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Saturday, September 4, 2010

The Wii - A Knockout

They say if you want to know anything about technology, ask a teenager.

Enter my nephew. I told him I'd like to get into some gaming and exercise.

Yesterday he lent me his Nintendo Wii. I strapped on a brace, pushed the controller into it and played the game Wii Sports.

I tried out the tennis game first. (Big surprise there, eh?) I was able to play that, although I wasn't very accurate. I could serve easily by just swinging. It was more difficult to hit the ball back in bounds, but I can't say yet whether I'll be able to master that.

Then I tried out boxing. This was definitely a quad-friendly game. To play this, you have to hold both a Wii controller and the nunchuck, so I attached both to my hands. Once I had done that, boxing on the Wii was easy. It consists mostly of punching movements, requiring no dexterity. Not only was it fun, but a pretty good workout. Getting K.O.'s was a real blast.

I couldn't play bowling at all. The movements just weren't happening. Baseball wasn't much of a go either.

Golf may be another game I can play. I had some success with that by just limiting my "strokes" to one basic move across my body and using gravity to bring my arm up and across my chest. This wasn't effective at some points in the game, but I managed to experiment with it enough to complete holes.

That's the wonder of the Wii. There really aren't any rules. As long as the game picks up your movement, you can play with the function you have. And, other than reports of some shoulder injuries or discomfort from overuse, the Wii is being used as a rehab tool without any concerns, so it seems to be a safe way to get exercise, stretch out and have some fun.

My nephew left it here for the weekend. I'm definitely going to work on my boxing skills. Next week? A bout in Las Vegas....

3 comments:

Penny L. Richards said...

Wii event we attended yesterday was also pretty good on accessibility: no steps through the wide entrance, a lift to the second level of the tent (didn't see it operating), and at least one wheelchair user was wearing a "finalist" jacket (reserved for the competitors flown in for the championships).

Ruth said...

Penny,

There's been very little done to make console gaming accessible to people with disabilities. (At least not without purchasing expensive controllers, etc.) So far, Nintendo is way ahead with the Wii. It's great to know they followed through with making the event accessible.

Edward said...

LET'S GET READY TO RRRRRRRRRUMBLE!!!!!

Sorry, had to say it. :-)

I got to try Wii Tennis and Baseball at a Catholic Match get-together in Wisconsin in July - one of the other attendees brought his Wii to the retreat center where we were staying.

I'm definitely better at Wii Tennis than I am at real-life tennis :P