BabySitting Mama for Wii is a surprisingly cool game in which players put their Wii-motes into the back of a real-life baby doll, and control the game by interacting with the baby.  In fact, the game looks like something you’d find in the toy aisle, although there are call-outs on the packaging that a Wii game is included with the toy baby.

After you select BabySitting Mama from the Wii menu screen, you’ll insert the Wii-mote into the back of the baby, and from there you’ll be able to control the game using that and the attached nunchuk.  In order to progress in the game, you’ll need to select the Babysitting option from the menu, and the game’s main character Mama will begin to tell you exactly what you need to do to help take care of your baby.

Some examples of the way you control the game are rocking the baby back and forth to calm it, burping the baby by patting it on the back, and soothing the baby by using the nunchuk like a rattle.  In all there’s more than 40 different games and activities that you can do in the game.   And throughout the game, if you jostle the baby too hard or shake it, the game will stop to tell you to make sure never to shake a baby.

There are also a few multiplayer modes for the game in which you two players can simulataneously control babies, such as in a baby race.  The only thing a little awkward about this was how one Wii-mote was inside the baby, but the second player had to just use a regular Wii-mote.

In our testing, we found that older toddlers and young kids were most excited about this product, with the game being more popular with girls as the ages got older.  It was also especially appreciated by families who either had a newborn or with another baby on the way, especially as a great way to prepare toddlers for life with the baby.

BabySitting Mama utilizes the most creative Wii-control system we’ve ever seen, a real-life baby doll.  And while the novelty of controlling the game with a baby was something we definitely enjoyed, the gameplay is actually a very fun mix of using the baby and the nunchuk in some creative mini-games.  In short, we really enjoy BabySitting Mama and it's unique baby-controller, and think is a great game for families with new babies on the way.  We think it's a fun and even educational game that’s appropriate from toddler to teen that will mostly be appreciated by young girls.