Her Royal Highness gets a Wii

Your Highness! Surprise!

(Credit: Geek)

Our senior editor Leslie Katz pointed me to this story about the Queen of England getting a Nintendo Wii as a gift, and I thought to myself, "Ah, this is the kind of news that's gonna change the world."

The Royal Wii.

(Credit: Kombo)

Apparently, THQ is doing a huge promotion of the latest release of a Wii game called BIG Family Games. According to THQ product manager Danielle Robinson, it's "the ultimate Wii game to get all family members, from grandparents to young children, playing together."

This game is the newest release in the company's "BIG" range of titles, which have been very successful in the E.U., with more than 600,000 units sold in the summer of 2008. It seems the company believed there was no family in Europe that could better represent the notion of "playing together" than the U.K's ultimate clan.

Secretly though, my interest is the gift itself. I don't yet have a Wii, and this one isn't just like any other you can get for around $200. The package includes a gold-plated console, Wii remote and Nunchuck controllers, and the game itself.

It's unclear whether the console has any special functionality, like the ability to play Blu-ray or even DVD movies. Nonetheless, the gift was delivered to Buckingham Palace on Thursday, and by now, it's pretty much priceless.

It's unlikely her Royal Highness, who just turned 83, will have much interest in the game or the console. At best, she might watch as others, namely the princes, enjoy it for her, as she listens to one of her iPods.