It seems the school is still the eminent source of name calling, as the Wii, which has managed to shrug off all the "little fad" comments thus far, has been subjected to yet another "another gimmick" label. This time, however, it's in relation to the UK Department of Health's endorsement of an in-school "active" games scheme designed by the Droitwich and Worcester City School Sport Partnership. Nick Seaton, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, was unconvinced by the program's weight-loss merits, saying, "Pupils would be far better doing serious competitive sports and games than this sort of thing." Channel 4 reports that this sort of thing has already been implemented in five schools in Worcestershire as "virtual PE," with the hopes that active gaming would lure children to participate in other physical exercise. Seaton, however, believes it "looks like another gimmick," one that's "pandering to the views of the physically idle." The Department of Health argued that the Wii makes for a good "first step" towards other forms of exercise, though failed to mention the benefits of the many, many steps required to excel in the physical strenuous Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party.
Mind you, the embarrassing view of the physical idol in school would likely result in even more nasty name calling.
[Via GamesIndustry.biz]
(Page 1) Reader Comments
Also The Department of Health are idiots (I can say this since I'm British), 'A good first step' is the perfectly good example- any 4 your old can play a sport (sprinting) they should stop being 'understanding' and force kids to play sport.
People wonder why there's a Obesity epedemic!!
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I love my fair share of gaming. But even I know playing Wii isn't really exercising. If you're dead tired after playing Wii Boxing, you didn't get a great workout; you're just really unfit... and you haven't figured out how to play the game like a pro =P
Is either one a means to fitness? No way. If you exercise even a few hours a week these won't do anything for you. But if you are just sitting around, these can be a fun way to trick you into moving around. Most games and sports are just fun ways to get you running around, anyway. I don't see why video games can't be included.
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So no, playing Wii games is not as good as playing basketball. And learning your alphabet is not as good as reading a novel, but you have to start somewhere.
And as I said, I just think the Wii in any school situation other than a college course would just be a distraction for kids. Not only that, but it would also wrongly teach the kids that the Wii is an appropriate substitute for true exercise, which maybe it can reach that point someday with games like DDR and Wii Fit, but it hasn't yet. At best, the activity level is a fun supplement for good old exercise right now.
Just like you argued, I could be bad at sports, but that doesn't mean I should be an obese couch potato. At the same time, someone who is bad at math might not become an accountant, but it doesn't mean they should avoid math completely and be inept at managing their finances.
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Or better yet, DDR Hottest Party on the Wii.
Seriously, nobody can claim that's not exhausting if you play at 1 level higher than you can comfortably pass.
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I understand what you're saying, but just feel that it can't be a sink-or-swim mentallity to help these people out. I have always been good at sports and was never overweight (though it's starting to catch up with me a bit now :) but I will use my son as an example. He is slow to speak at the age of two. He's in speech therapy now and improving everyday. The speech therapist doesn't tell him though "Talk now or you'll never talk!" It's a process of getting him to speak a little more at a time.
In this same way I feel that getting those students who would be less inclined to play a really physical sport in front of their peers because of weight issues or what-not would be more inclined to use the Wii first, build some confidence, and then later in the gym class curriculum slowly acclimate them into more physical sports. Baby steps, if you will.
Being active is super important, don't get me wrong, I wish the Wii could offer serious health benefits. Instead of raising kids to be competitive and win no matter what (Don't say you can apply that shit to real life, football players are not successful bankers or stockbrokers), we should be sitting them down and saying, hey, eating right and exercise are important for good health, this will be your reward for being good at sports.
I guess my point is, some kids need better rewards then, "Hey you won. Good game"
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Just like if you force some stereotypical jock to take an active part in his English class and that (surprisingly?) doesn't turn him into someone who LOVES English, so too, you can't make a non-active kid be an active kid by forcing him to suck at sports in front of his more athletic classmates.
Also, it isn't always a matter of just being lazy. In junior high I went to the gym 5 times a week and lost 40 pounds. I *still* was dead last on the mile run, and had to walk most of it, even though I was now the same weight as my classmates and probably in a lot better shape than almost all of them. I'm just not a runner; some people just aren't good at physical sports, so you can't MAKE them be something they aren't.
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One year later and the system still has not delivered on the promise of experiences beyond your average game system. In fact, a year later it looks more and more like the "two gamecubes duct taped together" it was criticized for being than it ever has before. Few of the games for it actually benefit from the new controls and most of them would likely be better without them. Nintendo is even releasing a flagship title for it that is admittedly BETTER when played using a traditional controller. If that's not a gimmick, what is??
Sixaxis. From name to functions, its gimmick all over.
While I completely disagree with your opinion on motion controls (Madden, Tiger Woods, Paper Mario, Zack and Wiki, SMG, even Twilight Princess, none would be the same without motion control), I respect it and can see why you might feel that way. Suffice it to say though, whether you think it's a gimmick or not, MANY people are enjoying it, so I call it a success.
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"Available for 5 E-Z payments of 49.99! And if you buy within the next ten minutes we'll even include Wii sports accessories which includes bowling shoes, golf attachment, tennis attachment and for a limited time the Barry Bonds and Roger Clemons batting and pitching attachments!"
It's the other way around. PS360 is worked into the niche, its just the niche with all the awesome games, but a niche nonetheless
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People in Japanese arcades play Popn Music with freestyle routines where they run around the machine and shit, but that doesn't mean the game is advertising itself as GOOD FITNESS. Nor does the Wii.
WiiFit is a different story, obviously, in that it's SUPPOSED to be exercise. If THAT doesn't help you lose weight, and it says it will, that's a different story.
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Anyone want to spam this guy's email with reply notices?
Dont blame nintendo for the assumptions made by the public.
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Software isn't that smart
I was thankful that in high school all you had to do here was really try in gym class and you passed. If you tried and couldn't do it that was OK as long as you tried, put forth your best effort and did not complain or make a big scene. Of course our high school only offered 4 sports in Gym Class and we had no choice, you had to do one sport each semester, sigh.
I know that most schools are limited but I would say the best way to handle this would be to provide lots of options to students in the way of gym classes and exercise so that everyone could find something.
The general public thinks that the Wii is an exercise machine and is a replacement for exercise, this is even more dangerous than not having any exercise at all because it encourages you to think that playing the Wii is good for you when it really is not and because your playing the Wii you don't have to go out and do any actual exercise. We are so desperate to find an easy way to exercise and lose weight that we will take popular products and make them out to what they are not really designed for, its not an idea that Nintendo really planned for. Soon they will have to start labeling the boxes, not a substitute for an actual exercise program.
You can mess yourself up pretty bad playing DDR, its not really healthy for you if you do it in large sessions or stomp really really hard constantly. I know because I tried it. The home versions are way less strenuous though than arcade versions. The last thing you want to do is mess up your legs like I have so that you can't use them to exercise anymore.
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The obesity epidemic is a crock anyway, i think. Fitness is good, of course, for total wellness, but people preaching obesity epidemic like it's the new AIDS or something need to get hit in the head
Of course, i wouldn't mind if my school got in on this, it would be the 3rd PE activity i could actually win in (the first two being Tennis and Soccer)
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