Can video games make you thin?

After general concern that too many video games makes for fat, flabby and crabby people, certain companies are starting to market selective "fitness" products at the market. Here's a couple of oldies and newies for your viewing pleasure...

The Fisher Price Smart Cycle
The market for kids' developmental gadgets is pretty hot right now, and quite sensibly some people have noted that kids actually need to get some exercise now and then. So, ever ready to jump to the cutting edge of kids' technology, Fisher Price have come up with the Smart Cycle, which cleverly blends early "education" with physical activity. Now, there's even less reason to get your kids out in the fresh air. They can learn their alphabet, and get good calf muscles, too!


Dance Dance Revolution (Aka Dancing Stage)

This one's an oldie. Featured in Madonna's music video, this arcade game has long ago moved to home consoles in an effort to get you moving rather than button-mashing. First appearing on the Playstation 2, it's now moved across to the XBox and Wii. In the privacy of your own loungeroom you can now work on your personal lack of coordination by stomping on coloured arrows at the appropriate time in the game. Guaranteed to produce fits of laughter in spectators everywhere.




The Nintendo Wii has been firmly aimed at the casual gaming market (i.e. not the 8 hours a day shoot-em-up or drive-crazy fanboys/girls). Its latest gimmick (coming to a shop near you in May) is the WiiFit. It's not a treadmill or a bike or anything aerobic. It's a balance board that will tell you your weight and BMI and help you to learn yoga, hula hooping, soccerball heading and even downhill skiing. They've even got Kieran Perkins on the job to promote it. Does it work? Well, this bloke is trying to find out. He's writing a daily log of his BMI and WiiFit usage to show whether it's helping him lose weight. Apparently after 5 weeks he's lost a huge 3.5 kilos...