The Wii rules!
Never having been a video gamer because of a lack of dexterity with traditional game controllers (and little interest in the titles available), I am surprised how much I am enjoying our new Nintendo Wii! I am good at bowling, air hockey, and Skee ball since I have successfully played these in real life. I am not good at tennis, ping pong, or golf since I am unsuccessful at these sports in real life. I have a little trouble with Guitar Hero since, having taken guitar lessons years ago, I keep moving my hand up the fret. Dance Dance Revolution is really fun, and seems to be very good exercise, so I will keep at that. (Not much to compare it to in real life, however.)
The bottom line is that the Nintendo Wii, with its handheld wireless controller (the Wii Remote) which can detect movement in three directions as you flail about the living room, seems pretty close to simulating real life action. I am amazed that I could be quickly successful at the things I could do in real life and performed so poorly at the sports I was not good at in real life. I guess the real test will come, for me, when I can practice with and learn some tactics with the Wii that will transfer over to the real world of games of golf, darts, pool, ping pong, "ping cup", or shuffleboard.
(Of course, the Dance Dance Revolution practice will come in handy for a dance-off with 6th graders at school!)
Kathy
The bottom line is that the Nintendo Wii, with its handheld wireless controller (the Wii Remote) which can detect movement in three directions as you flail about the living room, seems pretty close to simulating real life action. I am amazed that I could be quickly successful at the things I could do in real life and performed so poorly at the sports I was not good at in real life. I guess the real test will come, for me, when I can practice with and learn some tactics with the Wii that will transfer over to the real world of games of golf, darts, pool, ping pong, "ping cup", or shuffleboard.
(Of course, the Dance Dance Revolution practice will come in handy for a dance-off with 6th graders at school!)
Kathy
Labels: Kathy Schrock, Nintendo Wii
posted by Kathy Schrock at 6:17 AM
4 Comments:
You should check out the video explaining how the Wii can be used in the classroom to make a Smartboard/Whiteboard out of anything. I'm excited about this possibility and would be tickled as a way to engage those students who need a more kinesthetic approach in a school with limited funding.
Here is Will Richardson's post that also includes a link to the YouTube video. Thanks, Kookaburra!
http://weblogg-ed.com/2007/the-wii-as-99-smartboard/
Kathy
Santa brought my kids a Wii this Christmas and I too find myself having a grand time. I can beat my son at bowling but he kills me at tennis every time. I have been practicing my dance moves secretly before I take my kids on.
My family loves the Wii too, and I keep trying to think of educational applications for that controller. We have a rollercoaster building game, but I can't say the physics are quite as realistic as I would like.
The same person at CMU who did the whiteboard has also used the Wiimote to help create a virtual reality display - see the third video on this page, and especially watch towards the end as an HDTV looks more like the view out a window as you move around!
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/projects/wii/
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