Ned Potter is the science correspondent for ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson." He has reported on such topics as space exploration, the human genome and climate change.
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"Wii Have a Problem"
December 06, 2006 9:39 AM
The first thing you notice about the Nintendo Wii is not the cool graphics, or the new games, or the motion-sensitive controllers, but the fact that kids play it standing up. Swinging their arms. Reaching for imaginary balls. Maybe, just maybe, even breaking a sweat.
For those who worry about childhood obesity, this could be a hopeful sign. If Nintendo can sell enough of the things--and if the novelty doesn't wear off too quickly--the Wii could become an antidote to the sedentary lifestyle that has swept a wired America.
Then you notice one other thing: the little white controllers have wrist straps. I doubt these were an afterthought. Anecdotes are coming out of odd corners: people are accidentally...throwing the things.
Is this a sizable phenomenon? I have no idea, but it's enough that there's now a website: http://wiihaveaproblem.com/ . It's festooned with pictures of cracked DVD readouts and shattered TV screens--some made by Sony, the manufacturers of the rival PS3 gaming system.
Does Nintendo really have a problem with people letting go of their controllers? Hold on.
December 6, 2006 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (1)
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Obviously, playing video games is getting to be increasingly more dangerous a sport. In the 1970's and 1980's, "gamers' thumb" was the main malady; now, it seems that a player or other breakable objects can easily be struck by a flying game controller. I can appreciate your firm grasp of the facts of this impending danger, Ned, and I hold the opinion that videogame controllers don't hurt people, people hurt people.
Posted by: chuck | Dec 6, 2006 9:50:37 AM
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