Santa brought the family a Nintendo Wii for Christmas. They must have been very very good to deserve such a special gift.

Ok, I admit it. I, too, have been looking forward to Nintendo’s newest product. I’m a big fan of all the Nintendo game line. They make good family-oriented products with features clearly meant for kids and adults, alike. Unlike their “competitors”, Microsoft and Playstation. Plus there’s the sticker price - roughly double or more the Nintendo price. I know “serious gamers” the world over are simultaneously cringing and tsk-tsking me for extolling the virtues of Nintendo. But seriously? I’m not a “serious gamer”, nor do I aspire to be. I’m a “seriously cheap Mom” who likes to “seriously have fun”. Superior graphics and blue-ray technology? What the hell does that even mean? Who cares? Whatever it means, it can’t truly be worth the extra $300+.  At least not in the world *I* live in! And I’m pretty sure my kids can have fun without it. 

But I digress. Anyway, Santa delivered.

I didn’t want to be excited. I’m a grown-up, after all. And, as I mentioned, not one of those “serious gamer” grown-ups, to boot. But the thing sold me, right away. And I’ll tell you why in one simple word:

Exercise.

The kids could spend hours a day playing video games or vegging in front of the computer or tv. It is a constant source of parenting angst, trying to find the balance between letting them have fun and be kids and not letting them rot. But now? Well, you only have to read about the first Wii recall to understand that this isn’t your everyday zone-machine.

Ok, maybe that recall notice won’t make much sense. Because it didn’t make much sense to me. When I read about it last month, my reaction was “What a bunch of morons”. I couldn’t imagine a gaming scenario where someone would actually “launch” the remote out of their hand and into their television screen.

But now I get it.

The Wii is sold with a game called Wii Sports. I’m not usually into sports-themed video games but this one is different. You are actually a player in the sport. And by player I mean that you actually have to “throw” the ball, “swing” the bat, “box” against an opponent, etc. You do this by using the Wii controllers which are finely calibrated to pick up on changes in angle and speed. Just how finely calibrated? When I bowl, just like real life, my ball always swings to the left and lands in the gutter thanks to my seriously messed up “curve ball”. Wow.
We may never go out bowling again because we can bowl, as a family, without the tacky fungus-infested shoes or cost, in our living room! Tennis in the middle of winter? No gym membership for us. We don’t even need to own a racket! And can I just say, I have one kid “down for the count” with a “back injury” and a husband who has complained of “shoulder soreness” because I guess he put a little too much effort into the “sport” and his muscles are paying the price. Seriously.

So is this a bad thing? I think its proof of how seriously out of shape my family is! But I’ll take exercise in any form I can spoon it out. It doesn’t take the place of good ole fresh air but I have also noticed that my kids are spending more voluntarily time outdoors so maybe they are craving what they are finally getting more of.

Thanks Nintendo! Oh and Santa too.

The top of my Nintendo Wii wish list is a Dance Dance Revolution game for the Wii where players are required to move their feet on the dance mat AND their arms. That would be sooo cool. If you are a kid, I mean. Right.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 3rd, 2007 at 3:12 pm and is filed under Parenting, Things I Love. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.