Wii turns things around
Family doctor, Kelly Bearne, has always disliked video games. But since playing the Wii she's continuously demanding re-matches of Wii Sports against her family.
Her opinion on video games changed the day her daughter won a Wii. Before this she allowed no video games to be played under her roof, but now she even holds a family game night with her husband and two children.
"I always thought kids would sit on the sofa playing video games and their brains would turn to mush, but this is totally the opposite of anything I would have thought of."
She thinks that the Wii completely differs from other consoles such as the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. She is very impressed by the exercise you can get out of the Wii and says it has great health benefits whereas other consoles don't.
"They're up and moving about, rather than just sitting on the sofa, and the kids don't think of it as exercise. Kids who don't like exercise do not want you to tell them to go out and ride a bike for 20 minutes, but they might 'box' with their brother for 20 minutes."
Before the Wii was introduced into Kelly's household their game nights used to be about card games and board games. They still play these games from time to time but she thinks that the Wii brings more life and excitement into there gaming time.
Kelly believes that because the Wii can be enjoyed by people of all ages it makes the console unique. Even her parents own a Wii. She enjoys having the Wii for her kids because the system has a lot of educational games to offer, for example, Big Brain Academy.
"Before we had the Wii, I thought video games were totally useless and mindless, but our favourite game is Big Brain Academy," Bearne said, referring to the game with math, memory and logic puzzles that's often used in senior citizens' homes. "The kids love being able to beat us at it."
Here again, the Wii has managed to capture another player to add to its casual audience. But still, I think its great that the Wii managed to change Kelly's whole view on gaming from negative to positive.
Wow, and I thought I was sheltered from video games.
Poor kids.....they'll never live....
SHHHHH! Don't let a 3rd party developer see this or we'll end up with Carnival Games 2!!
SHHHHH! Don't let a 3rd party developer see this or we'll end up with Carnival Games 2!!
I wouldn't even joke, that game sold well. Very well, they will most likely make a sequel.
As much as I like seeing popular publicity for the Wii,
It. Isn't. Exercise.
My heart rate get more elevated when I run up the stairs to the bathroom between tennis matches.
Gonna have to disagree with you skylinedfire. I dont try to get a sweat off of tennis, but off of boxing it actually works quite well. I alter between boxing matches, and punching the hell out of the punching bags. I make it my goal to try to not stop moving and jog in place whenever there is a dull moment....and about forty minutes of that is gonna be better than nothing I'd imagine. Its all about how much effort you put in, and moving your body as much as you can. At any rate, when I'm done with it for the night, my heart is pounding and I'm dripping in sweat, and thats the goal, right? But I can see how it wouldnt work for those who were just half heartedly jabbing and hoping that might "do" something for them. I burn all those calories because I make an enormous effort to do so, and I merely use the boxing Wii game to achieve that.
That being said, I HATE mothers like "Kelly" of this article. Such a sad tired old way to think of video games, so closeminded and stereotypical....so middle America nosey soccer mom-ish....my Mom was the same way, but my Dad was the one to finally relent....
Gonna have to disagree with you skylinedfire. I dont try to get a sweat off of tennis, but off of boxing it actually works quite well. I alter between boxing matches, and punching the hell out of the punching bags. I make it my goal to try to not stop moving and jog in place whenever there is a dull moment....and about forty minutes of that is gonna be better than nothing I'd imagine. Its all about how much effort you put in, and moving your body as much as you can. At any rate, when I'm done with it for the night, my heart is pounding and I'm dripping in sweat, and thats the goal, right? But I can see how it wouldnt work for those who were just half heartedly jabbing and hoping that might "do" something for them. I burn all those calories because I make an enormous effort to do so, and I merely use the boxing Wii game to achieve that.
Correct, but thats what you get with any type of exercise. You get out what you put in. So if you are just performing tiny motions with your Wii remote and expecting you to become fit, you need to try a little harder. If you play lots of boxing etc, like Holly. You will actually get some kind of fitness out of it.
Gonna have to disagree with you skylinedfire. I dont try to get a sweat off of tennis, but off of boxing it actually works quite well.
But you're making the case for 1/5 of one collection of mini-games within a library of 100 or so games.
For this article to say that the Wii has great health benefits is totally unrealistic, even if 1/5 of a game may hold the potential for benefits if you actively do more than the game actually requires.
Gonna have to disagree with you skylinedfire. I dont try to get a sweat off of tennis, but off of boxing it actually works quite well.
But you're making the case for 1/5 of one collection of mini-games within a library of 100 or so games.
For this article to say that the Wii has great health benefits is totally unrealistic, even if 1/5 of a game may hold the potential for benefits if you actively do more than the game actually requires.
WiiFit? You can't deny that WiiFit does offer good exercise.
I didn't think of it because it isn't actually out in the States. It has zero potential for exercise until someone can own one.
So, 6/5 of a game? :-P
i think the point of the article is the wii is a healthier video game than we have ever seen before, there CAN be activity with the wii
unless you are playing your sony/360 on a treadmill, not so much activity
Stupid, brainless adults always making assumptions...
Poor sheltered Kids/adults, never to enjoy actual GOOD games.
Don't parents realize that by denying their kids the chance to play video games they will just want to play them that much more and when they are finally able to play them they'll get carried away and overplay. Almost anything is ok in moderation and gaming is no exception. I do feel sorry for her kids. Don't get me wrong, I like Wii Sports but to think that Wii Sports and Brain Academy are the first and possibly only games these kids ever play...
Gonna have to disagree with you skylinedfire. I dont try to get a sweat off of tennis, but off of boxing it actually works quite well. I alter between boxing matches, and punching the hell out of the punching bags. I make it my goal to try to not stop moving and jog in place whenever there is a dull moment....and about forty minutes of that is gonna be better than nothing I'd imagine. Its all about how much effort you put in, and moving your body as much as you can. At any rate, when I'm done with it for the night, my heart is pounding and I'm dripping in sweat, and thats the goal, right? But I can see how it wouldnt work for those who were just half heartedly jabbing and hoping that might "do" something for them. I burn all those calories because I make an enormous effort to do so, and I merely use the boxing Wii game to achieve that.
Correct, but thats what you get with any type of exercise. You get out what you put in. So if you are just performing tiny motions with your Wii remote and expecting you to become fit, you need to try a little harder. If you play lots of boxing etc, like Holly. You will actually get some kind of fitness out of it.
Thank you, you got my point.