Healthy Gaming » wii

Wii-Dum, Wii-Step & Wii-Skab – Nintendo controllers beginning to border the ridiculous

Chris — Tue, 05 May 2009 13:57:34 +0000

With the Wii Fit proving to be bigger than Jesus right now, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise to see more Nintendo controller accessories thrust into the market, but somehow it is, especially when we’re talking dumbbells, a step and a skateboard.

You can fit the WiiMote straight into the 1.7lb WiDums and use them to tone your triceps in WiiFit, Jillian Michaels, Golds Gym Cardio, EA Sports Active and Fitness Ultimatum 2005. What fun they all sound like. In three months time, they also double as very handy paperweights.

…

The unfortunately named WiSkab attaches directly to the Balance Board and allows you to tilt and pump in all kinds of directions as if you were gliding on wheels or snow. It’s the size of a full size skate deck and will work with Skate it, Shaun White Snowboarding and We Ski and Snowboard.

Anti-obesity TV ads to promote ‘active videogames’

Chris — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:15:49 +0000

From guardian.co.uk:

The government is to launch an anti-obesity TV campaign that aims to promote the virtue of children playing videogames such as those for Nintendo’s Wii that require physical activity.

This marks a rapid U-turn by the government, weeks after it angered the games industry with a press campaign which implied that sitting inside playing games could lead to an early death.

The Department of Health’s new TV campaign, the latest stage of the government’s £75m anti-obesity advertising strategy, aims to push the message that not enough children are doing the recommended 60 minutes a day of some form of physical activity.

In the TV ad, which breaks tonight, the animated Change4Life family find ways to give kids 60 minutes of activity a day.

Solutions include playing videogames that require physical exertion – typified by products such as Nintendo’s popular Wii Sports and Wii Fit games franchises – as well as walking to school and playing in the park.

EA Sports Active to get more add-ons

Chris — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:08:51 +0000

From Pocket-lint:

"Active is a platform not a game", Moore told us in a one to one interview after flying over from America to see us.

Rather than merely offering downloadable content, Moore outlined to Pocket-lint that fans of the game would likely see expansion packs based around specific areas like football, baseball or tennis, as well as specific fitness packs that would allow you to get fit.

One such suggestion is for an "abs pack", to help people hone certain areas of their body.

According to EA, the game, which has seen a strong marketing push with stars such as Davina McCall involved, has already garnered plenty of pre-orders ahead of its launch.

Don King Boxing, Boxercise Trailer

Chris — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:00:42 +0000

From GameTrailers:

Hmmm, not sure about this game. What do you think, does this look fun?

Work up a sweat with Don King.

Here are the sports in EA Sports Active

Chris — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:56:07 +0000

From joystiq.com:

Now, thanks to the game’s official site, we’ve got a full list of actual sports contained within the game [EA Sports Active ] to help you give your tummy threats a little more impact, including "Squat Jump, Fast Dance and Punch Bag," which (assuming the rules haven’t changed from our days at St. Victoria’s School for Troubled Boys) has us hoping for an included Wii Cup. Check out the full list of activities after the break.

Cardio Boxing

Basic Dance

Tennis

Inline Skating

Kick-Ups

Cardio Dance

Kickbox

Batting

Volleyball

Basketball

Pitching and Catching

Serve

Run

Walk

Jump

High Steps

Lateral Raises

Lunge

Reps Side Lunge

Squat/Calf

Lunge Jump

Squat Jump

Punch Target

Fast Dance

Punch Bag

Riiflex Wiimote weights up for pre-order

Chris — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 14:08:31 +0000

From engadget.com:

Look out, vulnerable televisions — your worst nightmare is already up for pre-order. The two- and four-pound Riiflex Wiimote weights have escaped the "yeah right" stage and are now just months away from piercing all manners of living room fixtures. The pair (one for your Wiimote, one for your nunchuck) of two pounders will set you back $34.95, while the heftier ones run $5 more pet set. Wait, are you seriously considering these? Be honest.

New video games for children provide workouts in disguise

Chris — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:12:16 +0000

From heraldtribune.com:

The YMCA in Alexandria, Va., is piloting an "I-gym" — a workout room filled with about a dozen pieces of equipment that marry video games and fitness. Think of it as Nintendo’s Wii on steroids.

In Silver Spring, Md., Woodlin Elementary School has tried out a NEOS, a giant orange play structure with flashing lights, colors and "whoop whoop" sounds.

"Kids are going to exercise if they want to and have fun doing it," said Janice Williams, senior vice president for special projects at the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington. "So many kids are tech savvy, and video games are a draw to them, so why not have them use a video game that requires them to use movement?"

Guitar Heroes: APL Riff on Video Game Helps Prosthetic Patients

Chris — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:57:28 +0000

From jhu.edu:

Wii-habilitation" — using Nintendo’s Wii video game system in rehabilitation therapy — continues to be popular with health care workers looking to help patients get through what some see as the pain and torture of physical therapy. Now two engineers in APL’s National Security Technology Department have cranked that concept up a notch. Bobby Armiger and Jacob Vogelstein have rewired Nintendo’s Guitar Hero III : Legends of Rock game to allow amputees to rock out and get valuable training with prosthetic prototypes at the same time.

Their gaming is part of the APL-led Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 effort, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, to develop a prosthetic arm that will be controlled and also feel, look and perform like a natural limb. So far the project has produced two prototypes and has leveraged a surgical technique, developed at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago by Todd Kuiken, that reroutes the nerves that once controlled an amputee’s arm to remaining muscles. These "re- innervated" muscles naturally amplify the nerve signals so that electrodes placed against the skin can detect activity and control the prosthetic arm.

Next Tony Hawk game getting skateboard peripheral

Chris — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:50:28 +0000

From weblogs.variety.com:

Skateboard Activision is a publisher that knows, and has come to love, peripherals. After all, they’ve helped drive the "Guitar Hero" franchise to well over $1 billion in revenue. (Unlike MTV, Activision typically makes money on its music hardware, though it did have some hiccups with "World Tour" drums over the holidays.)

Which is why it makes some sense it’s going that route with the next "Tony Hawk" skateboarding game, coming this fall. Rumors that the as-yet-untitled game would use some kind of peripheral started last summer. But two sources who have seen the game first hand have confirmed that it will indeed eschew controllers and rely on a board-like peripheral. I’m told it won’t be about precise balance (if you want to do that, just get a real skateboard). Instead it’ll be about grabbing and manipulating the board to pull of all the tricks for which "Tony Hawk" games are known. Because the peripheral does a lot more than just measure where players are standing, I’m told it’ll be available for the Wii version as well — it won’t just rely on the board that came with "Wii Fit," as EA’s "Skate It" did.

Fitness Expert To File Lawsuit Against Nintendo

Chris — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:48:11 +0000

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.

…

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.

Source