Wii Stimulates The Mind & Body

The Nintendo Wii works from head to toe to strengthen the mind and body.

The Nintendo Wii is different from rival game systems like Playstation and Xbox. The Wii doesn't offer the high tech graphics as the Playstation 3 or Xbox, however, it offers an entirely new gaming experience for the player. With Playstation and Xbox, you're seated stationary with only your fingers doing the work. The Wii is much more physically interactive than the other systems, which means your fingers aren't the only body part in motion.

The Wii library of games offers an assortment of categories to suit most everyone's tastes, such as puzzles, fitness, dance, sports, racing, and more! However, you won't find many violent, bloody games in the Wii collection. Most are family games and are appropriate for any age level.

Childhood obesity is a major health concern today. Many schools throughout the United States have endorsed or included the Wii in their physical education programs. In 2008, the British government endorsed the use of Wii's in schools after a pilot program in five schools in Worcestershire found that the Wii helped increase the activity level and heart rate in the participating students. The Wii offers the appeal of a video game and the benefits of exercise and physical activity.

The weather will no longer be an excuse not to exercise. With the Wii you can exercise in the comfort of your own home, even if it's a scorching 100 degrees or a frigid ?10 degrees outside.

There are many fitness games in the Wii library. One of the popular fitness games is the Wii Fit. The Wii Fit uses a platform called a balance board to calculate the player's body mass index. The balance board is also used to in the training activities, which include yoga, aerobics, strength training, and balance games. The newly revised Wii Fit Plus was released in October 4, 2009 and offers a new calorie burning counter and a new training plus category with new yoga and strength training exercises.

The Wii Fit is not only for home use. Many hospitals use the Wii Fit to aid in physical rehabilitation and some nursing homes use it for their residents as a form of low impact exercise.

The classic Wii game is Wii Sports. Wii Sports includes the game of tennis, baseball, bowling, boxing, and golf. As an amateur tennis player, this game is not only fun for me, but it is also challenging. The follow-up game to Wii Sports is Wii Sport Resort. This newest addition to the Wii Sports family includes the games of sword play, kayaking, archery, ping pong, basketball, and more! Don't be fooled! These games will really work your muscles and you may even find yourself breaking into a sweat. The Wii Sports Resort also includes the Wii Motion, which is said to make the controller more accurate.

Another incentive to play harder on Wii Sports Resort is the chance to see a celebrity in the audience. The higher your ranking, the more celebrity spectators you will see. You may even find yourself playing against a celebrity! I was once playing ping pong against Michael Jackson! He was actually pretty good.

The Wii games not only exercise the body, but also the mind too. There are many Wii puzzle games that test knowledge and strategy. One of my favorite Wii games is Big Brain Academy. This game tests and helps increase memory, math, logic, visual recognition, and analysis. This game can be played alone or in a group setting. Big Brain Academy is so fun that you won't realize you're working your brain cells!

Another fun brain game is Smarty Pants. This is a multi-player, team based game, which is fun for a family or a group of friends. The game tests your knowledge on current events, history, pop culture, sports, and more. But this game is more than just a pop quiz. They throw in a tug-of-war and a dance off to keep things fun.

The Nintendo Wii is more than just a game system. It supports physical activity, family bonding, learning, and healthy living.

You can find these and other popular games at http://top-ten-wii-games.com

R. Kuramoto is a lifelong avid gamer. His gaming history goes back to the Commodore 64 days. Kuramoto enjoys playing many types of games and systems, but his specialty systems are the Wii and Playstation. You can find these and other popular games at Top Ten Wii Games

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