From redorbit.com:

A self-proclaimed fitness expert is preparing to file a class action lawsuit against Nintendo, claiming the popular gaming console’s Wii and Wii Fit are causing serious physical injuries due to a lack of proper warnings on their products.

Michael Torchia, the host of the radio talk show “Shape Up America,” says he wants Nintendo to pull their Wii games off the shelves until they make important changes to their products.

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Torchia claims that widespread usage of the Wii Fit and Wii Balance Board is creating a “new phenomenon” of injuries to the knees, back and wrists of game players as a result of overuse and improper warm up.

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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 siliconera.com (via joystiq.com):

Everyone knows Nintendo is pro exergaming. Personal Trainer: Walking is scheduled to come out in the USA this year, but the DS “game” and bundled pedometer isn’t a full follow up to Wii Fit. Perhaps, Nintendo Active Health is.

I discovered Nintendo registered this trademark in the depths of the OHIM, Europe’s trademark database on January 8, 2009. At first I believed it was a European name for Personal Trainer: Walking, but in the UK the game is known as Walk with me! Do you know your walking routine?. However, Nintendo was careful to register translated names for this title such as Laufrhythmus DS Bring Bewegung in dein Leben! and ¡Camina conmigo! Conoce el ritmo de vida de tu familia in the European trademark database. Nintendo even went the extra mile to register Nintendo Actimeter, the name for the device in multiple languages too.

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From physorg.com:

Millions of people around the world jump around their living room as they wrestle with the controls of a Wii Fit. But can playing a simulated sport on the computer actually be GOOD for your health?

Sports science experts at the University of Derby are embarking on research to see if such video games could help tackle obesity.

Dr Michael Duncan, a Senior Lecturer in Exercise Physiology at the University, is appealing for primary schools in the region to take part in the study.

And he has been awarded £5,000 funding from the TANITA Healthy Weight Community Trust to carry out the work.

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From stuff.co.nz:

“But if you’re anything like the rest of the population, you would rather spend your lunch hour at a nice cafe than locked into the sauna-like atmosphere of the local gym. Enter one of Nintendo Wii’s most popular games, aimed at the unfit masses. The Wii Fit is a game with a twist: it’s an exercise video/machine that lets you perform anything from yoga poses to lunges, twists, contortions and step classes without leaving the comfort of your lounge; essentially a personal trainer for people who don’t like personal trainers.

Nintendo’s Wii console, one of the best-selling in the world, takes the concept of video gaming and makes it hands-on. Each game makes use of up to two controllers: the Wii-mote and nunchuck, which can be used to mimic the swinging motion when hitting a golf ball, a baseball, cooking or in the case of Wii Fit, anything from hula hoops to slalom skiing.”

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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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