I was recently introduced to the world of virtual sports. Not being the biggest fan of video games and related products, and an even lesser fan of mass hysteria and cattle-like behaviour, I wasn’t sure how I would react to Wii. My reaction surprised even me. It was interesting to say the least, and unlike most other video games I suspect I got a lot more physical activity. The soreness in my arms (from several rounds of aggressive and violent boxing) is proof of that!
I was never a fan of the joystick culture. Yes, I know the arguments in favour of the excellent eye-hand coordination, mental agility blah blah blah. But in all of the several hours that people can spend bonding with the joystick and Italian carpenters and plumbers of Japanese origin, the only real activity is got by the thumbs. Of course, my knowledge about the gaming world is extremely limited and the boundaries now stretch to Wii and DDR. So anyone reading this, who gets more than a thumb workout with video games, please excuse the rant of a bored mind.
Wii has been designed keeping a larger demographic in mind. They claim to be for everyone from 8-80. My grandmother can validate this. Over the last 3 days, my granny has played tennis, gone bowling and played golf in the living room. I haven’t seen or heard her as excited and laughing with pleasure as I have when she has a Wii remote in her hand and is winning – except maybe when she is watching Mahabharat!
So at the end of 3 days of Wii-ing, I guess the one thing I have learnt (apart from the fact that I can’t play tennis even with tiny scampering computer generated teammates) is that if my granny can get a kick out of gaming, I might just be able to learn to tolerate them!
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