Seniors can be tricked into exercising with video games, study might suggest
It doesn’t take a research grant to figure out that exercise — heck, just walking around the block once a day — can have a dramatic effect on a person’s well-being. The problem is that so-called “older adults,” who are particularly prone to a mild but no less debilitating depression known as subsyndromal depression (SSD), are really just too bummed out to do much of anything. Here’s where the grant money comes in: Dilip V. Jeste, MD, and his team of researches at UCSD gathered up 19 seniors diagnosed with SSD and had each of them play Wii Sports for 35 minutes, three times a week.
“The study suggests encouraging results from the use of the exergames,” Dr. Jeste reports. “More than one-third of the participants had a 50-percent or greater reduction of depressive symptoms.” Additionally, most participants claimed that learning to to play those darned vidja games was actually pretty easy — even enjoyable. Uh-oh. Red flag!
You see, had Dr. Jeste continued his study, he might have found that his guinea pigs would soon discover that Wii Sports can easily be played with the slightest flicks of the wrist and, ah yes, it is nice to just sit back on the couch again, but, oh boy, this game is really getting boring, so let me just get on the dag blasted google and see what — here we go — “the best videogame right now,” okay, the yahoo’s answer says: World of Warcraft. Warcraft, eh? That certainly sounds better than bowling. Couldn’t hurt to give it a quick gander … click.
Seniors can be tricked into exercising with video games, study might suggest originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 26 Feb 2010 05:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Latest Nintendo software sales report features large numbers
Look, we get just as tired of seeing Nintendo’s remarkably high software sales figures every few months as you do — that’s why, this time around, we’re going to do things a little differently. We’re just going to add up all the life-to-date totals for the company’s biggest titles, and just drop them in one big chunk. Ready? Okay, here we go: 247,780,000.
Well, that sure didn’t work. Fine, we’ll break down each of the games highlighted by Nintendo’s recent financial report (warning: .pdf link) and post their FY2010 sales and life-to-date sales after the jump. (Fun fact: All of the Wii games actually have “Wii” in the title. It’s like the Nintendo 64 days all over again!)
Continue reading Latest Nintendo software sales report features large numbers
Latest Nintendo software sales report features large numbers originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Nintendo celebrates DS, Wii, software sales milestones in Europe, U.S.
Across two of Nintendo’s biggest markets, the US and Europe, the house that Mario built has managed to get a lot of its hardware and software into customers’ hands, reporting huge sales milestones and a very prosperous December. In Europe, the DS is now the best-selling video game console of all time, surpassing the 40 million mark in the region. The Wii now tops 20 million, becoming the fastest-selling console in the region since its release three years ago. There’s also some data on Nintendo’s games to chew on, including Wii Sports Resort, which sold five million since releasing in July, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which just reached 2.5 million units sold.
As for the States, Nintendo’s been raking in equally impressive amounts of cash here. In December, three million Wii consoles were purchased and the DS set “a new all-time calendar-year U.S. sales record for any console or hand-held system.” You know, just like the company did last year. Also, New Super Mario Bros. Wii had quite the stellar showing in the U.S., achieving lifetime sales of four million units in the region.
In short: Nintendo is pretty much the same as always.
Source - Nintendo UK press release
Source - Nintendo of America press release
Nintendo celebrates DS, Wii, software sales milestones in Europe, U.S. originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Nintendo Mall Experience tour heads cross-country next week
Nintendo must’ve had some luck with its Great Lakes and Wii Sports Resort tours recently, as the company has announced the Nintendo Mall Experience tour. Starting next week through December 20, The Big N will be stopping at shopping centers across the country to get some of its Wii and DS titles in the faces of holiday shoppers.
On the Wii side, Nintendo will show off its top three games for the holiday season: Wii Sports Resort, New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Wii Fit Plus. For the handheld crowd, Nintendo will be pushing the new Style Savvy, Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. Head past the break for the full list of stops on Nintendo’s Mall Experience tour.
Continue reading Nintendo Mall Experience tour heads cross-country next week
Nintendo Mall Experience tour heads cross-country next week originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Wii-playing police receive slap on the wrist, strict talking to
Look, if people are going to eschew their work day in favor of having a gaming tournament, we’re the first to sympathize. In the case of those in the business of protecting our lives from murderers and financial institutions though, we find it hard to offer much solace. So when eleven officials from several Florida agencies were caught on videotape playing games a couple months back and the story caught on internationally, we were hopeful that those found guilty would maybe, you know, actually receive some form of punishment.
Instead, the Lakeland Ledger reports that the offending officers will suffer such retribution as … a few hours of retraining? The names of the officers are even being withheld due to their “undercover” status at the time. Lakeland sheriff chief of staff Gary Hester goes as far as to say, “We are learning from our mistakes … I think we handled [the investigation] properly.” He then hurriedly rushed back to a game of Street Fighter IV in progress against a competing police department.
… Okay, we made up that last part.
Wii-playing police receive slap on the wrist, strict talking to originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Home Shopping Network Tosses Wiimote Accessory Into HDTV
Who says the Home Shopping Network isn’t entertaining? In the video above, posted on Youtube on October 16 by HSN, two sales people show off a special Wii console bundle that includes 15 accessories for the low, low price of only $329.90 (and that’s after a price drop folks!).
While the saleswoman on the right talks about the features and the hot item on many people’s Christmas lists, the salesman on the left gets a little too into his demonstration of Wii Sports tennis while using a third-party tennis racket accessory for his remote. The resulting calamity is simply classic.
Barely 10 seconds after showing a close-up shot of the accessory - which appears to be securely fastened to the remote - the salesman goes for a serve and dislodges the accessory from the Wii remote, hurling it into the HDTV and breaking the screen. This happens despite the salesman using the Nintendo-recommended wrist strap (he clearly shows the remote still in his hand immediately after breaking the TV). The salesman then comments “I didn’t have it on there all the way.” Yeah, sure you didn’t….
I guess nothing sells a video game console like a controller accessory that flies off your remote and breaks your TV, because the saleswoman then showcases the accessory display to the right and notes “These are the accessories that you get - obviously that was the tennis racket flying out of Cory’s arms.” Live product demonstration folks!
But if I was an HSN caller, I’d simply have one question for the sales people: “Does that bloated $130 accessory package come with some sort of liability insurance for when it flies off my remote and breaks my $700 TV?”
Skip to 4:55 to see the action.
Black Wii system going to Europe as part of Wii Sports Resort bundle
Nintendo UK will release the black Wii system on November 6, as part of a limited edition bundle including matching Wii Remote, Nunchuk, and MotionPlus peripherals, and both Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort. This bundle will be available elsewhere in Europe on November 20.
Along with the black bundle, Nintendo is releasing the black Classic Controller Pro accessory. No price has been announced for any of these items. Nintendo of America has yet to announce any plans to release any of these items — in fact, it has announced that there are no plans. But, really, it’s waiting until every holdout gets impatient and buys a white system.
Black Wii system going to Europe as part of Wii Sports Resort bundle originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
HSN teaches valuable lesson about Wii accessory safety
We were certain — absolutely certain — that the epidemic of fractured television screens which cropped up with the release of the Wii had passed. Everyone’s heard the horror stories, seen the blackened eyes and witnessed the ruined electronics, we thought. Everyone now knows the methods of avoiding Wiimote accidents during their exuberant Wii Sports bouts, we thought. The Home Shopping Network recently proved the inaccuracy of this observation.
The hilarity unfolds in the video after the jump. While some might grimace at the fate of the poor television featured in the video, remember that they’re charging $330 for a Wii and 15 completely unnecessary controller attachments. Call it an accident, if you’d like — we call it Karma in action.
Continue reading HSN teaches valuable lesson about Wii accessory safety
HSN teaches valuable lesson about Wii accessory safety originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Wii Price Cut Official: $199.99
After several leaks including early retailer flyers, retail employee tips and pictures of GameStop computer notices, Nintendo of America has finally announced that it is dropping the price of its current Wii console package by $50, making the new price $199.99 for the North American market. The new price takes effect on Sunday, September 27. This marks the very first price cut for the system since its November 2006 release.
However, hot on the heels of this official announcement comes word that Nintendo will not offer the price cut in the UK, but that it may potentially bring a new Wii Sports Resort console bundle to that region which would include the system, Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, one Wii remote, one nunchuck and one Motion Plus accessory. Additionally, Gamesindustry.biz has begun reporting this rumor and states that some retailers are even taking pre-orders for this alleged new bundle which is expected to arrive in the UK within two weeks. So could Nintendo be liquidating its current stock of Wiis to make way for a new Wii Sports Resort console SKU which would place the console back at its $249.99 price tag? We’ll see soon enough.
Rumor: No Euro Wii price cut, new bundle to include both Wii Sports games, MotionPlus
Just like we saw earlier this year with the PlayStation 3 Slim, the rumor mill is churning at breakneck pace — though this time around a possible Nintendo Wii price cut rather than a slimmer console. Aside from multiple retailer listings and today’s alleged internal Best Buy memo, MCV reports that a “retail source” told it the UK won’t be receiving the same price cut that North America and Japan are expected to receive. Instead, the current model will be given the bundle treatment.
GamesIndustry.biz spotted the new bundle on ShopTo.net — it has since been removed, though an image and a shell of the page still exist — which includes both Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort as well as a MotionPlus attachment, for the same £199.99 ($326.76) the system is priced at now. If it is true, at least UK Wii buyers will be getting a bit more for their pounds. It’s not quite the Duck Hunt/Super Mario Bros. with a Zapper combo of yore, but it’ll have to do.
Source — No Wii price cut for UK [GamesIndustry.biz]
Source — New UK Wii bundle leaked [MCV]
Rumor: No Euro Wii price cut, new bundle to include both Wii Sports games, MotionPlus originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Top 10 Best Selling Games
-
