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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.
Wii Sports has a Fitness function, sort of like Brain Age, that's meant to help you stay consistent, but it's not very in-depth. A more in-depth version could do a lot. And the parent is right that the cow throwing game in Rayman gives you a MAJOR workout.
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.
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.
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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.
Remember the original Nintendo's game mat, the PowerPad? You could use it with an Olimpics themed game and compete in track and field events. I recall kneeling on the floor and smacking the pressure spots with my hands to achieve unrealistic scores.
I think maybe something like this may make a venture into the trendy excercise market. If they can sell a big ball for a hundred bucks, they can sell a Wii controller too.
This begs the now cliche question: Why not just go outside and play the actual sport? Alas, there is not a chance in hell.
FairTax baby!
I've used the Wii. I am also a tennis player and was delighted to see that the real world tennis motions match up with the game as expected. As far as injury goes, I think you are just looking at repetative type injuries that can't be avoided. Since there is no actual contact with anything and therefore no resistance I find it hard to believe that anyone could get injured simply from waving the remote around in a natural manner.
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.
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.
Pffft...if you want some advanced Frogger action, I suggest that you go to Beirut. In Beirut, not only do you risk your life crossing the street due to the widespread disregard for traffic laws and signals, but when initiating your street cross, you're not even allowed to look at the oncoming traffic. To do so is considered unmanly.
The frightening thing is that I'm not joking.
Hey Ryan, so how do you like this machine ? Is the hardware solid ? I have a Gamecube and an N64 and the hardware seems pretty good. I have a few other consoles from different vendors, and the hardware seems cheap and delicate. Another thing that I personally feel about Nintendo is that their games are just fun. I have a Sega Dreamcast, and one thing about that console is that the games "just werent fun". Is the Wii like that ? I want to buy one, but am probably out of luck until after Xmas because of the low availability (?).
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.''
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.
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.
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
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.
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!
If you have a Costco membership (or know someone who does), they tend to know ahead of time (at least a day in advance) when they are getting a shipment. This is how I got mine. This past Wednesday at 9:40AM, I got in line with about 50 other people (half of them were just there to shop - what is that about?!?) for a 10:00AM opening. The got about 20-30 units and they came bundled with Zelda and Excitetruck for $340.00.
Anyway, your mileage may vary. Good luck.
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...