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The Good Fortune of Wii Exercise
eldavojohn writes "While some users of the Wii complained of soreness or 'Wii elbow' when playing it too much, others are heralding its workout value. The University of Toronto is working on a 'therapeutic video game' for the Wii that is designed to help children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy exercise their weaker limb, people are claiming weight loss and in the January issue of Pediatrics the Mayo clinic is proposing that gaming systems like the Wii can combat child obesity."
I love my Wii, but think that people losing weight from playing Wii games is more a sad statement on how out of shape people are then the implicit greatness of the Wii.
I bet if those same people walked an hour each day they'd lose the same or more weight. But at this point if it takes the games of the wii to motivate them then it's overall a good thing.
Developers: We can use your help.
I've seen people say that it's not enough exercise,
that it's a sad state of society that it takes games to get people to move (whatever... society never is pretty),
that one shouldn't use the Wii as a substitute for proper exercise
etc etc.
But that's just it. First off, for many people any exercise is good exercise. Many people these days get *none* (other than walking to the fridge) so this is a major improvement.
Secondly - it's not about what exercise the Wii gives you. It's about getting you on track. Since getting mine I got the "fitness bug" and have been doing other exercise activities (such as a brisk walk at lunchtime) and eating far more healthily. I'm even tempted to try some of the sports in reality. All of that was inspired by the Wii, and whoever thought up this idea needs a medal.
Thirdly - even if you only count the Wii exercise, every little helps. It may not be much on its own, but when combined with using the stairs instead of the elevator on the way to work or whatever, parking further away and walking further, etc etc... it all adds up.