Incidents of "Wii-Elbow" Reported After Playing With the Wii

The Wall Street Journal is reporting isolated incidents of gamers experiencing aches, pains, and other maladies associated with playing their Wiis. One youth from Kentucky complained of numbness in his right arm after putting in some serious game time in playing Wii Sport’s bowling and boxing. The bowling game requires participants to go through the same motions as swinging the arm backward and forward, while the boxing game mimics the motions of a fighter. A man in Minnesota, after playing the boxing module in Wii Sports, said that he had sore shoulders and was “soaking wet with sweat, head to toe.” He also admitted that he was not a person who was “very active” in his lifestyle. Perrin Kaplan, Nintendo,s vice president of marketing made her views known regarding the phenomenon called Wii-elbow. She said to WSJ that, "[The Wii] was not meant to be a Jenny Craig supplement. If people are finding themselves sore, they may need to exercise more." While Ms. Kaplan,s comments won,t be ingratiating her to the hearts and sore bodies of gamers who have experienced the condition named Wii-elbow, it does point to a real life problem associated with the more physical games produced for the Wii. While Kaplan,s premise that those who experience soreness after playing Wii Sports need to be in better shape, this doesn,t hold true to real world reports of gamers who are in good physical condition and still experience the Wii-elbow syndrome.