From kotaku.com (vis slashdot.org):

The "Wii Fit Body Channel" provides users advice based on their Wii Fit data as well as the data from walking DS title Aruite Wakaru Sekatsu Rhythm DS. It’s becoming possible for individuals using Wii Fit to have their data measured and then get advice sent via email to their Wiis.

Since last December, NEC and NEC mobile began a cell phone version of the "Wii Fit Body Check Channel." Starting this April, the NEC Group (NEC and NEC Mobile) will launch a hosted Wii Fit Channel aimed at employees and their families. The company hopes to offer this service outside NEC in the future.

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From gameinformer.com:

Ever since Shigeru Miyamoto admitted that his newest video game Wii Music might in fact not be a game at all, our wheels have been turning. We got to thinking, what constitutes a game? Is Wii Music’s stray from the traditional game formula an isolated incident or part of a growing trend?

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Exercise-themed video games are undoubtedly the fastest, and most public, emerging game genre. While some exergames are indisputably games – such as Dance Dance Revolution – others are simply interactive tools to help you achieve a health-related goal. Nintendo especially has recognized the compatibility of many exercise titles with its motion-sensing controllers, Wii Balance Board and portable touch-screen DS. For this reason, its products have been particularly attractive to health-conscious developers. Check out some of the not-quite-games that fall into the exergame category below.

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From sfgate.com:

“Ubisoft’s latest Nintendo DS game can hardly be called a game.

My Stop Smoking Coach with Allen Carr breaks ground in using gaming hardware and software to tackle a particularly troublesome real-world personal challenge.

But the game, due this month, is just the latest in a growing tide of new titles, mostly Nintendo DS games, that help players achieve a personal goal or obtain a usable skill. The list includes My Weight Loss Coach, My SAT Coach, My Japanese Coach, What’s Cooking? With Jamie Oliver, Let’s Yoga and Let’s Pilates.

Call it self-help gaming.”

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From joystiq.com:

“Though we still feel the less traditional application of a pedometer is the more prudent one — you never know how many pedophiles could be in the area — Nintendo has decided to stick with one that merely counts steps. Judging by one of the videos shown during its recent presentation in Japan, the trademarked device will be tied (at least initially) to a Nintendo DS fitness title.”

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Technorati Tags: ubisoft,my weight loss coach,games,nintendo,ds

From canada.com:

“But he’s right: I have been getting a lot of thumb exercise recently while I tried out Ubisoft’s new Nintendo DS game My Weight Loss Coach.

And I have to say, it was indeed fun and will probably become rather addictive for some people – which, I would think, is exactly what the designer of the game is hoping for.

As Gazette technology reporter Roberto Rocha pointed out in his story about the launch of the product in June, it’s not really a game, but a lifestyle manager. It aims to help people get up off the couch and become more active.

And I’m all for things that can do that.

The program encourages the user to get out and move, and offers different challenges that will earn you points as you move toward your weight loss goals.”

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Technorati Tags: games,touch,ds,wii

From canada.com:

“As companies look to expand their sales beyond the stereotypical basement-dwelling, cola-swilling gamers to those same grandmothers and great aunts, developers are exploring new and simpler ways of controlling games.

“Since they’re a lot more user-friendly, people are a lot less afraid of it,” Graveline says of touch interfaces. “It’s more interesting for them to try it out.”

Japanese gaming giant Nintendo in particular has been giving gamers more control by introducing touch-sensitive screens and motion-sensitive controllers to its Nintendo DS and Wii machines, respectively.”

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