If videogames didn't actually require user participation to be considered "videogames" then Mario Party 3 would be a smash hit. As it happen, videogames that don't actually require user participation are called "cartoons." Mario Party 3 takes a strong foundation of mini-games (many little virtual board games) and youth orientated, multi-player, house-party fun and ruins everything with long protracted, insipid, inconsequential, unavoidable animations that even the cartoon network would be loathe to broadcast. The four-player game is playable (technically), as long as everyone involved has an attention span suited to the protracted, insipid, inconsequential, animations of other players playing out their turns. The single player game, however, is just a great cure for insomnia as you sit and watch not only your own piece, but every single computer operated piece move its way across the playing field. Then, to top things off, you must watch each computer player actually play through the mini-games it triggers. There's no opting out of this, no level of control afford the user who may not want to watch cartoons, who may want to bypass the fluffy filler animations and actually play a game... As it stands, flicking the channels from Tele Tubbies to Goof Troop and back offers the same amount of interaction and more enjoyment.