Wii-Enabled

Imagine a video gaming user-interface so intuitive that a 5 year old can beat his 40 year old dad in bowling. Yep, Jeremy scored three strikes en route to a score of 118 in his first bowling game. I failed to break 100.

During a recent round of golf, some friends of mine turned me on to the Nintendo Wii, the latest sensation to hit the toy stores. I set up the game last night and our kids had a blast. The Wii has truly innovative technology whereby the game controllers sense motion. To get started, a gaming CD called Wii Sports comes bundled with the Wii. To swing a tennis racket, you literally mimick the motion. The sound and animation are tuned perfectly to the motions you make with your hands and arms.

Normally, Teresa and I would discourage video gaming for our kids. However, the innovative capabilities of the Wii offer a lot of real-world social interaction (with other family members), as well as a high degree of physical activity and coordination. In short, the Wii (and in particular Wii Sports) offers an environment where players build community, unlike other games that isolate players. The potential for addictive behaviors are still a concern, but we believe we can manage the amount of time spent gaming in a similar way that we have to manage time spent on the computer or time spent watching TV.