties, there's always online.

Geometry Wars: Galaxies

• Genre: Shooting
• MSRP: $39.99
• Type: Casual
• Why: The controls and goal of this game couldn't be simpler: you fly around and shoot things, trying to rack up the highest score possible. The similarity to Asteroids ensures most people can easily recognize it, and while it does have gameplay goals to achieve, they mostly just encourage you to get better at the basics of flying around and shooting things.

Geometry Wars: Galaxies is a deceptive little game. It's be easy to pass off as another piece of Wii shovelware (it is, technically, a port of a Project Gotham Racing mini-game), but the Wii version has amazing depth and simple gameplay that's almost like Tetris in how easy it is to understand. All you really do is move your abstract ship around a field, shooting in any direction at geometric objects that fly your way. You can play with the Wiimote and Nunchuk, which casual players will definitely find cool, or with the more responsive Classic Controller that serious gamers are likely to prefer. Add in a variety of multiplayer modes, the Retro Evolved version of the game that hit it big on XBLA, and score-based goals that encourage daily practice, and you've got a perfect casual game that's still very pleasing to action junkies.

Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles

• Genre: Shooting
• MSRP: $49.99
• Type: Casual
• Why: The on-rails shooting action of Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles is at its core pure arcade-style gameplay. The point-and-shoot interface is quite simple, and the game is actually at its best when played co-op with two players.

Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles could be described as My First Resident Evil. It effectively takes the stories of the classic titles in the sprawling Resident Evil series and compresses them into bite-size, easily digested chunks that you can play out in the form of an on-rails shooter. This is old-school Resident Evil, so you're fighting slow-moving throngs of zombies and mutant animals with a variety of weapons. Fans have a lot of reason to go to the game just to get some backstory clarified, but it's Casual gamers that this title really reaches out to. It explains the entire Resident Evil story simply and clearly, while keeping the action stripped down to little more than shooting at everything you see and trying to be careful with how you use special weapons. The variety of characters you get to use keeps what is basically the same style of gameplay interesting, and getting to unlock new levels as you go offers a sense of accomplishment. This game is rated M so Kids don't need to be playing it, but it's almost at is best with a Serious and a Casual gamer going through it together in co-op.

Madden NFL 08

• Genre: Sports
• MSRP: $49.99
• Type: Casual
• Why: The one game that isn't on Wii Sports is the one that's nearest and dearest to most Americans' hearts: football. The Wii SKU of EA's Madden NFL 08 offers simplified controls to help every armchair quarterback get into the game, and they can be enough to let people who aren't football nuts have some fun, too.

Madden on the Wii is an interesting beast, an experience that's arguably the best possible way to play the game. Sure, it may not have the graphics or online support of the 360 or PS3 versions, but the Wii iteration of Madden has arguably the best controls and greatest fun factor of the lot. This makes it a great choice for Wii owners who are sports fans, or perhaps playing high school or college football themselves. The range of features is robust, letting players manage a full football franchise and play individual games. On the field you can opt to play in a more tactical style, or control individual players. There's even multiplayer options, including some online play that is sure to cater to more competitive players. Swinging the Wiimote to make players kick and punt has a certain novelty that doesn't quite get old thanks to EA's sharp control scheme, so this game is sure to keep football fans coming back for more... until Madden NFL 09 hits stores.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08

• Genre: Sports
• MSRP: $49.99
• Type: Casual
• Why: Tiger Woods offers golf fans a game with more depth and multiplayer fun than its Wii Sports counterpart. The rules and gameplay are easy to pick up, and there's a deep single-player mode to keep sports fans occupied between game parties.

Usually, the first game in Wii Sports to get neglected is Golf. It's a slower and more meticulous game than the others, and playing a session through is likely to leave some players bored or tired of it by halfway through the game. A better option if you want a Wii golf game to please an avid fan and give him some fun multiplayer options is Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08. It's a little rough around the edges, but still the best golf titles the Wii has to offer right now, with a full roster of real-life pro golfers and courses to play around with. The single player is about what you'd expect, developing your golfer through a variety of tournaments with stat tweaks, but what makes the game a worthy gift is its multiplayer. Up to four players can get together to play full courses, individual holes, bet on games, or even putt-putt mini golf. The Wii remote controls for Tiger Woods PGA Tour are quite excellent on the Wii, so it's hard to go wrong with the 08 edition. (Until 09 rolls around, anyway.)

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