Don't Fool Yourself, Playing Wii Tennis Won't Keep You Fit
Think working up a sweat playing Nintendo Wii Tennis is a substitute for exercise, think again. Wii jocks will have to hit the treadmill like everyone else if they want to stay fit.
According to a study by the British Medical Journal, while the Wii provides more activity than passive videogames it is still no replacement for getting some good old fashioned exercise.
Wii is unlike other video game consoles out there. A standard videogame only requires players to move their thumbs and index fingers, whereas the Wii actually requires players to move their hand or occasionally their entire arm to interact with the game. The Wii console has done much to get couch potatoes off their duff and playing video games – but apparently not enough.
For the British Medical Journal study boys and girls between the ages of 13-15 were selected to play both an Xbox 360 game (Project Gotham Racing 3) and Wii games (Wii Sports). Later the Journal would compare calories burned by the kids while playing each of the games.
The results were unsurprising. The Wii used on average 51 percent more energy than playing a sedentary Xbox 360 game. The Wii Sport game Tennis demanded the most energy from study participants with an energy expenditure of 750 kilo joule (a kilo joule is an international system unit for measuring energy). Wii Boxing expended 730kj and Wii Bowling at 700kj. By comparison, playing Xbox 360 games had a mean energy expenditure of 450kj – a measurement just slightly higher than resting (300kj).
For me, a lifelong console game junkie, the study results didn't surprise me. It's a big "duh" that playing Wii uses more energy than a standard videogames. I also was not surprised when the study looked at real world sports like tennis and compared it to playing Wii Tennis.
One thing did catch my attention in the study, however. According to the study actual bowling uses only slightly more energy than Wii Bowling.
Sorry to break the bad news to all you folks whose New Year's resolution was stay fit by playing more Wii Sport games.
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http://www.wiinintendo.net/2007/01/15/wii-sports-experiment-results/
Wii is GLORIOUS!!! I have had multiple heart attacks, a stroke, and sextuple bypass surgery and sit in a chair waiting to die. Because of Wii tennis and bowling I thrash my 17 year old and WE laugh and grin from ear to ear. Thanks Nintendo!
This article stink of anti-nintendo fanboyism. Wait until Wii-Fit comes out, then we'll see which console game allows you to burn the most calories!
How much did Sony pay you to write this?