Nintendo Wii Fanboy

All-Star Cheer Squad may be a cheerleading game intended for young, "casual" players, but it doesn't sound like THQ and developer Gorilla Games have made a dumbed-down experience at all. If anything, it sounds more complicated than non-cheerleaders can handle, delivering a multifaceted motion-controlled rhythm game that, according to IGN's Mark Bozon, "(pulls) off the DDR-like experience on Wii better than Konami has."

Movements scroll by from right to left, and players are to maneuver the Wiimote and nunchuk into each position when the movement hits the middle of the screen. The game doesn't just judge successful motions, it also awards points for successfully "locking in" each pose (presumably holding still in the target position for a short time). If that's not enough, you can get the Balance Board out and add various step positions to the mix. Cheer Squad even includes a routine editor that can save custom routines to the Wiimote.

We've never had any interest in cheerleading, but as a premise for a rhythm-action video game, it sounds surprisingly fun.

Games publisher THQ announced today that they're adding yet another Wii game to their repertoire (how many is this now?). The subject of the game is, oddly enough, cheerleading, making it the first of its kind.

Unless you're a six-year-old girl, All Star Cheer Squad sounds pretty terrifying -- there's really no other way to describe "squad competitions and one-on-one cheer-offs." The game will also utilize the Balance Board, making it only the third confirmed Wii game to make use of the peripheral.

In case you're wondering what a cheerleading game might entail, it's probably what you'd expect: you learn cheers, make up a few of your own, practice them, and then perform.

So, tell us, readers: how funky is your chicken?

[Thanks, John!]