Wii-itis

Wii-itis

By A.J. Russo

Nintendo doesn’t know what to do about the growing publicity surrounding its Wii console. On the one hand, people of all ages have been jumping, pumping, kicking and punching their way to better physical shape, and the Wii is continuing to dominate hardware sales in this console generation, despite being graphically, and technically inferior to rivals PS3 and Xbox 360. On the other hand, it seems a new medical condition is surfacing related to its use.

And Nintendo doesn’t know what the effects of recent publicity surrounding the console will have on it’s sales.

An ad in the recent issue of a sports medicine journal read: Wanted – Sports Therapist, knowledgeable of console based sports injuries and how to prevent and treat them.

An ad in a local Gazette read: Summer Exercise Camp for all ages. Bring your own console, we’ll supply the TV.

An ad in a journal for the legal practitioner read: Wanted – recent law graduate, Nintendo/Wii champion. Willing to head Wii Sports Injury Litigation Division.

A recent ad in AARSP (American Association of Retired Sports People) read: Warning – don’t participate in Wii sports unless supervised by a grandson or granddaughter.

It has even been suggested that the Surgeon General issue a warning about the Wii. It might go something like this: Unsupervised and/or overuse of this device may cause Wii-itis

Recently, the first known case of Wii pain, a sports type injury picked up purely by playing the Wii, was reported.

Anthony Williams, an MTA bus driver, was out of work for over a month because he was playing Wii Sports a bit too enthusiastically for long stretches at a time. This led to extreme soreness in his wrists, bad enough to cause him to wake up in pain every night.

He went to see his doctor, who diagnosed Anthony with severe tendonitis, caused by too much time on the Wii.

In another case, Julio Bonis, a medical resident in Spain, published a letter in the New England Journal of Medicine writing that he developed acute tendonitis isolated to the right infraspinatus, warning that the popularity of Nintendo’s Wii console could make the condition more common.

According to the New England Journal of Medicine letter, he had successfully developed a course of treatment for the ailment — ibuprofen for one week and complete abstinence from playing Wii video games.

But his habit got the best of him and he eventually returned to gaming. He was asked if he was still risking “Wii-itis” by returning to his game console?

“I try to use it with moderation,” he answered, seeming sheepish at the question’s obvious implication.

A friend he talked to had a better solution. “Put the console down and get outside and exercise.”

~ by outsidethegame on July 19, 2008.