(U-WIRE) – The Nintendo Wii is lifting some sedentary video game enthusiasts from the well-worn seats of their couches, giving them a workout that extends past their thumbs.
Customers described feeling as achy and sore after a round of Wii as they would after leaving the gym, according to a report released by the Wall Street Journal one week after the gaming console’s debut last November.
But reports have not impeded the rabid enthusiasm for Nintendo’s latest addition. Through the end of February, Nintendo sold 1.86 million Wii systems in the U.S. alone, according to the independent NPD Group. The gaming system features digital sensors, which allow users to virtually play games.
“Wii Sports,” a game included with the console that contains sports like bowling, tennis, baseball and boxing, has been credited for helping some Wii users to lose weight. Because the player mimics the motions of the game, physical exertion extends past virtual reality into very real results.
Mickey DeLorenzo, 26, multimedia developer from Philadelphia and Nintendo fan, exploited what he saw as a fitness tool in the Wii and created the Wii Sports Experiment, an exercise regimen in which he played Wii Sports every day for 30 minutes without alterations to his regular diet and exercise habits.
DeLorenzo said he lost nine pounds into a little more than a month through his Wii regime.
“Nintendo designed Wii to completely revolutionize the way people play video games,” said Amber McCollom, the senior manager of public relations in America for Nintendo. “We knew that some Wii games would get people off the couch to play, but we thought that would come more from enthusiasm than fitness.”
DeLorenzo has accumulated a certain celebrity in the Wii world by regularly blogging his results on the site WiiNintendo.net, where viewers can watch videos and graphs of his exploits. In one particularly popular video, he jumps up and down the top steps to Philadelphia’s art museum while the “Rocky” theme plays in the background.
As a result of his growing popularity online, DeLorenzo has signed a book deal and partnered with Traineo.com, a Web-based social/exercise network that helps people obtain their weight and fitness goals through social support and motivation, to further publicize his workout regime.
McLean-Foreman said Traineo.com members are comparing which games burn the most calories, experimenting with wrist weights and logging their workouts online.