If you’re tired of walking or the weather is bad outside, then it’s Nintendo Wii time. Everybody these days are starting to talk about the console as a tool to keep player’s bodies in shape and now, students at Dalhousie University have examined whether playing with a Nintendo Wii can actually replace exercise.

The study involved 27 students, and tests focused on heart rates. According to the Nova Scotia News, the students compared playing with the Nintendo Wii and doing exercise for half hour of each activity to see which one took more energy. As you might guess, boxing is the most physically hard game.

I found the boxercise video was the best option,” he said. “But you got more benefits when it came to weight loss and weight management by playing a half hour of the Wii compared to walking for half an hour.

Personally, I think that (Wii) is a good form of exercise if you’re just starting out. It could definitely be used as a gateway to other activities. If you played these virtual sports, you might get more interested in the actual sports themselves.

So, the final result of the survey is that boxing on your Nintendo Wii is better than walking. However, while that might be the case, I think I’d personally prefer to take a walk from time to time, breath in some fresh air and exercise in the great outdoors than in my own front room.

Photo: © Litandmore

There was a time when Sony’s Playstation was the only console that gamers wanted. In the years that have passed since, Microsoft unveiled its Xbox 360 and took a large chunk of Sony’s share of the marker.

While the Sony PS3 has better graphics, it also costs more than the Xbox 360. It might have Blu-ray built in, but gamers don’t necessarily factor that in to their needs and requirements from a gaming console. Even so, while it is not a surprise that a giant such as Microsoft would enter the market with such a competitive product, it was when Nintendo released the Wii in 2006.

Few could guess that in only a few months the Nintendo Wii would capture much of the market share from Sony and Microsoft. Wii FANBOY reports that since then, over 20 million Nintendo Wii consoles have been sold worldwide.

Through rigorous scientific calculations, Nintendo Wii Fanboy has decided to officially quantify that total as “a lot.” Most of these units were sold in the past nine months, causing Nintendo’s profits to nearly double in that time.

Selling so many units in such a short space of time obviously leads to a high turnover in games as well.

Wii Play - 2,3 million
Super Mario Galaxy - 1,3 million
Mario Party 8 - 1 million
Twilight Princess - 1.3 million

Given its success thanks to its innovative gameplay, I wonder when we’ll see a console from Microsoft or Sony to compete with the Nintendo Wii?

Photo: © mercenario

Especially when compared to other games consoles, the Nintendo Wii is number one when it comes to exercising. While playing boxing or tennis you might just be keeping your body in shape, or at least that how Nintendo Wii owners feel after the first few hours of play.

Others are now trying to take advantage of this fact and one company has recently opened a web site promoting its Wii-based weight loss programme. Today, Crum from Wii Blog received an e-mail advertising the site.

Using your Nintendo Wii for exercise and aerobics is what MoveYourWii.com is all about. If you want to exercise with your Wii and track your weight loss, sign up for your free account.

You can keep track of the various Wii games you’ve played, and you’ll be able to exercise and weigh-in to see how “Moving Your Wii” is helping you achieve your weight loss goals.

Although not affiliated with Nintendo, Move Your Wii has also named top ten games for exercising. First place is Mario Galaxy while somewhat ironically, Wii Sports is only seventh. Of course, remember not to overdo it.

Photo: © k-ideas

Over 5 million Nintendo Wii units were apparently sold in Japan last year, and with so many out there, it’s no wonder that there are also going to be some injuries with the revolutionary console that utilizes motion controllers for playing games. This is especially true if you’re using the Wii controllers to play sports games such as boxing, tennis and bowling.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Osteopath Martin Davies noticed that the number of people coming to hospitals with Wii-related injuries increased after the holidays, a time when most people are not at work and presumably spent longer playing with their Nintendo Wii.

He said: “We noticed we were getting a number of middle-aged parents coming in having played for far too long on the Nintendo Wii that they had bought their children. The older patients in particular are finding their neck, shoulders and elbows are painful and some said they had been playing Wii for up to 10 hours”.

Well, it has to be said that the Nintendo Wii innovative controllers are so exciting to play with that you can easily forget about the time. However, perhaps Nintendo should place warnings on their product boxes to warn people about any possible injuries if they play games for too long in one sitting.

Photo: © obo-bobolina