A video game is a video game is a video game.
Alright, the Nintendo Wii. It`s pretty cool and all that jazz, but it`s still a video game. It still encourages kids (and adults) to sit inside and stare at a screen and not really be overtly social, unless it`s with other people who are also sitting inside staring at a screen and not being social.
And that`s about all there is to it. You sit and you stare at a screen, you push buttons and you move a controller (or two) around. I mean there`s MORE movement than a traditional game sure, since you have to move your arm and there`s more hand-eye coordination instead of just thumb-eye coordination, but it`s still an indoor game.
And the people who are touting the Wii as something to help kids be more active are… I`m sorry, off their rocker. It`s no more active than an active gamer of any other sort, since they move the controllers around whether they need to or not (watch anyone really into a driving game, they`ll hold the controller like a steering wheel, knowing full well their turning means nothing)
You can cheat the Wii. You can totally lay on a couch and play all the same games and figure out the movements as good as someone who is standing and pretending to do everything as if they were REALLY doing stuff.
The only game I have found that is physically exahusting that you can`t avoid being so is the Wii sports boxing game so far. But I don`t own a wii and don`t play it a lot.
I mean, if you want your kids to be active, send them outside with a ball, or some wheels, and let them have fun. And if you INSIST on keeping your kids indoors and staring at a screen, give them a game they can`t cheat at. Like DDR. Why has no one touted that DDR made people lose hundreds of pounds, yet the Wii is being touted as the new weight-loss thing?
Arrgh!
