The pursuit of playing video games, which has been seen by some as rather unhealthy because of its sedentary nature and as a possible contributor to the problem of packing on pounds, may get a reprieve from this negative image because of a report that weight can actually be lost by playing a video game.
Mickey DeLorenzo, administrator of WiiNintendo.net, claims that he has dropped an impressive nine pounds after playing Wii Sports for an average of 30 minutes a day, beginning in December. DeLorenzo backs up his claim by providing accumulated data which shows his Wii fitness age (a series of games in which your progress is tracked and gives you an estimate of your fitness range), calories burned for each game playing session, heart rate, and body fat percentage. But the final evidence that his Wii Sports exercise program is effective is in the before and after photos he has posted of himself.
The now-slimmer Wii gamer said he didn’t alter anything else in his lifestyle, such as his diet, in order to lose weight. However, he did specify that he was very physically involved in the gaming sessions. "I moved my feet, I used full body motion, and I swung my arms to mimic the real thing. If you just stand there and make small moves or sit on the couch and play, I don’t think you’ll [obtain] much, if any results regarding exercise."
Wii Sports is not the first video game to provide players with exercise and fun gameplay. Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution incorporates an exercise mode in some of its titles, with DDR Extreme 2 being adopted by the 24 Hour Fitness gyms in October 2005 in order to help members exercise and dance away extra pounds. Wii Sports and the DDR games are perhaps the foreshadowing of a new genre to come–the emergence of the "exergame", or a title that is totally dedicated to exercise.
