- Jul 17, 2001
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Article Source: WSJ
Topic opinion source: Me
Topic opinion source: Me
A Wii Workout:
When Videogames Hurt
Nintendo's new system forces players to move their bodies, causing aches for some couch potatoes; a case of 'Wii elbow'
By JAMIN WARREN
November 25, 2006;
A videogame maker has finally succeeded in getting kids off the couch and moving around. But the new approach is turning out to be more exercise than some players bargained for.
These surprisingly vigorous workouts are being triggered by Nintendo's new Wii videogames. The Wii game console, which went on sale last weekend, competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's new PlayStation 3. One of the Wii's distinguishing features is a motion-sensitive technology that requires players to act out their character's movements, wielding the game's controller like a sword or swinging it like a tennis racket.
The new console has been wildly successful, selling out at stores and winning high marks from critics and game buffs. But as players spend more time with the Wii, some are noticing that hours waving the game's controller around can add up to fairly intense exertion -- resulting in aches and pains common in more familiar forms of exercise. They're reporting aching backs, sore shoulders -- even something some have dubbed "Wii elbow."
"It's harder than playing basketball," says Kaitlin Franke, a 12-year-old from Louisville, Ky. She has been camped out in front of her family's TV, fine-tuning her bowling motion and practicing boxing footwork in two of the Wii's games. Almost immediately, she says, her right arm started to feel numb.
In Rochester, Minn., Jeremy Scherer and his wife spent three hours playing tennis and bowling, two of the games included with the Wii. Mr. Scherer says he managed to improve his scores -- at the cost of shoulders and back that were still aching the next day. "I was using muscles I hadn't used in a while," says Mr. Scherer, a computer programmer who describes himself as "not very active." Mr. Scherer is vowing nightly "Wii workouts" to get in better shape.
VIDEO
[Video Icon]
See Nintendo's videos of people using the new Wii controller.
Another hazard: collisions. All those flailing arms can sometimes inadvertently smack into lamps, furniture and even competing players. IGN.com, a popular site that reviews videogames, said one player testing the Wii lost her grip and sent the controller flying into a wall. Blaine Stuart of Rochester, N.Y., mistakenly whacked his fiancée, Shelly Haefele, while playing tennis and also accidentally hit his dog while bowling.
Nintendo itself warns players about this risk just before some of the games begin. A message flashes up on the screen saying: "Make sure there are no people or objects around you that you might bump into while playing." Some Wii games also have pop-up reminders every 15 minutes advising gamers to take a break.
Perrin Kaplan, a spokeswoman from Nintendo, says the company hasn't received complaints from any gamers about soreness. "It was not meant to be a Jenny Craig supplement," she says. "If people are finding themselves sore, they may need to exercise more." She says that while it might be more fun to play the games more aerobically, it's possible to play without leaving the couch.
The Wii's introduction is part of a critical holiday season for the videogame industry. Two big new players -- the Wii and the PS3 -- are getting their launch this year. Starting last week, shoppers have been lining up, but in many cases, stores are already sold out of both consoles. The Wii and the PS3 are now fetching more than $1,000 on some Web sites like eBay.
WII MEANS OUCH
Some of the Nintendo games that have players flailing their arms.
Wii Sports
Bundle of five games (bowling, boxing, golf, tennis and baseball). Players, among other things, throw jabs with a controller in each hand.
Rayman Raving Rabbids
To fend off an assault of rabbit-like creatures, players must shoot them with plungers and whack them on the head.
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
The latest in long-running series, protagonist Link is in a foreign land fighting an evil force. Includes fishing sound effects.
Excite Truck
A continuation of the Excitebike series, players tilt their arms to control their truck mid-jump and bump opponents off the racetrack.
Red Steel
Controllers double as a handgun in this shooting game set in modern-day Tokyo.
The Wii, which retails for $250, comes with a remote control-size device that communicates wirelessly with a sensor sitting on the TV. It also comes with a secondary device -- which attaches via a cable to the first device -- that can mimic a variety of objects, from fishing rods to samurai swords. With their purchase, gamers also get Wii Sports, a package of five games, including golf, bowling, tennis, boxing and baseball. More than two dozen games are available for about $50 each. In one of those games, "Rayman Raving Rabbids," players aggressively shake the controller; in the action game "Red Steel," players wield it as a handgun. Nintendo has marketed the Wii to non-gamers who might find activities like bowling or golf easy to pick up and play.
Ryan Mercer, a customs broker in Indianapolis, lifts weights several times a week. But that hasn't helped much with the Wii. After playing the boxing game for an hour and a half, his arms, shoulders and torso were aching. "I was soaking wet with sweat, head to toe -- I had to go take a shower," he says. And the next morning? "I had trouble putting my shirt on," says the 21-year-old avid gamer.
Some past games have involved physical exertion. The popular "Dance Dance Revolution" by Konami has players moving their feet to music across a pad on the floor. And RedOctane's "Guitar Hero" requires players to attempt air-guitar types of moves. Beyond those two individual games, Nintendo in the 1980s sold something called the Power Pad, a plastic mat that recorded players' movements as they ran or jumped. But the Wii is a far more ambitious attempt to integrate body movement into all games.
In the past, pain from videogames has more typically been associated with the small repetitive movements of thumbing a controller's buttons. In the 1980s, some players addicted to the game "Super Mario Brothers" came down with what was later called "Nintendo thumb."
Doctors advice: Stretch out and be sure to take care of any injuries afterwards. "It's just like athletic play," says Lana Kang, an orthopedic hand surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.
Ms. Haefele, who along with her fiancé is also a gamer, has been heeding that advice. Last year, she suffered a tendonitis injury and started wearing an elbow brace. Now, she also wears it when she plays the Wii.
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