File this one under the “Are You Kidding Me?” file. According to reports from various gaming sites and general publications, cases of injuries stemming from the physical exercise associated with using the Nintendo Wii’s motion sensor controller are surfacing, causing some couch-potato chagrin.
The Nintendo Wii launched on Sunday, November 19th across North America. In the week since, 600,000 units have sold, making it one of the more successful launches in recent console history.
The source on this one is the Wall Street Journal, who report that a twelve year old boy from Kentucky experienced significant muscle pains after using the Wii. In addition, a computer programmer from the great state of Minnesota complained of “sore shoulders”, while a man in Indiana told the newspaper that he was left miserably soaked in sweat after a marathon session of Wii’s boxing title.
As a very active techie, this writer is left wondering “what’s the problem?” Most people strain for hours running, cycling, and lifting weights to break a quality sweat (and thus, burning calories). How much more fun is it to do so while smacking around a virtual combatant?
Nintendo’s marketing department has responded by stating that the console “was not meant to be a Jenny Craig supplement”. Well, it sure can’t hurt.