Wii Fit Tells Woman She Has Parkinson's Disease

[RowdyRodimus]

This is kind of pushing it. Sure it said her balance was off, but that wasn't what got her to the doctor. I'd be willing to bet that she had lost her balance beforehand and just didn't think about it. She had other symptoms that made her go to the doctor and in hindsight remembered the "big foot" thing on the Wii.

I'm sorry but you can't give Wii Fit any credit for this since no action was taken or even thought about because of it. You might as well say Meredith Baxter told Michael J. Fox he had Parkinson's because of the episode of Family Ties where she said to his character, "Alex, you seem unsteady".

Not being a Wii hater, just being sensible. The last thing we want is for people to start ignoring things that might be wrong because a Wii game doesn't tell them they have one symptom of something.

 

[joest01]

I think the way they built balance into Wii fit is very well thought out. Maybe even a little bit groundbreaking. It would take a VERY observant yoga trainer to spot the subtle imbalances Wii fit does. And it makes some of the excercise SOO much more exhausting when you do them correctly.
Try the Warrior pose on Wii fit. Give it your best effort.
Then log back in tomorrow and tell me you don't feel anything.

 

[Rigs83]

What a lucky woman, although I think this:

New gaming devices like Wii Fit might bug the hardcore gamer, but they seem to be doing wonders for humanity.

May be a little too far.

Is it? Games like Wii Fit are helping people to stay in shape (and given the rate of obesity in this country, that's huge). They have (or are at least working on) "games" that help diabetic kids have a little fun while they track their blood sugar. It makes the long haul of physical therapy more tolerable.

I'm not saying Nintendo needs a Nobel Prize any time soon, but come on. They are definitely making an impact.

Really? Just because lot's of people buy them doesn't mean they actually use them. I honestly do not know a single person who has bought the Wii-Fit who actually still uses it.

70% of body shape is down to diet anyway, so it's not going to make that much of an impact. Especially considering the kind of exercise you can achieve on the Wii-Fit is fairly low in intensity, whereas people trying to lose weight tend to require high intensity (interval training, spinning classes, sprinting etc.).

I know a lot of people that still use them, myself included. And actually, the exercises you can do on the Wii are very good for weight loss. You don't need a super-high intensity work out to lose weight. And while diet is important, exercise is the bigger factor. You can eat whatever the fuck you want IF you do enough exercise that your burn remains higher than your intake.

Spoiler: Oh yeah you can eat anything?

 

[Jadak]

Great, it can tell that there's more weight on one side than the other, not impressed? Good for her though, I guess...

 

[Jaded Scribe]

What a lucky woman, although I think this:

New gaming devices like Wii Fit might bug the hardcore gamer, but they seem to be doing wonders for humanity.

May be a little too far.

Is it? Games like Wii Fit are helping people to stay in shape (and given the rate of obesity in this country, that's huge). They have (or are at least working on) "games" that help diabetic kids have a little fun while they track their blood sugar. It makes the long haul of physical therapy more tolerable.

I'm not saying Nintendo needs a Nobel Prize any time soon, but come on. They are definitely making an impact.

Really? Just because lot's of people buy them doesn't mean they actually use them. I honestly do not know a single person who has bought the Wii-Fit who actually still uses it.

70% of body shape is down to diet anyway, so it's not going to make that much of an impact. Especially considering the kind of exercise you can achieve on the Wii-Fit is fairly low in intensity, whereas people trying to lose weight tend to require high intensity (interval training, spinning classes, sprinting etc.).

I know a lot of people that still use them, myself included. And actually, the exercises you can do on the Wii are very good for weight loss. You don't need a super-high intensity work out to lose weight. And while diet is important, exercise is the bigger factor. You can eat whatever the fuck you want IF you do enough exercise that your burn remains higher than your intake.

Spoiler: Oh yeah you can eat anything?

If you can exercise enough, yeah. Now, that burger would probably take a few hundred thousand calories to burn off, so it would take you a LONG time to get evened out, but the idea is the same.

And of course, eating good foods will make you healthy, eating and burning off bad food will still leave your health lacking.

But athletes usually consume 10-15000 calories a day. Their bodies burn off enough to keep their weight down (its also why a lot of athletes put on a lot of weight when they quit playing).

The exercises, even on the Wii, also help tone and shape your body. Losing weight just to end up still flabby isn't going to do much for you.

 

[VanityGirl]

Wow...and here's me thinking Wii Fit was just a load of rubbish. Fair play to it.

I must admit, I've used my brother's Wii Fit and that thing is actually pretty damn good. The yoga's the best thing on it. It's a good way for gamers to get in shape without leaving the house.

But, OT: That's interesting. I wonder if she'll keep using her digital doctor.

 

[(LK)]

I'm not sure I would trust a Wii Doctor.

It would probably just have me balance on a funny little pedestal while someone poured pills down my throat and arranged them into rows until I choked.

 

[Something Amyss]

The way the title is worded, I thought the game straight up said "YOU HAVE PARKINSON'S DISEASE!" complete with the dancing balance board thats usually on the screen.

Anyway, glad to see she found out.

Yeah, kind of false advertising. I'm starting to get used to that with the Escapist's headlines though.

It is good she found out early though.

 

[Asuka Soryu]

New gaming devices like Wii Fit might bug the hardcore gamer, but they seem to be doing wonders for humanity.

By that logic, does that guy being hit in the face with a Wii mean that the Wii is destroying humanity?

 

[mooncalf]

I remember a news story a year or so ago (maybe someone can source it?) about the wii fit board being used by doctors as an alternative to $20,000 pieces of specialist medical equipment, for purposes which the wii fit board could actually perform BETTER in, at a fraction of the cost.

Now, not only do I respect the device for it's hardware merits, but I can even find a little forgiveness in my heart for those utterly inane looking games that use it. Bizarre console peripherals are great for everything except gaming it seems.