Wii wins over adults with active games

The Nintendo Wii gaming system is popular among older adults.

By ASHLEY TATE

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — The theory that video games are just for kids and teenagers has now been disproved.

The Nintendo Wii game console is a gaming system that not only young children and teenagers can enjoy, but their parents and grandparents can join in the fun because it’s easy to use and gets people off of the couch.

Boardman Wal-Mart department manager Nanette Clemens said she saw on a news broadcast that nursing homes were beginning to use Wii as a form of physical therapy for residents.

Instead of controlling a character’s actions by only pressing buttons on a controller, Wii players use a remote control to manipulate the game with physical gestures as well as traditional button presses.

For instance, if a user is playing tennis, then the Wii remote acts as a tennis racket that users swing.

The level of physical involvement depends on the type of game.

Clemens said that some sporting games, such as golf and bowling, may be popular among adults because of the arm motions.

But some games, like football and tennis, require more energy from players to perform actions, Clemens said.

“I’ve actually seen some people play tennis and it was like ‘Whoa, I wouldn’t have enough energy for that,’” Clemens said.

Those games, Clemens said, require players to jump around a lot and they tend to get a little “wild.”

Boardman Circuit City operations manager T.J. Carkido said some older people may like the Wii because there’s more activity involved.

He said the games are closer to the actual sport, and players can have fun by being with a group of people moving around and making funny motions.

Carkido agrees with Clemens that bowling and golf seem to be the games for adults.

“I’ve heard of people forming bowling leagues through Wii,” Carkido said.

For golf, players develop skills learning to use a golf club, something they couldn’t do by pressing buttons on a traditional controller, Carkido said.

Maureen Horvath, fitness director of the Young Men’s Christian Association in Youngstown, said they recently purchased Wii and a variety of games, but haven’t installed it yet.

“They’re very, very popular and in demand and we want to stay on the cutting edge,” Horvath said.

Horvath said it’s a great game for exercise and it’s also good for hand, eye and body coordination.

She said she will use Wii for the kids and adults. Her concern is to keep them interested.

“Instead of them coming in [and] sitting at the computer, we’ll [move] them to the game. ...Whether they are young kids or adults, get them moving.”

Besides the physical aspect of playing Wii, Horvath said people can benefit other ways too. They learn to share, interact with other people, practice and play those games.

“[Wii] is a 100 percent better way to consume someone’s time. [There is] too much text messaging and on the computers, not that the computers are bad, but in the chat rooms. Everything’s changing and that’s what they need to do,” Horvath said.

Nancy Irwin, a licensed certified occupational therapy assistant, COTA/L, at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Youngstown, said they advocate Wii because it is goal-oriented and it engages the mind and body at the same time.

It’s something that is pleasurable and has an outcome in the end; the player gets better, Irwin said.

“Which would you rather do? Play a game of golf or lift your arm above your head 20 times?”

Other benefits to the game, Irwin said, are that it builds self-esteem, helps players be productive, involves them in an activity they can complete and it gets the endorphins going so that they have a sense of well-being.