Wii Kicked

The measure of Wii's success

I have said in more than a few previous posts on this blog that the Wii is a great boost to the exergaming world and does well in raising public awareness. I have also warned the exergaming field and industry that this awareness needs to be built upon, or the genre will die with Wii Fit's waning sales.

Looking at the sales figures for last year, Wii Fit sold 8.31 million copies (and this gives you a clue as to how value of the exergaming market is predicted!), second only to Mario Kart Wii as the most popular title for 2008. Mario Kart hitting top spot amused me slightly, as this makes Gamercize games more popular than Wii Fit (see How to make Mario Kart Wii Fit)!

I think it's safe to say that the majority of the 6 million people new to video gaming in 2008 have been voting with cash for Nintendo, and have been sold to.

There's no doubt Wii is a sales success but now there's little advertising or promotion coming from Nintendo here, the cracks are starting to show. In two papers (The Times "Wiiii - What fun this isn't" and The Independent "The World's Most Pointless Inventions") last week, Wii has started to takes some kicks.

This was to be expected really, the genre has been mis-marketed to maximise sales and has little to do with actually using an exergame to get fit. If you think that's unfair, this is not my view, but the view of the game designer for Wii Fit (see Nintendo says Wii Fit won't make you fit).

Does this leave exergaming as a dying fad? Not in the slightest. Gamercize is going from strength to strength, of course, but the big news of the moment is from our friends at Electronic Arts - and the imminent release of EA Sports Active! This is how Wii Fit should have been, so now we can expect to hear exergaming in the news a lot more, and solve the misconception that exergaming = Wii.

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Exertion Games

Exergaming's exercise component.

I believe that the effectiveness of exergames is not down to the calorie burn per hour alone, but a combination of physical exertion and sustainability through video game play. Recently a spectator of the exergaming field brought up the question of exertion, in isolation from practical experience, and highlighted the need for exergames to create physical exertion.

Although I don't advocate choosing an exergame based solely on physical exertion, but none the less, this is a chart pulled directly from the Gamercize website. Which ever way you approach exergaming, Gamercize always comes out on top.
As you can see from the chart Gamercize has the top spot, but a chart only tells half the story. See this video from independent film makers VideoJug for a better picture of the four top home exergaming options here.

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Why be fit?

Think about the possibilities!

We hear the negative side of being unfit a lot. Heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, problems with joints and bones, benign intracranial hypertension, gall bladder disease and even cancer are linked with being very much overweight. It's very difficult to lose weight if you don't have some level of cardio fitness. I don't think these are the reasons that should be in your mind when you set up for a workout.

Try looking on the positive side, of all the things that will be more enjoyable from being fit. Also think about the things you can't do now that you will be able to do when you've reached your goals. Here's some ideas for you. I don't think these are the reasons that should be in your mind when you set up for a workout.

Being fit makes life more fun and with Gamercize getting fit is fun too.

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Your Change4Life - Cut out the Cakes and Get Moving

Raising money "Pound for Pound" with ITV

Gamercize is a partner of the government's Change4Life health awareness campaign and through these channels we find lots of great initiatives.

We're still looking forward to the actual "doing something about it" practical side of the campaign and the first has come from ITV's 8 week series "The Feel Good Factor".

If you have missed the show you can catch up with it here. Eamonn Holmes and Myleene Klass (pictured) put on a practical and entertaining show with lots of good advice.

The segment that's the most fun has to be from Mark Durden-Smith, about 20 mins into the show. Mark shows us how fitness doesn't have to be boring each week. For weeks highlight of the show check out that Water Walking for a crazy fun workout!

You too can get involved by raising money for charity and losing weight at the same time! It sounds to good to be true, so check it out on the Feel Good Factor website. Let's have a lot of money raised by Gamercize customers please, you have the best product to lose weight so get some sponsors and raise some money for charity!

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