I needed an up-to-date way to bond socially with my grandchildren and my children. Kids are introduced to toys that think or talk or react to them – practically from birth. Young adults, having grown up with computers and video games, spend lots of leisure time with gadgets and microchips.
We've declared Sundays, in the old fashioned tradition, to be family day. But we got off to a shaky start – spending large blocks of time together with an age range of 18 months to 59 years. Once we did the dinner thing, how do we fill the day? How many DVDs can you watch before your brain explodes and your derriere aches to be off the couch.
We decided. Get up and move – bowling, basketball, wrestling, tennis, and boxing. Everyone could play! So we bought Nintendo's new Wii system. Yep, that's how we got off the couches. The system is so interactive that we had to stand to play it. We had to move nearly as many muscle groups, nearly as often, as the real deal.
You...Me...Wii
Wii comes with a remote controller that looks like the traditional game controller, but the buttons aren't the whole story. To play some games, I must move my hand and arm to mimic the game's action. If golfing, I stand at a 90-degree angle to the TV, address the virtual ball, swing my virtual club (my hand and arm) over my shoulder, bring the swing down and follow through. Good swing – the on-screen shot is pretty accurate. Swing wild – the ball on the TV goes into the rough or water.
I was on the floor laughing when my kids were boxing. I sat behind them as they faced the TV. My daughter and her husband really got into it. When they swung their fists (holding the controllers, which were strapped to their wrists) their screen characters punched or jabbed. They could weave and dodge too.
Watching two shapely butts bouncing and gyrating as they virtually pummeled each other on screen was a riot. When the two of them got really sucked up in the battle, they dropped the controllers and throttled each other. Might be a problem with competitive younger kids!
Families That Bowl Together
My husband and I bowled. We were slightly winded after a game – it moves fast. Tennis makes players' foreheads bead with sweat. A fun afternoon.
The entire experience harkened back to the many bad weather days that found us questing through Legend of Zelda games but with the Wii there's an element of energetic activity now. Electronic gaming is here for the long run. It'll get more complicated and more realistic and kids of all ages will keep coveting the newest or greatest. We're feeling pretty virtuous dedicating some afternoons to an active virtual world.
Listen, there are senior citizen Wii bowling leagues springing up all over the country – why shouldn't I jump on that bandwagon?