The Elderly & The Wii

One of my instructors recently asked me if I would feel comfortable writing the Nintendo corporation to ask a few questions about future games, equipment & accesories, and I replied that I could handle that. I have been running through ideas and what I'm going to say ever since.

One of the areas that needs to be addressed is constructing a controller that isn't so sensitive because as my instructor and I were playing the Wii the other day, we got first-hand experience of the controller's sensitivity.

Another topic I wanted to mention and offer a few suggestions is concerning the types of activity/exercise related games. I think it would be awesome to have some dance games with Oldies type music since that is most likely the type of music that our Geriatric population listens to or can at least tolerate. I know my mom likes to work out to Richard Simmons just because of the music in his videos, and I have to admit I like the "Oldies but Goodies" myself.

Also, I've seen some workout videos that have people on the screen doing various levels of activity and I think that would also be great, maybe having someone in a w/c also demonstrating an exercise as well as someone sitting and standing as to not exclude anyone.

I came up with another idea last night when I was playing Super Mario Brothers w/ the family. We have a game where up to 4 people can play at the same time on the same screen. As I was playing w/ my youngest, I thought to myself, "He's not very good at playing on a team." You see, you have to take into consideration your teammate because if you go too fast and leave them behind, they will die. So, as you can imagine, it's very difficult to play with 1, let alone 3 other people at the same time and keep track of what they're doing and really try to work as a team to get through to the next level. I have to admit, I avoided letting my youngest into the game b/c I didn't feel like he was really trying and kept dying b/c he was in such a hurry, so I think we could all benefit from more team related games and who knows, it may even help us with our school projects, too!

I welcome any other ideas of future games, accessories, equipment or suggestions that anyone feels strongly about and would like me to include in my letter.

As I was looking for a good website to add more insight into this subject, I was bombarded with a vast array of sites. Basically, the Wii can help improve balance to prevent falls, alleviate depression, shed a few pounds, provide socialization, etc. They are even having tournaments at the Senior Centers now. The site I picked didn't necessarily have the most information in it, but I couldn't resist that picture. You can tell by the client's affect and the way her mouth and tongue are positioned that she was really concentrating and wanted to win!