With so much talk in the press about obesity in children due to a lack of fitness one company is helping the balance between a childs fitness and video games.

The Nintendo Wii it seems, puts pay to the concerns in recent years over the inactivity in children due to their interest in video games consoles. The Wii console really sets itself apart from the rest with its revolutionary motion sensitive controller, which actually requires movement in order to play the games.

The Nintendo Wii comes with the game Wii Sports, which includes tennis, baseball, bowling, golf and boxing. In tennis you will be swinging the remote as if it were a tennis racket and flicking it up to toss the ball into the air with a quick swing to serve just like the real thing. The other Wii Sports games work in a similar way simulating controller movements for like movements onscreen. Boxing however is the only Wii Sports game that uses the nunchuk attachment and is the most physically exhausting game of them all. In order to hit your opponent in the head or body, you will have to aim high or low with your swings.

There are three different activities with each game. In training mode, you will participate in random challenges, after which you will be assigned a fitness age, based on your performance. Sound familiar? The Nintendo DS game, Brain Training comes to mind...a physical version perhaps?

The important thing here is that gamers are becoming more physically active without even realising it - you could say it has a 'kill two birds with one stone' effect, combining video game play with physical activity. Given this 'physical' nature of the Wii game play, I wouldn't be suprised if parents rushed out to buy the Nintendo Wii console just to get their kids off the sofa!

Another great thing about the Nintendo Wii is that it appeals not only to children and teens but to adults too, so its something the whole family can enjoy.

Could the Nintendo Wii revolutionize the way we play video games in the future? It will be interesting to see what Nintendo's competitors come up with next - this could be a tough one to beat!

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