GAMING: JUMP ON BOARD

Tom Standage — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:14:39 +0000

Wii FIT | August 27th 2008

Weight loss tool or party game? Tom Standage wiggles his hips and gets some exercise ...

From INTELLIGENT LIFE magazine, Summer 2008

Does standing on a white plastic board and assuming a yoga pose, while trying to keep a skittering dot on a TV screen inside a circular target, count as exercise? I'm not convinced, but this is what Nintendo wants you to believe. The plastic board, which resembles a set of bathroom scales, is the centrepiece of Wii Fit, a new set of games that supposedly turns Nintendo's hugely popular Wii console into a fitness centre.

It is not quite as nutty as it sounds. Sensors inside the board measure your weight and make educated guesses, as you lean in various directions, about your posture. You can then choose between various exercises, including yoga poses, balance games and aerobic workouts. Unlike with a fitness DVD, the board means the Wii can check that you are really doing the exercises, and monitor your performance. There's a simulated hula-hoop game where you wiggle your hips to keep an increasing number of hoops circling the waist of a cartoonish on-screen figure. You can step on and off the board to do step-training exercises, and do push-ups in the usual way, but with your hands on the board. read more »

LET'S CALL IT "ATMOSPHERE CANCER"

Robert Butler — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:32:49 +0000

ROBERT BUTLER | GOING GREEN | August 13th 2008

John LeGear/flickr

Some call it climate change, others prefer global warming. But does either name capture the seriousness of the problem? Robert Butler looks for alternatives ...

From INTELLIGENT LIFE magazine, Summer 2008 read more »