Children love video games. But historically, video games have been thought to be “bad” for kids because they encourage inactivity in the same way that watching TV does. Nintendo has revolutionized video games with its game console, the Nintendo Wii, which takes the best of video games and combines it with the best of physical games to create a whole new experience.
Many of the games are typical video games, but with the Wii Remote (Nintendo’s form of controller) and Nunchuk, the games become interactive. Players are forced to get off the couch and have to stand up, jump, move, and crouch to play. One game that shows how far video games have come since the days of Pong and Burger Time is Wii Fit. This is an exercise program offered by Nintendo to help players get fit, lose weight, and build balance and muscles. The game comes with a Balance Board that tracks the player’s movements to input data into the system.
When you first launch the game, you are prompted to create a profile. You add your name, birthday, and height, and Balance Board measures your weight and center of balance. After taking your initial body test, you are assigned a “Wii Fit Age”, which gives you a starting point. You can then enter a goal for your weight (including a time period) and as you exercise, the game tracks your progress towards this goal. While exercising, if you find your goal is too easy or too hard, you can easily change it in your profile.
Many of the exercises used by Wii Fit are disguised as games, such as balancing on a tightrope across two tall buildings or shifting your weight on the balance board to drop small balls into holes on a suspended platform. These games help make exercise more fun and make players want to exercise instead of dreading it, as many people do. And as you progress, more games and exercises are unlocked.
With the creation and development of the Nintendo Wii, video games no longer have to be the negative influence that they once were. Players are forced to get up and active in order to play, and instead of sitting around like zombies for hours on end, they are almost as active as if they were playing a sport.
Wii Fit is just one example of the great games Nintendo has to offer that are shattering video game stereotypes. With other system manufacturers likely to follow suit in the future, it’s only a matter of time before gamers are as fit and active as members of sports teams, and the stigma of video games will disappear.