Wii Football

Releasing January 25, 2010 – the Wii Football

According to the description on Amazon - This ultra-realistic accessory, allows you to mimic essential motions a virtual football game requires. This Wii peripheral is the first of its kind to be fashioned after an authentic football, turning your Wii-mote into the optimum performance-enhancing accessory! This peripheral fully encases your Wii Remote in a football shaped shell. The buttons on the Wii remote are mirrored on the outside of the casing, giving you full accessibility without interrupting your game! To operate simply press the release tabs and lift the cover to open the ball, place the Wii remote (even with a Wii Motion Plus adapter, optional) inside and close the cover on top. Make sure to wear the wrist strap (found on the outside of the peripheral) securely around your wrist, adjust the strap to tighten the hold, preventing the ball from accidently flying out of your hand. Lastly, place your hand inside the built in, retractable hand strap. With the perfect accessory in your hand, you are ready to throw game winning passes like a Pro! Compatible with the following Wii games: • Madden NFL 09 All-Play • Madden NFL 10 • Brunswick Pro Bowling • Backyard Football ‘09 • Backyard Football • Family Fun Football • Blitz: The League • NCAA Football 09 All-Play • And any other Wii Football games that require the Wii Remote.

And since it is rumored that EA Sports is working on a football training game that will get players to do football-based exercises and workouts and coach players on how to throw footballs, this may just be the perfect accessory to make EA’s new exergame very realistic.

The Exergaming Network (TEN) Experts wish you "healthy holidays" with Video Games

The Exergame Network (TEN) reveals five ways of getting fit with video games, perfect for school kids to silver gamers with fun as the focus. They state that exergaming succeeds because it makes exercise fun and involving and that choosing the right style of exergaming is vital in making it fun for you.
The Exergaming Network has put together the following CREWS list, which contains 'something for everyone' from five exergaming categories.

1. Camera Exergaming – Your whole body becomes the controller as your movements are motion captured into the game (Eyetoy:Kinetic/Groove/Antigrav, Your Shape, Project Natal & Trazer 2)

2. Rhythm Exergaming – Become the musician or dancer and be guided by the music while the exergame records your dance steps or your musical timing. (Rock Band, Guitar Hero, We Cheer, DDR & iDANCE)

3. Exergaming Machines – Using real fitness equipment, the fun of the games takes your mind of the exercise. (Gamercize, Gamebike, Fitclub, GameCycle, BrainBike & Expresso Bikes)

4. Workout Exergaming – Follow your virtual personal trainer as they guide you through your workout giving feedback on your form and storing your progress. (EA Sports Active, The Biggest Loser, Your Shape and Wii Fit Plus)

5. Sensory Exergaming – These commercial exergames get you jumping and running for your score. (Lightspace Play, Makoto, BodyPad: Tekken 5, SmartUs & TWall)

Warm up before playing Wii

The Nintendo console allows players to simulate a range of energetic sports in their own home, and health and fitness experts are warning those older parents playing Wii games with their children to stretch properly to avoid a pain filled festive period.

Parents who are not used to regular exercise could seriously hurt themselves if they do not warm up and cool down properly before playing. Playing the Wii is like any other exercise routine and you wouldn’t start a workout at a gym without warming up beforehand so it should be no different.

Five Active Games top Amazon's Best Selling List

As Nintendo's Wii continues to grow in popularity, so is the popularity of many active games made for the console. The article, Nintendo Wii Games – Which ones are the Best?, highlights 5 active games topping Amazon's best-selling list including Wii Sports Resort at No.2, Wii Play and Wii Fit Plus at No.5 and No.6, respectively, and The Biggest Loser at the No.10 slot.

Fitness Video Games Are Reshaping Medium

The article, Fitness Video Games Are Reshaping Medium, featured on abc.news.com highlights exergames now being offered in popular sporting goods stores and reshaping the traditional ideas of passive video games.

Childhood obesity can be associated with serious psychosocial issues

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommends kids get at least 60 minutes each day of physical activity, yet most kids fall far short of this target. 1 in 3 children are overweight or obese. This is obviously of real importance from a public health standpoint, because one-third of our youth are at serious risk for numerous chronic diseases. Not only are they at risk for chronic health diseases, numerous studies have shown that overweight and obese kids are also at higher risk for psychological problems. In a study published in the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, titled, “Are overweight and obese adolescents different from their peers?” Dr. Helena Fonseca and colleagues aimed to identify psychosocial and lifestyle behaviors, which distinguish overweight and obese teens from there, lean peers. The study included 6131 students aged 11-16 who completed questionnaires on their body weight, body image, diet history, life satisfaction, health perception, peer group involvement, happiness, irritability and alcohol use. The results, which are not surprising, found that obese and overweight teens when compared with non-overweight teens, were more likely to report a negative attitude toward their appearance; to believe that others made negative comments about them; had a lower level of life satisfaction; had more difficulty in making new friends, and were more likely to describe themselves as unhappy. The results from this one study are obviously distressing and there are several other studies out there with similar results, so this is sending us the message that pediatric obesity is associated with serious psychosocial issues, which require appropriate intervention.
Bottom line. We need to get our kids moving. Increase physical activity to help reduce obesity rates. Exergames can help play a role in this. Exergames can help convert passive screen time to active screen time, however they should not be used as a substitute for other forms of physical activity. They can be great addition to current activities, can help your kids get their needed daily physical activity or provide another option when weather or other things make it difficult to be outside.

Exergames help make fitness fun

As more exergames continue to arrive on store shelves, more people are deciding to add them to their regular workout routine. The article, Video games like Wii Fit help make fitness fun, out of the Detroit Free Press, highlights the booming popularity and benefits of using exergames to achieve fitness goals and how such a routine has helped one local resident lose almost 100 pounds. The person profiled describes her struggle with being overweight and how she found workout DVDs to be repetitive. Gyms and fitness classes also didn't work for her. She enjoys the variety of exercise options with Wii Fit that allows her to "mix it up". She began working out 30 minutes a day using Wii Fit and gradually built up to 90 minutes.