The Nintendo Wii

A while back I stood in line to pre-order a Nintendo Wii, which is the newest gaming console from Nintendo. While Sony and Microsoft are duking it out in the powerhouse graphics department, Nintendo has taken a different approach. Rather than focusing on having the most realistic visual experience, Nintendo is going after the most realistic physical experience. The innovation in this product is the controller. While it looks like a modified television remote, the Nintendo Wii controller, or Wii-mote, is actually a game pad that is able to sense it's orientation and movement. The system comes with a game, Wii Sports, that shows off what this unique joystick can provide. When playing golf, you swing the controller like a golf club. No more meters where you have to time a button press. Playing tennis? Just swing it like a racket. Bowling? Hold it like a bowling ball and send it down the lane. It even picks up the spin you put on the ball. 
Nintendo Wii 

Rather than go on and on about the technology, I thought I'd give my impressions of the console. The Wii is an awesome console for the casual gamer. My wife doesn't hate video games, but she doesn't really enjoy them either. She played Super Mario Brothers and Tetris back in the NES era, but hasn't been interested since. Newer game systems simply require too much investment to master. The button combinations and complexity of the games can be pretty intimidating alone, and when she is matched up against someone like me who has spent hours mastering the game, well, it isn't much fun. The Wii is totally different. The face of the controller has a large, clear A button, a direction pad, a home, plus, minus, one, and two button. Underneath there is a trigger 'B' button. Yeah, that's a lot of buttons, but when held like a remote the 'A' and 'B' buttons naturally rest under the thumb and trigger finger, and those are the only two buttons used, if at all, in most games. I had spent the night of release playing with the Wii until 4am, and when Jenn woke me up the next morning she had a big smile on her face and said "The Wii is a LOT of fun!" I couldn't believe it! I was so excited that jumped out of bed to go downstairs and start having some gaming goodness with the family. Even Corbin was able to throw a bowling ball down the alley. And Jenn is good at the sports games too. She consistently trounces me in each one we play. And I'm no slouch either.

I've been reading about this console for some time, and was really excited to get it on launch day. What I've found, though, is that very few people even knew Nintendo had a new console on the market. Our good friends and neighbors are gamers, and they had heard very little about the Wii. One evening they dropped by for dinner and we played for a bit. It's amazing how this new controller allows people to immediately pick up and start playing. Right away our friends were bowling and playing tennis. On Sunday I brought the system to my brother's house for a family dinner. Our parents were even excited to pickup the controller and play. My father surprised everyone by saying that he might have to get one.

Nintendo has definitely done a good job of achieving their goal, which is to get non-traditional gamers interested in a video game system. The Wii is a very fun toy to break out during family get together or small party. It's easy for new players to get into the game and immediately play. Another nice touch are the Mii's. A Mii is your cartoony avatar that you will play as in the sports title. There are a variety of styles you can apply to everything from hair style to eye shape. I went for the look-alike Mii, while my brother and father went for the goofy looking Mii. It was just a little bit of extra flavor that was nice.

It remains to be seen whether this new take on gaming has staying power. I was really concerned when Nintendo released the DS, a portable gaming system with two screens and a touch pad. I thought it was too gimicky, and their wouldn't be much staying power. I was sooooo wrong, and now I have a DS and have played many innovative games that could only be played on such a system. I'm hoping that the Wii has the same story, with game producers developing innovative titles that take advantage of this new control scheme.

In summary, I highly recommend the Nintendo Wii to anyone and everyone. Go have some fun!

Sedentary

I live a sedentary lifestyle. I spend nine hours a day with my butt in a chair at work. In the rare instance that I move during the day it is either to get to or from a meeting (where I'll be sitting down) or to serve some biological function. I sit in my car on the way to and from work. When I get home, I sit at the dinner table. I get maybe an hour of playtime with Corbin before it's time for his bath. Then, once the kids are in bed, I either sit on the couch and watch television with Jenn, or I sit at my desk and play Warcraft. After all that sitting, it's time to rest and lay down for a night's sleep.

I'm tired of living that way. I used to be fit. In high school I knew that when classes let out at 3pm, I would be heading to the football field / track to get two to three hours of good exercise. I don't think I appreciated it as much then, but I'd love to get out of work each day at 3pm and have the freedom to go get some exercise and keep my body fit. After we moved into our house, I got into running again. I kept at it pretty well, and even ran in a couple of 5K runs and one 10K. My weight was back down to a reasonable level too. I really fell off the horse though. I stopped running, and started sitting more. Sure, I play volleyball every Tuesday, but one night a week just isn't enough exercise. I've tried keeping my diet under control, but it's just too easy to over eat. There are constantly lunches, celebrations, nights of ordering out, not to mention the 3pm Friday snacks at work. I kept having the intention of getting out and running again, but I just never did it.

Fortunately, I have an awesome wife. Jenn had been talking about joining our local YMCA for quite some time, and I found out that I could get a pretty good discount through work. We got a family membership, and Jenn started going in to swim from time to time. It was great because they have a child care center that can watch Sam and Corbin during the day for a bit while she goes for a swim. She was telling me about it, and it inspired me to start exercising more. I spoke with a couple of people at work, and found that some folks were going in during their lunch break to get some exercise. What a great idea! I allow myself one day a week to eat out with my coworkers, but otherwise I spend my lunches in my office chair. Why not go run?

So for the past two weeks I've been going into the Y to get some exercise. Last week I went on Monday and Friday, with Tuesday volleyball being my third exercise outing for the week. This week we cancelled volleyball due to Halloween, so I went in on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The place is fairly empty during lunch, and I've had my pick of the treadmills. I typically get 20 minutes of good running in with a 5 minute cooldown. The past two times I've managed to get 2 miles in, which I thought was a pretty good goal for my second week of running.

This is just the thing I needed. I feel less stressed, less tense, and just...well.... better. I can tell a big difference between my first run and the one I just finished today. A week ago Monday I couldn't catch my breath after my run, and I was still trying to cooldown a full hour after getting back to work. Today I was cooled down by the time I got to my car, and I felt like I was doing the run rather than getting run over. I hope I have the discipline to keep this up. Right now I weigh 230 pounds. Medically speaking I think my ideal weight is 185, but I'd be happy if, over the course of the next 6 to 12 months, I could get myself down to a steady 200 pounds. I'm not going to post daily weigh ins like I did when I first started this blog, but from time to time I'll note my progress. Wish me luck!