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Wii Aches - Couch Potatoes Working it Up
Genocaust writes "While the new controller on the Wii is proving to be a success, it's turning out to be more effort than some die-hard couch potatoes bargained for. The Wall Street Journal reports on the newest workout regime for nerds." From the article: "In Rochester, Minn., Jeremy Scherer and his wife spent three hours playing tennis and bowling, two of the games included with the Wii. Mr. Scherer says he managed to improve his scores — at the cost of shoulders and back that were still aching the next day. 'I was using muscles I hadn't used in a while,' says Mr. Scherer, a computer programmer who describes himself as 'not very active.' Mr. Scherer is vowing nightly 'Wii workouts' to get in better shape." "Bunnies Don't Know What To Do With Cows", in Rayman, is another guaranteed way to get your arm aching. Cows are heavy, and it takes a lot of energy to throw them.
Honestly, with the way the control scheme works, you CAN be a couch patatoe and play the Wii just fine.
:) When you really get into it is when the workout starts, but its also when the fun begins.
Its just boring
Maybe this could be a solution for Bovine America. If only they could come up with a video game controller that removed excess complacency and enabled one to recognize propaganda, then we might even go back to having a free country again!
It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein
before they make a actual exercise themed game?
Imagine this as the start of a trend -- play video games and still get in shape.
Maybe it'd be worth coming out with an alternative controller, something you'd need to put your whole body into in order to operate it. Say, put it on a weighted stick about 2 feet long.
It has been discussed to death that the wiimote could be the answer for so many overweight gamers (which is a great thing) but how easy is it to damage something (ie: back, arms, neck, tendons, etc) due to prolonged usage of this device? I don't own a wii but how accurate to "real" sports movements is it? Do players have to do unnatural movements at times in order to get things "working"?
[alk]
I think http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/11/13 eloquently puts the point across.
Since the wii has wifi, Sebastion isn't allowed to play with it.
This
I mean really really out of shape. I've known this for awhile, but it's nice that I have something I can do that I enjoy that actually gives me a bit of a workout. My SO and I are playing a lot of Tennis together. It's less of a learning curve and more practical to play a few best of 3 games of tennis every night than to go out and do it in cold wet seattle. And surprisingly, we can work up a sweat after a half hour to an hour of tennis.
The bowling is really easy on the arms. Baseball can be hard on the pitching arm. Boxing is a real work out. And golf is kind of relaxing and is more of a precision game. Several of the Raving Rabbids games have tested our metal. I seem to be really good at the running and rhythm games, and my SO is great at the shooting and fine manipulation games.
All in all, it was fun to notice that little bit of pain in the back of the shoulder that lets you know you got some exercise. Something I rarely feel I can do much of anymore, which is really just a mental block and lazyness on my part. Still, if they could figure out some way to get your legs to workout in this games, it would be something better for youth to do besides the regular sit and stare video games that I grew up with.
This may help the obesity rate among kids. It has been climbing at an alarming pace, and now that we have a workout program disguised as a video game... Things are bound to get better.
www.jmagar.com
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I've been playing quite a bit exploring the landscape of the latest Zelda game. As long as I hold my wrists strait while playing, I've found it a much lighter stress than using a mouse. The closest thing to an ache I've gotten was while playing a precision flying minigame for more than a half-hour - having to hold the pointer perfectly still to pop these stationary balloons as the camera pans around your character's flying figure is akin to trying to hold your hand out in front of your body for a similar time... extremely easy at first, but your muscles do tense from the focus on a position. Sitting cross-legged on a chair, and occasionally resting my elbow on my leg pretty much fixes that issue with me though. Swinging both controllers, almost an endless number of ways and times though, hasn't itself been much of a stress at all, even now at the end of the game, and after going through a 50-floor optional battle-fest.
Nintendo has done a very good job so far making a comfortable and light controller. Players concerned about wrist or arm stress should compare against mouse usage, and be willing to take breaks if they have to do the same when using a mouse. Don't be afraid to rest your arm on something while playing, or to be creative with 'lazy' ways of performing the same action if it must be repeated. And, if it's really an issue, consider getting some cheap light weights (1-5lbs) and do some light exercise while watching TV at night or something - this works for even the oldest or the youngest people out there, from my experience.
Ryan Fenton
Has anyone made a Vorbcast of their trials and tribulations with their Wii's ?
Also, I find this absolutely ridiculous. This article is horribly worded and this quote seems completely out of context. What is harder than playing basketball? The writer seems to make it sound like the kid is talking about actually moving the wiimote around, but I suspect he is actually referring to some specific game being exceedingly difficult to complete. Maybe it gives you a little exercise, but as the spokeswoman from Nintendo says,
I should also point out I do not yet been able to get a Wii.
I just want to know how long before we get some good DDR games, with a supporte mat, for the Wii.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
I get plenty of right-arm exercise in front of my PC, but I could do with something that works on my left arm, and preferably doesn't make you go blind ;)
Oh no... it's the future.
You could make a dance game with extra detail, maybe. Two wiimotes, one in each hand, and a dance mat connected as a standard controller.
Come to think of it, that wouldn't only work for dance games. How about a fighting game? Wii Boxing with fancy footwork...
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
When I was a kid, the only way we could convince our parents to buy us an NES was to convince them that the Power Pad (I think that's what it was called) would encourage us to be more active. I don't know if they really believed us, but that christmas, there was a brand new NES under the tree with the Power Pad. We actually used it for a little while too, though the only game we had for it was some kind of olympic sports game. It soon gathered lots of dust though after we discovered much more fun games. Here's to the new generation of kids who get to convince their parents to get them a Wii "because it will keep them active". And here's hoping that these newer games might be fun enough to keep he kids interested and active.
It's called YourSelf Fitness, and it isn't so much a game as a virtual trainer, I guess... It's strange.
And the system is amazing.
I decided to see how many calories I actually burned, so I attached a small fitness monitor to myself and played away.
After about 20 minutes of play, I was up to 97 calories. That isn't have bad, a very light work out.
The reverse has already been done. "Video games" built into exercise equipment. Many treadmills have a simulated terrain that you run on. The terrain is shown on a really cheesy GDU composed of a grid of LEDs. Other machines, like rowing machines sometimes have an electronic competitor that you race against.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
It has real work out programs designed by nike motion works: cardio, tai chi, yoga, firming exercises, etc.
It's a program that also scales with use. The eyetoy is a better controller than the Wii to me as well, since you can use your whole body. Like the Wii controller you might have to adjust your lighting for perfect useage and keep an area clear for movement. I also suggest getting a mat as well. I was a judoka for a long time, and I still get a good workout from this system.
If you equate "ache" with "injury" then you're just a washed-up, fat, lazy pussy.
I seem to recall having spent upwards of 8 hours on two consecutive days playing Wii games, and only a couple tired me out at all.
It actually hurts less than a traditional controller, because I can keep my hands comfortably separated.
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Unlike us: Slashdot-reading-adults who would never want to do anything as silly and embarassing as waving a remote pretending it was a sword. Though, if instead of sword you got a lightsaber...
but does anyone have any games the recomend for the Wii, I'm pre-ordered zelda today but was also interested in that red steel game... what's good?
(In case your wondering I live in the UK and we get it on the 8th of December)
*''I can't believe it's not a hyperlink.''
Just so you know, this is the new Wiimote, coming next year.
Wiimote 2.0
If Nalgene water bottles are outlawed, only outlaws will have Nalgene water bottles.
When I got Perfect Dark back in 2000, I got INTO shape. I played it so much that I forgot to eat.
Stop with the "Nintendo is for kids" thing. It's not true and honestly, unless you do manual labor for a living (lifting servers and running cable doesn't count) you shouldn't be physically tired when you get home. If you are too tired to play a Wii game then you are probably the one most in need of the little bit of exercise you would get from playing it.
The Wii is the only one of the new systems that is made for adults. Single men under thirty don't count as adults. I don't know one man who wants to come home from work and play adolescent games where you shoot other people. Those games are still pushing the same formula that they did a decade ago when most of us adults got tired of them. I'd rather play a golf or baseball game than Gears of War for the same reason I'd rather spend Saturday playing real golf than I would hanging out with friends.
Make no mistake, the 360 and PS3 are game systems for adolescent boys, not adults. The Wii is the only system that offers gameplay that might be entertaining for an adult or his family. The fact that my six year old son will also find entertaining games on the Wii is a bonus so I won't have to buy a dedicated kids system like PS3.
The global economy is a great thing until you feel it locally.
I find this semi-completely asinine... Getting a workout playing virtual tennis? Save yourself the cash! Why not find a buddy and go to the court in the local park?
That being said, I know there are circumstance where the virtual version might be more beneficial- such as here in New York come winter (8 months of the year), physical disabilities (this could be a good way for rehab patients to workout), etc- but seriously... thats not the majority of people who play this. And the majority probably won't play in workout mode. Oh well. Great compromise Nintendo.
Thanks for typing out what I was thinking :)
Fact is, what constitutes a "kids game" is quite subjective, and people in different age groups tend to feel differently about it. For example, most people who think of Mario as a "little kids game" are probably under 25 (I'm 24 myself, and disagree with Mario, etc being for kids... Ecco Jr. for the Genesis was a little kids game. Its a total other ball park).
Ironicaly, the previous poster mentionned coming back home wanting to get high and drink, which (if we're going by stereotypes, in the same way one can associate the Wii with kid games), tends to be associated with hormonal frat college teens, a group which are seen as "kids" by about anyone above 30 and a little less.
So honestly, away with the stupid stereotypes. Fun knows no age.
They'll still be obese. They'll just have huge wrist muscles from flicking their wrist every time they have to swing the sword in Zelda.
"When I first heard Daydream Nation it quite frankly scared the living shit out of me." -- Matthew Stearns
"I AM A FISH!"
Mr. Rimmer, this is the 11th time you've failed the astro-navigation exam. Don't you think you're just not cut out to be an officer?
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As a college student, I can safely say that many Nintendo games, both old and new (Super Smash Brothers Melee and SNES Mario Kart, to name a couple) are quite popular in that particular age range.
Personally, I'd say the only legitimate "Nintendo is for kids" argument would be concerning the online play, where your identity is hidden to the extent that you aren't even allowed to exchange text messages with randomly assigned opponents. Great for kids, of course, but for the older crowd, a system like that tends to get a bit tedious.
I think we can now officially declare humanity to be doomed when exercise means playing a video game. Could the last human please turn out the light when they leave? Oh, and remember to turn off the console and plasma TV too.
... and then they built the supercollider.
I whole heartedly agree with you. Except I am not legally within the age range you speak of as being adult. Well said all through though.
"Thanks for all the money you paid to us. We've used it to buy off ISO among other things" -Microsoft
I bet he blames it on Aliens. Smeg-head.
Or was it the Quaagars? Or the Dispair Squid making Rimmer be so pathetic?
What I woulden't pay for some of that Sexual Magnetism Virus though.
If someone ate meatloaf 11 times in their life I'd hardly call that contantly... I'd call that a rare, nay freak occurance!
Ironically enough, I'm pretty positive that if Lucas Art comes out with a -good- game from the Jedi Knight serie on the Wii that correctly uses the Wiimote, the Wii sales for the next few months after launch will flat double.
A friend of mine was playing Wii Tennis with me last night, and he ended up twisting his knee hard and going down for several minutes from the pain after he accidentally wedged his boot under the egde of my couch while playing.
On another note, I've seen a couple photos of people's cracked TV's, claiming that the two little strings that hold the wrist strap on snapped. The way I play I was skeptical of this happening, but the way my friends were flinging the controller quickly towards the TV I'm pretty sure this can and will continue to happen unless Nintendo reinforces those little strings.
Most of the Mario "kiddie" games you speak of are far more difficult than the majority of the "grown-up" games out there. GTA for instance is a cake walk next to Super Mario Brothers 2 or Mario Sunshine. The myth of Nintendo being a kiddie console is one perpetuated mainly by teens and preteens that think they are too old to play a game with a cartoony main character. Once you grow up you will find that its ok, mario is no threat to your manhood. Oddly enough you will also generally find that immaturity in gaming is usually on the violence for violence's sake crowd. In the end its all about fun and a challenge, Nintendo does a good job of delivering both.
Very well said indeed. As I've said before, I have never had a Nintendo console before, but I'll be getting myself a Wii. True next gen gaming, in that they're attempting something new. And the fact it might get me fit is just a bonus. I do suspect the grand-parent was indulging it a little trolling, due to the number of times he said "kid".
The Wii is the only one of the new systems that is made for adults. Single men under thirty don't count as adults.
You made a good point and sounded intelligent up until that comment.
I'd rather play a golf or baseball game than Gears of War for the same reason I'd rather spend Saturday playing real golf than I would hanging out with friends.
What? You don't like hanging out with friends? Have you lost your social life outside of your family? So single men under thirty aren't adults, and you'd rather play golf than hang out with friends. You sound like an unhappy married man (since you think single men don't qualify as adults) who probably didn't go to college (I say that because you seemed to allude to college students being the "adolescents" who play first person shooters) and is unhappy with his job that he started right out of high school, but that would just be my guess.
That doesn't really matter though. You do realize that you just stereotyped "single men under thirty" while bitching about the stereotype that Nintendo is for kids. Its a lot more convincing when you practice what you preach.
I'm a 23 year old college student, which is probably why I was so irritated with your comment, who loves the GameCube, not to mention the other systems. My roommates and I play Mario Tennis all the time when friends come over before we go out on the weekends. We play Mario Party with our girlfriends. The Mario games are our favorites on the system, and we have probably gotten more use out of the GameCube than the other systems we own.
I'm a little confused on why you say that the Wii is the only new system for your definition of adults while your only reason for that is that adults like sports games more than FPSs. Historically, the PS and XBox have more sports games than Nintendo, unless you are counting all of the Mario sports games. I admit I haven't reviewed the latest list of games for the systems, but even if there are more sports games out for the Wii at the moment, I doubt that that will be the case in another year since, as far as I know, it hasn't been the case in the past.
Finally, my 63 year old father loves the PS2 and plans to buy the PS3. This is because he doesn't like games that require manual dexterity, and the PS2 has the largest concentration of RPGs (which usually don't require hand-eye coordination). He doesn't like sports games and is not interested in the Wii or the thought of using its controllers. The PS3 is the system to most likely have a large number of "standard" RPGs (by that I mean games like Breath of Fire, Dragon Warrior, and FF instead of Zelda or Secret of Mana), so that is what my father wants and the PS3 is the only system for him, a married man over 30.
It's not true and honestly, unless you do manual labor for a living (lifting servers and running cable doesn't count) you shouldn't be physically tired when you get home. Okay I'm with you except for this. What I do is not physically challenging in any sense of the term. But both my spouse and I are often exhausted at the end of the day. Most people work more than 8 hours a day unfortunately, and add in travel time etc. it gets rough. I'm a 34 year old physics major doing major catch up in math & sciences (because neither were heavily required for the degree in psychology *sigh*). I'm bone tired at the end of the day, and ready to sleep all weekend (as if I could) by Friday. If I had kids to boot...yikes! All that being said, exercise helps with that kind of fatigue. It's just easy to wimp out at the end of a long day. It's incredibly easy to justify with 'I just spent 6 hours in a lab, 5 more on equations, and now I have to do pre-lab reports AAAAH' I want to veg. out.' But I like gaming. I like gaming a lot more than going to a gym, going for a walk, riding my bike (and I really like riding my bike) and more than vegging out in front of the television. I suspect the Wii Workout will be the majority of my 'exercise' next semester. Which suits me just fine if I can also get a decent workout from it to boot along with gaming. :)
Maybe Japan finally realized with North Korea rattling sabers that having of their youth sitting on a couch being fat, lazy, and brain-dead wasn't so great long term.
Americans reject the idea and make new controllers in 3... 2... 1...
- Adam L. Beberg - The Cosm Project - http://www.mithral.com/
I partially disagree with your argument. Before I start, I'm 21 and finishing up college (not your typical party guy though).
I think Nintendo heavily targets kids, age ranging from around 6-15. What really makes me agree with the statement is that most of the core games Nintendo releases (most especially Mario) is more-or-less an interactive cartoon. I don't mean this just visually, but the story lines are similar to those that you might encounter in a Nickelodeon cartoon (at least the classic ones, I'm not up to speed with current cartoon trends). Often characters in these games do not die, or if they do it is only implied; Mario just falls off the screen or falls on his back, you don't see blood all over the ground as you would with, say, Quake on the Xbox. A lot of the games are simple, and the story lines are not so complex that a kid wouldn't be able to follow it -- although there are of course exceptions. This really sways me to think Nintendo is the family company of the bunch, they really target kids in a safe and friendly environment.
My dad (45) never plays video games. Once upon a time he had an Atari 2600 and quite a collection of classics (Galaga among his favorites). He wouldn't touch a SNES, N64, or GameCube, and I can understand that -- with the Atari you have a joystick and a button, but with each generation the technology took leaps ahead, and now the GameCube has what.. 8 buttons, a directional pad, and two joysticks? For an adult who might have been a casual game player, this might seem intimidating if he was trying to get back into it after 20 so years. I think this is really how you are seeing the Wii appeal to adult users. The Wii has the latest technology, but in a form that any adult can pick up and immediately begin experimenting with without a lot of hesitation or intimidation. If the developers play their cards right, I can really see people like my dad picking up a Wii and playing it from time to time. However, the key here is probably with minigames, and I see this happening already (Sports and Rayman). If games have been out of your life for 20 some odd years, you likely will not be interested in picking up a game that will take several weeks of casual play to complete (ex, Zelda), rather some game you can play for 10 or 15 minutes then put down.
With this, I think Nintendo targets both kids and adults, maintaining a family appearance, but still appealing to adults.
Am I wrong?
Most people think that exercising and waving your arms around while playing video games defeats the games purpose. But i think its brilliant, its kind of like an RPG simulator console so you are the character. plus i need the exercise, watching star trek and playing on my PSP all day isnt really good for my health. -Zonk, how do you know so much about the gaming world?
Try cutting out MSG and High Fructose Corn Syrup from your diet. I cut just those two things and found my never-ending daily fatigue has all but gone away.
I'm not saying it will work for you, but it's done wonders for me. Oh, and MSG "hides" as all kinds of things like textured proteins and autolyzed yeasts.
Anyway, I'm less tired all the time and I'm losing weight. I'm now trying to start exercising regularly... at least now I have the energy for it.
Red team go, red team go!
I smell a repetitive stress injury in the making and products liability lawsuits to follow.
This isn't exactly new. DDR was quite a workout just a few years ago, and Nintendo themselves had that goofy controller pad for sports games some 15 years ago. I'd bet our current bushel of couch potatoes won't get much out of swinging a half-pound chunk of plastic around. But time shall tell.
No sig for you. YOU GET NO SIG!
This whole Wii thing is turning out to have more of a wii-action than most people bargained for!
Way to take a not-bad point and stretch it all to hell.
We know Nintendo games go beyond sheer kiddie value for elegant gameplay reasons, but don't kid yourself, its a game with characters that have names like Princess Peach, Luigi, and Toad, and its coloured like an angry fruit salad. The fact that one can look past the PlaySkool elements to see the interesting game design beneath does not somehow elevate the entire enterprise into the realm of what most adults would call ... adult.
A console is not made for any range group ("make no mistake" - i love that phrase. end of debate!) Get a grip. There is no 'adult game'. There are only games we sometimes don't like small kids to play. That's it.
If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
I don't have my Wii yet, but I actually bought Rayman in anticipation and played it on a friend's console.
Anyways, there's this one game where you're looking at a beach, and rabbits in scuba gear are coming towards you from underwater. You've got to shoot them with carrot juice. You use the wiimote to aim the hose, and you rapidly move the nunchuk up and down to pump carrot juice...
You know, I would have thought that I'd have more staying power in that game, but holy hell was I wrong. Maybe I was pumping too hard, but my arm was fricking tired at the end of the, I think, 50 seconds you needed to last to beat it.
"Single men under thirty don't count as adults."
I'd like to see you explain that to the marine corps.
Damnit son!
Sports are for men, men are for sports.
Don't you get it!
None of this cartoon wops jumping on mushrooms crap.
Informative. :)
I grew up in Wyoming, where I never saw a crosswalk, and to cross when cars were coming meant death. We Wyomingites often go to Salt Lake for rock shows and whatnot. It took me several trips down there to understand that you had to stop for the people in the stripey line zone. Stoplights I understood...but these fools were just out in the middle of the road! I must have chased hundreds back onto the sidewalk before I finally got it...couldn't figure out what the hell was WRONG with those people.
So if you're walking in Salt Lake, keep a wary eye out for those Wyoming license plates. They have the little cowboy on them.
For those who don't get it, the Wii is going to make doing a bit of exercise FUN. I used to lift weght's, but it's SO BORING; lift, return, repeat, rest.
http://my.telegraph.co.uk/dublinclontarf
Rednecks drive Pick-ups, muscle car/hot rods, and slammed Hondas.
/.= al qaeda
hey the captcha is "phosgene"
as in Allah be Praised the Blind Imam says release the phosgene in the infidel's city
That's changing with the Wii. Nintendo designed a controller adults could also use, packaged a bunch of sports games adults would want to play, and are spending $200 million on an ad campaign targeting adults and non-gamers. Hardcore types still get games like Zelda, but Nintendo wants everybody playing the Wii.
"Sufferin' succotash."
Great for kids, of course, but for the older crowd, a system like that tends to get a bit tedious.
Well, that depends. Personally, I find it a real turn-off when 12-year-olds curse you out using l337 speak online. Yes, you can usually get around it by blocking them or turning off chat, but what if you can't stand the way that your own teammate speaks? Turning the chat off puts you at a significant disadvantage. At least with Nintendo's way, everyone has that disadvantage. I'm not saying that it doesn't come at a cost, but it's a cost that I'm willing to pay for a more pleasant experience.
I wonder if it would be possible to program a decent opponent's AI for such a game. In other words, would a computer be able to give a decent fight? And not to mention the problem with interaction with player: what do you do when swords clash, but the hand holding the remote keeps going when it (in-game) should stop?
My girlfriend and I started playing Wii together (she pretty much hates all video games and I'm a gamer dork) and we have pretty much decided that Wii Sports Boxing is an awesome workout..
A few 3-round fights and both of us are catching our breaths.. (We're not in bad shape either.. she's 21 and I'm 24). The one thing the Wii does is get my ass off the couch. Even when I'm playing games like Zelda or Red Steel, I find myself standing up intently and precisely swinging the Wiimote around.
Boxing, though, is a whole different kind of workout.. I've done real boxing - and there's nothing like it. But, with Wii boxing, you can actually beat up your girlfriend and feel good about it. I love how intuitive it is.. She hasn't played any video games except for Grand Theft Auto (and that she did rarely) and she beats me about as often as I beat her.
I will admit, the graphics for the Wii are HIGHLY dissappointing. They are seriously bad. I would've thought Nintendo would at LEAST improve them somewhat to look halfway-decent on a 720p HDTV. Oh well.. Maybe in the next round of console wars we'll get a Nintendo system that's a ton of fun to play AND has good graphics. I agree with Nintendo, though.. gameplay is definitely key. There's a reason I have a Gamecube and a Wii.. and no Xbox or PS2 (or the newer ones.)
--- We need more Ron Paul!
I don't know exactly how this controller-thing works, but the article got me interested. I mean, is there a Wii version of "Leisure Suit Larry", and corresponding controllers, or uhm, stuff?
Rome taught me patience and assiduous application to detail. Virtues which temper the boldness of great, general views.
I'm reviewing a Wii for a magazine, and after 3 hours of bowling, tennis and baseball, my arms and back are killing me!
Who moderated parent as a troll?
The guys is giving a PS3 for free if someboidy hacks into it.
How long... before they make a actual exercise themed game?
The WarioWare: Smooth Moves game will have a number of different exercise-based minigames, including running, squats, jump-roping, and so forth. There's a short video here.
Personally though, I can't wait until somebody makes some kind of Glowstick Revolution game for it. The Wiimote form factor is just asking for it. I'm not sure what would be a good visual interface for conveying glowstick maneuvers, though.
Pretty well put. The grandparent post lashes out at an attitude that it in itself exudes. The point should be that any general characterization of modern systems is inaccurate because interests among the classic demographics vary pretty widely.
Can you say "Dance Dance Wiivolution"? I thought you could...
begging the question is totally different from "raising the question". Please, stop BTQ abuse.
"Drum Hero"
What an absurd statement. I happen to play PC games of exactly that genre (FPS games) at an online community that caters specifically to mature gamers like you describe. The thousands of members of TacticalGamer would certainly disagree with you.
The activity factor is the very reason I like the Wii rather than other static form of gaming. I don't have one yet but it certainly looks like fun.
Do the Wii remotes have rumble? I've read reviews about how boxing and golf feel weird due to no feedback, even a small bit of rumble would help to make it feel more real and also help you gauge your response.
I'm the champion Wii boxer in my group of friends, so I'm always up, and the only way to be really good at boxing is to throw your arms fast for the punches, and I can say from first hand experience, my shoulders are killing me. It really feels like I went to the gym after a long absence. Incidentally, I haven't been to the gym in 4 years, so that probably didn't help. It's totally worth the pain though. Every single night since I've had it, I've had a party at my apartment. It's great game when you have beer pong in the other room, and the people who aren't playing can box or golf or whatever.
I don't know one man who wants to come home from work and play adolescent games where you shoot other people.
The entire American army right now hates your guts.
I got to play the baseball game with my brother-inlaw's system (his wife camped out at 3:30 am to get his birthday present a month early).
When you get a solid hit (e.g. a homer or a double), there is a short rumble in the controller. I almost dropped the thing the first time it shook on my (nobody told me about it, and its remote-like appearance threw me off).
science is a religion
I've been playing the 1st Wii Tennis training mini-game to get a nice aerobic workout. It's simple enough to keep going without much frustration. What I do is take a step forward on the same foot as the arm I'm swinging with and when the character gets close to the net, I'll switch it up and side step in the direction of the swing. About half an hour of that I get a good workout.
That's easy, clashes shouldn't hold like in the movies. Tn the game you're probably trying to harm the person not carry on a convo about parenting. If the swords do 'lock' in game, it gets marked a block and it pushes your character back to a 'reset position'.
I'm sure if managed properly people could get good at forcing people off edges (or into corners), with timed blocks...
He's right, you know. Wii is for kids.
-"I still believe in revolution; I just don't capitalize it anymore." - srini!
If we're all going to be getting exercise from this, I think a lot of people would be interested in increasing that by using heavier controllers. Also, I have to wonder if it's good for your elbows to be swinging your arms wildly for a long time with no real weight on them.
Quit whoring your lame site on any article that mentions games. If you have something to say, say it in your comment.
--
WHO ATE MY BREAKFAST PANTS?
> I'd rather spend Saturday playing real golf than I would hanging out with friends.
Uh, for most players, "real golf" is a place to hang out with their friends...
I've never been outside the United States ever, so I can't be certain about the rest of the world, but in the United States it's pretty much impossible to eat any pre-made food that doesn't contain a corn product of some kind.
There are lots of reasons.:
Generally, I prefer real sports to console sports, but they do quite simply occupy a different niche in my life. Playing Wii Sports takes away from my console playing time, not from my sports time. I'm doing more physical activities, not replacing real sports with Wii sports.
I had been thinking the Wii sounded much better than the PS3 with its current level of games and now I really would like to get a Wii!
It would be *extremely* cool to have a number of wireless sensors you can strap arond parts of your body and with maybe soft bands you can close with velcro, and do a daily workout to the Wii. It could either be a game (like those embedded games for exercise bikes) or maybe a game-like monitor of how your progress goes. With sound and maybe images (though probably wouldn't be looking at the screen) it can see if you are slacking towards the end, or how high an angle you get on your leg lifts, etc.
This would be great for rehabilitation, and if it can store your progress you could even get a graph, and maybe a suggestion to add a few reps. If nothing else as a timer it would be useful, for example I do leg lifts to rehabilitate my knees from a skiing accident and though once in a while I get psyched up, it is boring, you have to look at a watch to time so many seconds of each part, and so on.
I would be willing to plunk some cash down if I could get some of these sensors and a monitoring app for the Wii that would accompany me with these leg lifts and why not pushups and situps too? With the Wii you could do pushups with a cartoon bear on your back telling you to suck it in!
Anyway I'd also like to say I would prefer trying a golf game than a shooting game after work too. And I have gone 6 months without watching my TV either and done just fine but I would hook it up again for this kind of a "game". If Nintendo knows what's good for them they'll start a new division for this stuff.
Sony of course will just never get it. I was hyped about their supercomputer stuff promised for the PS3 but so far it just looks like a bunch of overheated silicon that can only be put through its paces by large companies willing to brave the brink of bankruptcy for years on end. And I also was upset to play the PS2 with my very young nephews, all the titles they had were very violent, and made them uneasy, or were just too hard to play!
Just from what I've heard so far, Wii is undoubtedly the best game machine out there and undoubedly has the best games. I may not be representative but I am attracted to machines by one or two interesting looking games. For the Saturn I liked the Nights game (Japanese), and there are two music games that would make me buy a DS. Doing sports is fine but if you have little time, or just want some pure fun, or have a family, the Wii sounds right on target.
Ah, yes, the classic "games where you shoot other people" genre. I'd hate to be doing something that was formulaic a decade ago. Give me a modern, fresh game like... golf. A game where everyone aspires to consistancy.
Seriously, if you think all of these games are the same, you don't know enough about the genre. It's like saying all golf courses are pushing the same formula. Sure, but there are variations to the theme that make them each interesting in their own right. And there's people lined up to tell you that your golf hobby marks you as a boy in a man's body, just like with video games and every other activity on earth. Starting a pissing contest about who's a man is one of my qualifications, personally.
Generally what I've noticed seperates the men from the boys, is not maturity, but the definition of cool and how much they really care about it.
Example: I have collected a wide variety of music borrowing CD's and ripping them. Sooner or later my collection comes under inspection from people from work and all the younger guys are dismayed at some of the (uncool) things in there while the older guys are jazzed that I have a lot of music that they like.
2nd Example: I am currently looking for a brand new car. I would love to get a new truck or SUV to replace my loyal Tacoma, I was thinking either a crew cab Tacoma, FJ cruiser, or the new Jeep Unlimited, but my reality is that I now live in England after moving from the deserts of California where such vehicles would have done fine. England has some of the smallest roads you've ever seen and parking can be quite the premium. I have to fold my mirrors and still barely have any clearance to get into my garage, so I've started looking at small cars, in particular the Mini. Again all the younger guys are dismayed at the "gayness" of my choice. Of course unlike them I can actually afford to buy the loaded version which with all the extras, which turns the Mini into a low level, terrain following cruise missile, lot's of fun and hardly gay. As with the music, the older guys in the shop think it's a kick-ass idea.
In the past I've noticed most, not all, younger guys wouldn't be caught dead buying a game cube, or any of the previous Nintendo offers, as they we're "kid's games". That was until they were over at a friend's house and got sucked into a few crazy rounds of drunk Mario cart and other Mario games. The orgins of these purchases usually either for their kids or for or by the wife/girlfriend. It was after the fact playing a few games with their loved ones that they suddenly realized hey these are some pretty kick-ass games, and in turn got their single friends to join in on the fun.
Again all the younger guys are dismayed at the "gayness" of my choice.
Rest assured that outside of the USA, stuff like the Tacoma, FJ cruiser and 'new Jeep Unlimited' (ok I admit, I don't know what the hell any of those are) are considered just as gay as the Mini is by your friends back home.
MSG is not bad for you:
"Our study showed that people who believed they reacted to monosodium glutamate were as likely to respond to the placebo (a substance containing no monosodium glutamate) as to monosodium glutamate, although the most common reaction was none at all." Dr Leonid Tarasoff, Former Chair of Chemistry, University of Western Sydney, and MSG Researcher.
"The public perception that MSG causes many adverse effects is certainly not borne out of scientific research well-documented clinical studies have failed to confirm adverse health effects from ingestion of MSG." Associate Professor Connie Katelaris, Head of Allergy Unit, Westmead Hospital.
If you really want to lose weight, cook everything yourself, from raw ingredients (like vegetables, rice, chicken). Don't be afraid to add MSG :-).
My pics.
Will the extra exercise gain support for video games or lose it? I wonder the affect this will have on american obesity, and sadly I also wonder the "legal" effects. I can see someone arguing that having to move the controller realistically is the next step in the evolution of murder simulators.
You can tell me MSG is not bad for me and maybe it's not causing any long-term damage. But I know when I've eaten it and that it makes me feel bad.
When I eat it, I get a fuzzy dull headache and feel "hot" like I have a fever. If I get a lot, I feel bad like you feel when a bad cold is starting... a stiffness in the chest, etc. In fact, my ex-girlfriend reminds me of many days I would call her to cancel plans because I thought I was coming down with a bad cold. But the next day I would be fine.
I don't know what made me think of MSG, but I decided to cut it out. I had it out of my diet for more than 2 weeks and never had the symptoms. No headaches, no "hot flashes", etc. Then I ate soup at a chain restaurant. Within an hour the fuzzy headache was there and I had the hot feeling all afternoon... soon with the feeling like I was getting sick.
It happened again at Thanksgiving. Shortly after the meal I started to feel it. I managed to narrow it down to the green-bean casserole I ate. It was made with a common brand of cream of mushroom soup - that has MSG in it.
Maybe it's something else, or maybe it is all all in my head, but I know that if I avoid it, I feel much better and when I eat it, I feel bad. It's a simple choice for me.
There is lots of research going both ways. The food industry likes MSG because it makes crappy ingredients taste better, and there's lots of research to support that. There are people who feel it's a health risk (a drug more than an allergen) and there's research supporting it.
What I do know is how much better I feel simply cutting MSG and HFCS from my diet. Otherwise, I still eat a lot of crap and don't exercise. But, I feel much better... rarely have headaches, indigestion happens only a couple times a month, and the extreme fatigue I'm used to is gone. I feel like a new person. It's a simple change that is working well for me. I highly recommend it for anyone else who is always tired, has lots of headaches, and otherwise feels crappy all the time. I post about it often and have gotten lots of good feedback from people who have tried it with great success.
On the other hand, I know people who were raised on MSG and have no adverse reactions.
Miyamoto himself is set to make a workout game.. however there are more options... tae-bo games for instance. Or virtual jump rope.. two controllers representing the ends of the jump rope, and if you jump you and the controllers would go up, and the Wii can register that.. The Wii controller is really inspiring me into new gaming ideas... the possibilities are endless. Ice-Hockey games could be made fun and intuitive.. even basketball. And bow and arrow shooting.. press A to hold the string, and pull the string by moving the Wii controller backwards, release the A button to release! That would feel quite real! (you've got sound from the controller too!).
Has your compagny got a great product that deserves to be a hit? Let it be advertised, and be a hype - Hype.co.nr
Yes
Actually... the sensor in the Wii will pick up small motions too. You don't have to work out every time you play, but you look stupid sitting on the couch when the person next to you is jumping up and down.
uhm.. you are aware that MSG stands for monosodium glutamate, which is one of the results of protein hydrolysis. what i am trying to say is every time you ingest proteins, your stomach "produces" MSG, so i can't see how it can make you feel ill..
:X
anyways, good luck with that
As a single under 30 I can say this is completely not true for me. The reason I won't be caught dead buying a game cube is because its games don't cater to me. I prefer roleplaying games that focus on the storyline. Instead I get The Sims 2: Pets, Super Mario Strikers and Teen Titans. Even with the RPGs it claims to have I get Pokemon, Harvest Moon, Lord of the Rings. While there might be one or two good games on the system, its hardly worth an entire console for them.
Any game that requires you to get drunk to enjoy is a bad game.
Any game that is not even more fun while drunk, is a bad game.
Personally, I'd say the only legitimate "Nintendo is for kids" argument would be concerning the online play, where your identity is hidden to the extent that you aren't even allowed to exchange text messages with randomly assigned opponents. Great for kids, of course, but for the older crowd, a system like that tends to get a bit tedious.heh, i doubt that "feature" is for the kids but rather for the parents buying into the swell of "everyone on the internet is a child molestor" mindset perpetuated by the news media. nintendo is likely just covering their own ass.
I bet you a fiver he doesn't get headaches from eating meat and cheese products.
Psychosomaticism is awesome.
Don't be pissed that you're not an adult.
Actually, because Nintendo prevents random chat, I would say that it is a system for adults. Preventing random online chat is not to protect 12 years old boys from 35 years old maniacs saying "Hey, wanna see my Wii?", it's to protect the 35 years old men from the 12 years old boys screaming "Doodz! You suXor fucktard!".
After 3 days without programming, life becomes meaningless
- The Tao of Programming
I think the "blood all over the ground" games actually targets young males aged 12 to 25, who needs a rush of violence to enjoy something. Most enjoyable games have no blood at all, or only simulated or "cartoony" violence, which doesn't appeal to young males, but that the rest of the mature population enjoys (see chess, or just about any board game). Only kids and immature adults need blood and violence.
Or the storylines are simple enough that someone can play half an hour on saturday, then be busy during the week (doing, I don't know... work maybe?), and then play again the next saturday without being completely lost because they forgot a little detail in the storyline, like that they need to go talk to the yellow-haired gnome in the third village in order to progress.
So called complex storylines are for people who can afford to play several hours a week, which are either kids, or retired people.
After 3 days without programming, life becomes meaningless
- The Tao of Programming
What you're describing is probably a psychosomatic reaction. It can be quite intense, but that is most probably what it is.
I should know, I had a psychosomatic condition for a number of years and am happily completely free of it, since I was able to face up to that and move on. It can be very nasty, and it feels absolutely real, and you can't just turn around and wish it away easily.
Monosodium glutamate, and the disodium monophosphates, are actually harmless and naturally occurring in many foods; you have a whole tastebud group for that flavour (it's the "savoury" taste, umami). They're not drugs; and they're used as food additives, and are no more unusual than salt in that respect (and often used in conjunction with it).
But, you know, whatever works for you.
Chords = music and geometry.
I wonder what kind of snsors can be added to this thing. Can we get some sort of "End of Days" experince gong here? We can put on the brain bucket and experince the ultimate internet computer sex imaginable. Think of the possiblities. Who cares about bowling or tennis. I wana get a real work out...
Paul E. Bahre
In the past I've noticed most, not all, younger guys wouldn't be caught dead buying a game cube, or any of the previous Nintendo offers, as they we're "kid's games".
I'm sorry, but just like the parent of my original post, I think you're completely wrong. This is the same stupid stereotyping. I've bought every Nintendo system (except for the GameCube which my roommate bought) since the original Nintendo. Maybe that is what sets me apart from these people you're talking about who think that the Nintendo is for kids. I've played the Nintendo since the beginning and loved the games. I would call the systems more "light-hearted" than the others, but I wouldn't say its for kids. If you look back at the history of the systems, the Nintendo wasn't branded as the system for kids sometime between the Nintendo 64 and GameCube, so it isn't fair to say that all the Nintendo generations were for kids. This is something that is relatively new in the history of games.
Also, as I said before, I'm 23 and in college (at the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign), and I would say that the GameCube is almost as commonplace as the PS2 or Xbox. Most of my friends who share apartments with a group have a GameCube. They may also have Xboxs and PS2s, but those are generally bought by single people where the GameCube is more of a community purchase. If you want to say that the GameCube is popular among kids or people living with friends or girls or Nintendo fanboys or any other group that likes it, that's fine, but enough with this bullshit that "adult males" won't buy Nintendo systems. I'm a 23 year old male in college, and I'm buying a Wii. One of my roommates is a 20 year old male (who drives an old Thunderbird and would fit your definition of someone who doesn't want to be an adult) and he is also buying a Wii so he has it when he goes home to play with friends. No one in my apartment plans to buy a PS3 until at least March when the next shipment comes in (and hopefully the prices will drop a little). We have tried to buy an Xbox 360 when we see special sales like the T-day Amazon 1000 for $100 sale, but we aren't going to spend full price for one. The Wii is not just for kids.
PATHETIC.
I agree with the tag.
What's next, finger weights for chronic typists?
Do not downmod posts "overrated" simply because you disagree with them.
As a 45-year-old who grew up with games from Pong through the 2600, Atari 800, etc., I'll second this. I used to wish that games (especially simulations, like flight) would get more realistic. But it definitely seems like "realism" has supplanted gameplay these days in the eyes of the game makers. There are few easy-to-pick-up, hard-to-master games out there. And at $45 USD a pop, it's kind of expensive to experiment. This is why I'm going back to my roots this holiday season...I just picked up an Atari Flashback 2 (http://www.atari.com/us/games/atari_flashback2/78 00) console for my 7-year-old daugther and I to play on. The games are a snap to pick up, and much more enjoyable because I can play head-to-head against someone else. 40+ games for 20 bucks. 50 cents a game...heck, not even the vintage arcade games can match that.
Honest anwser, because you may not be physically able to. My mother loves Tennis, but now has bad knees and can't play anymore. She really got into WiiSports Tennis, and My dad liked the golf game. My parents (who are retired and don't play video games) now want a Wii.
1) The Wiimote takes 2 AA batteries. Energizer make great 2500 mAh rechargeables, I recommend them highly.
2) Mileage varies by games. I'm getting away with 4 Wiimotes and 2 nunchucks total. When in doubt you can get the nunchchuck later.
Ok, now jumping in on the previous conversation about the games. Madden is hella fun, and they put ALOT of thought & effort in the controlls. You want to throw a pass, you throw a pass. Stiff arm? You just do it. Catch a pass? Throw both hands in the air like you're catching it. Tackle? Thrust both hands forward like you are playing '2 hand touch football'.
It actually has MORE content, and game modes than any other version of Madden out there. The only thing it's missing is online modes, but I suspect we'll see that for '08. If you like (American) Football, even if you weren't big on Madden, It's worth a rental to try out.
Nope. Even if they did, look at your GameCube component cables again. Notice anything missing? If you could use them on the Wii, you wouldn't have sound. Anyway, they are currently on backorder, but the Component Wii cables are on Nintendo's online store and run $30 + shipping.
The reviewers must have had it turned off in the settings, as it was always in the design. It is in the final product, and works great. The nunchuck attachment also has a motion sensor so you use that and the Wiimote for boxing.
When you get a solid hit (e.g. a homer or a double), there is a short rumble in the controller.
Depending on your background noise you might have missed something else. The CRACK of the bat as it hits. There is a speaker in the remote for these types of applications. You get VERY immersive feedback in Wiisports Tennis, and Baseball for this reason.
http://del.icio.us/bkd69/fitness
Mostly gaming stuff, but some non gaming stuff, like palm pilot software and polar fitness monitors.
bkd
Nope, you cannot. The rub here is because the IR sensor they have doesn't detect motion. That is soley for the laser pointer / lightgun function. I can't imagine any of the WiiSports games would play particularly well from the couch, but I suppose it's possible. The basic method of getting people off the couch is the old fashioned "Quit being an asshat, and stand up!"
As a happily-married, degree-holding gaming man of 40, I completely understand why the original poster made the comment about not wanting to "hang out with friends".
The truth of the matter is that -- at least in my experience -- my interactions with friends changed drastically after age thirty-eight. I don't know if it's a function of age, or experience, or increased responsibilities, but I no longer have the energy I once had to face other people's issues. My family fills my time. The idea of dealing with other people's baggage -- even during a LAN party or console day -- has become wearisome.
I have a quite a nice circle of friends. Nevertheless, we see less of each other than we used to, and that's really okay. Indeed, I'd rather go out cross-country skiing or hiking than make my ass go numb in front of another marathon game of Starcraft these days.
I just had to raise my hand to say "I get where he's coming from completely."
"'My Country Right or Wrong'is like saying 'My mother, drunk or sober,'" -- Chesterton
I have no mod points, so I'll show my support for the previous post here.
Seriously, that's pathetic. I have a Wii and none of the games out require any sort of excessive physical exersion. If playing Wii wears you out you don't need to play more Wii for exercise. You need to get off your fat ass and get a membership to the YMCA. You need to do push ups and sit ups. You need to jog. One of the biggest problems with America is that everyone is fat and lazy. When you go to Europe you're not surrounded by fat asses everywhere you go (okay, somewhat in England, but it's not nearly as bad as over here). How can one live obscenely obese without the desire to change? Being healthy requires two things: proper diet and physical activity. It's not rocket science. You don't need miracle diet pills or Atkins or whatever the fuck bullshit people try to sell. If you're fat, eat less (or better) and exercise more. There are no excuses.
This is the same stupid stereotyping.
Nintendo got shackled with a detremental image and it's been difficult to shake. It does exist however, and people WILL buy a product based on Aestetic Design (remember the iMac?). There is a Reason the Wii, and the DS Lite look very 'Apple inspired' they want to change their image.
Nintendo has always had the best Offline 'get some buddies on a couch' multiplayer games out there. That was why you would buy a Gamecube over the others. The PS2 has some of the best Single player games, and X-Box live still trumps anything else out there. So far this gen doesn't look much different (besides Sony losing more exclusives)
It is possible to hit things unintentionally. There is a bit of 'creep' in your movements that's why I place the coffee table between players while boxing. In general it's avoidable, however I'm sure someone who's too competitive for their own good could get a torn rotator cuff pitching in WiiSports Baseball. At that point though, they need to stop playing competitive.... anything.
Ironically I had the same experiance. My mom saw a comercial and asked me to bring the Wii over so she could try tennis. I set it up, and My dad did well at Golf / Boxing, my Mom for Bowling / Tennis (none of us are big on baseball). Not only did they ask to try it, but when the neighbors came over, my parents goaded them into giving it a try.
I honestly think Nintendo is onto something big here.
Monosodium glutamate, and the disodium monophosphates, are actually harmless and naturally occurring in many foods; you have a whole tastebud group for that flavour (it's the "savoury" taste, umami).
Yes, they are naturally occurring, but to propose that they're harmless in the current doses being used in most foods that contain them (thousands of times as they naturally occur, and in a modified form) is absurd.
There is plenty of evidence to suggest MSG is harmless, and there is plenty to suggest that it is harmful, especially in certain susceptible individuals. There is no consensus either way and thus this individual's claims should not be outright dismissed.
Your body also produces a wide variety of compounds that if administered in doses hundreds or thousands of times the naturally occurring ones would not only make you be ill but likely be fatal.
While there are studies that demonstrate that MSG is safe, there are also studies that demonstrate that in certain susceptible individuals, it can be harmful; in fact, there is scientific evidence that this is linked to a vitamin B6 deficiency. As the metabolic pathway for MSG involves B6, this is not surprising.
I found I had similar symptoms to the OP several years back and traced the causes to MSG. I felt absolutely horrible for about six months: like I was constantly suffering from a low grade fever and on the verge of illness, although I had no fever and nothing indicated that I was sick. I was having regular panic attacks after meals and couldn't figure out why. My mother suggested that I should try eliminating MSG. I began to improve within three days. While you may suggest that that's psychosomatic, I have struggled with being overweight my whole life, and without doing a lick of exercise more than I had been and without significant other dietary changes, I shed 50 lbs in two months and then 25 lbs in the following six months, which I've kept off for over six years now without any effort while being able to enjoy a fairly extravagant high-carb high-fat diet.
I did discover that I had a B6 deficiency, which has been corrected, and now I will occasionally treat myself to something with small quantities of MSG and be fine. I am convinced, however, that my weight loss was from excessive MSG consumption. Other people have reported similar results.
"We know Nintendo games go beyond sheer kiddie value for elegant gameplay reasons, but don't kid yourself, its a game with characters that have names like Princess Peach, Luigi, and Toad, and its coloured like an angry fruit salad. The fact that one can look past the PlaySkool elements to see the interesting game design beneath does not somehow elevate the entire enterprise into the realm of what most adults would call ... adult."
Yes but most adults watch CSI.... what does that say about their intelligence?
I wouldn't touch what most people say is "adult".