This just in from the Weekly World News - a Tooth Fairy gazette that straight-faced writes about stuff like Bat Boy and alien abductions of cheerleaders, so consider the source. It's like comic books for old ladies at the hairdo place. In fact, if the Weekly World News reported "Owen Good works for Kotaku," I would call Crecente to ask why I had been fired.

Anyway, they say Sheen - who was in fact arrested - and wife Mueller sparred in Wii boxing, "the dangerously lifelike boxing simulation game." But not realistic enough for the competitive couple. "Soon enough an argument arose over the Wii not being responsive or realistic enough, and a real boxing match broke out in the living room." Mmm hm.

WWN says Sheen suffered "three broken ribs and two cracked teeth," and his victorious wife taunted him by text after he got out of the slammer. They also say Sheen's middle name is Inigo Montoya.

Charlie Sheen Arrested [Weekly World News, story and faked pic. The site is parody and/or satire. I mean, really, Megan Fox is a man? Plus it has a WordPress favicon.]

In an interview with EPSN, Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford, who recently lent his voice to the game Brutal Legend, talked about the group's Nintendo gaming.

"In Judas Priest, we actually play the games in the dressing room," said the singer. Generally before a show. Just to get in the mood for the excitement and the energy for what we're gonna do.

"However, at our stately metal god time of life, we tend to do the Nintendo bowling. And the golfing. If there's any energy left after the show, we get into the boxing mode."

Halford recently trademarked the name of a video game "Metal God" this past January. The trademark covers "computer games; video games; and game controllers for computer games."

ROB HALFORD Interviewed At Launch Party For 'New Super Mario Bros.' [Blabbermouth Thanks, James!]

The Nintendo-funded study, led by the National Institute of Health and Nutrition in Tokyo, measured the metabolic equivalent values, or METs, generated by participating in Wii Fit and Wii Sports activities. METs are a standard way of measuring energy expenditure, with moderate intensity exercise defined as any activity with METs of 3.0 or above.

By far the most effective exercise in the study was Wii Fit's single-arm stand, which at 5.6 EMTs was just under the AHA's definition of vigorous activity, which kicks in at 6.0.

The loser? Wii Sports Golf didn't make the cut, falling in at 2.0 METs, which isn't really surprising when you consider that most of your exercise in golf comes from walking and drinking.

Here are the results as they stand:

Wii Fit Single-Arm Stand: 5.6 METs
Wii Sports Boxing: 4.5 METs
Wii Sports Tennis: 3.0 METs
Wii Sports Baseball: 3.0 METs
Wii Sports Golf: 2.0 METs

So aside from single-arm standing, the study proves that hitting imaginary people is a healthy way to spend your day. Good to know!

Nintendo Wii may provide actual exercise: study [Reuters]

Members of the Kaiser Permanente "Pixmen" marketing team took to the halls of Honolulu's Ala Moana Center mall yesterday to demonstrate how Wii Sports can help people stay healthy while still playing video games. They used Pixman Nomadic media to get the message across, a technology-based street media system that seems to involve placing television monitors on the backs of marketers. I approve of anything that places television monitors over the heads of marketers.

The team wandered about the mall, inviting people to play a game that certainly seems like Wii Sports, though the Honolulu Advertiser seems to think it is Wii Fit. Judging by the article's description of passersby playing bowling, golf, and tennis, I'd say Wii Sports is a far better bet.

"We got pretty good reaction today from people," said Michael Lew, one of the Pixmen. "There's a significant number of people who interacted with the game. It's a great way to get your message out."

So Wii Sports isn't just a grand alternative to standard exercise; it's also a fine alternative to standard marketing.

Insurer promotes fitness game [Honolulu Advertiser]

Hand it to that guy, he does not deviate from the sales pitch after such a colossally embarrassing f—kup, even with his cohost laughing and, no doubt, a production crew trying to keep it together. And hats off to the director who switched over to the b-roll while they got the pitchman positioned perfectly in front of the TV to cover up the scar the Wiimote left.

Now, $329.90 for a standard Wii bundle and a doubled-up set of peripherals? That's a tragedy. Especially since they pretend it'd retail for $379.99.

Nintendo Wii Gaming System with Wii Sports and 15 Accessories [YouTube via Joystiq]

Yes, I'm defining "sports game" loosely. But, on the Wii, where the boundaries of gaming communities and game genres are blurred, that may be the most informative approach.

(The following stats are pulled from the usage data shared by more than two million Wii users through the system's Nintendo Channel. For more information about how we calculate these total playtimes, check out this week's earlier Wii stats post)

Average Per-Gamer Playing Time For Sports Games On The Wii (as of August 1)
(Release Dates in Parentheses)

Wii Sports (November 2006) - 36 hours, 19 minutes
FIFA Soccer 09 All-Play (October 2008) – 29 hours, 44 minutes
Madden NFL 08 (August 2007) - 28 hours, 12 minutes
Madden NFL 09 All-Play (August 2008) - 22 hours, 58 minutes
MLB Power Pros 2008 (July 2008) - 22 hours, 41 minutes
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 (August 2007) 20 hours, 55 minutes
Wii Fit (May 2008) - 18 hours, 47 minutes
Mario Super Sluggers (August 2008) - 18 hours, 22 minutes
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 All-Play (August 2008) - 17 hours, 46 minutes
NBA LIVE 09 All-Play (October 2008) - 16 hours, 52 minutes
NCAA Football 09 All-Play (July 2008) - 16 hours, 45 minutes
Mario Strikers Charged (July 2007) - 16 hours, 23 minutes
Skate It (November 2008) - 14 hours, 50 minutes
Fishing Master (September 2007) - 12 hours, 42 minutes
NHL 2K9 (September 2008) - 12 hours, 27 minutes
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 (June 2009) - 12 hours, 17 minutes
Super Swing Golf: Season 2 (December 2007) - 12 hours, 7 minutes
Major League Baseball 2K9 (March 2009) - 11 hours, 59 minutes
Little League World Series 2008 (August 2008) - 11 hours, 51 minutes
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (November 2007) - 11 hours, 35 minutes
We Ski & Snowboard (March 2009) - 8 hours, 28 minutes
Carnival Games Minigolf (October 2008) - 7 hours, 51 minutes
Hooked! (October 2007) - 6 hours, 20 minutes
We Ski (May 2008) - 6 hours, 4 minutes
NASCAR Kart Racing (February 2009) - 6 hours, 3 minutes
DECA Sports (May 2008) - 5 hours, 58 minutes
EA SPORTS Active (May 2009) - 5 hours, 54 minutes
My Fitness Coach (December 2008) - 5 hours, 34 minutes
Summer Sports: Paradise Island (April 2008) - 5 hours, 26 minutes
Active Life: Outdoor Challenge (September 2008) - 5 hours, 25 minutes
Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip (November 2008) - 5 hours, 5 minutes
Top Spin 3 (June 2008) - 4 hours, 19 minutes
AMF Bowling Pinbusters! (November 2007) - 2 hours, 40 minutes

(NOTE: Many Wii sports games, new and old, were not listed on the Nintendo Channel as of August 1, including Wii Sports Resort. Games typically aren't listed until they've been played by a set number of people, meaning unpopular games and new games often don't make the cut.)

Via Twitter, the former Speaker of the House says he's up in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, visiting family and rolling the Wiimote. "Seven year old is proving tough competition," he tweets.

Twitter's konabess replies with the helpful, "keep your elbow in and follow through!" Gingrich replies: "Good advice I will try this Any advice for wii golf."

I would have pointed him to the bowling ball attachment. As for golf, well, I find that the distance your ball travels relative to the dots feel a bit longer after the second dot. Keep that in mind when you're trying to make a mid-range iron shot onto the green.

Man, I feel so goddamned bipartisan all of a sudden.

Newt Gingrich on Twitter

During the period, Wii Fit sold 3.6 million units globally (130,000 units in Japan and 3.47 million overseas), bringing lifetime sales for the game to 21.82 million copies.

Mario Kart Wii sold 2 million copies globally (90,000 copies in Japan and 1.91 million overseas). The lifetime sales total for Mario Kart Wii is 17.39 million copies.

Wii Sports sold 1.91 million copies worldwide, selling 60,000 copies in Japan and 1.85 million overseas. The lifetime sales total for Wii Sports is 47.62 million. While Wii Sports was bundled with the Wii in the U.S., it was not necessarily bundled elsewhere.

Last year during the same period, Wii Fit sold 3.42 million copies, Mario Kart Wii sold 6.42 million copies and Wii Sports sold 4.76 million copies.

But instead of fading away, the Wii Bowling movement seems to keep growing. In a recent piece in the Chicago Tribune, Alicia Fabbre talks about a particularly popular Wii Bowling league in a Chicago suburb.

The league started 3 1/2 years ago (Nintendo says it was the first in the country) and soon expanded from 12 teams to 30. The league now has 96 bowlers and 47 subs.

"It gives you a lot of exercise," said Alice Lukaszka, a 72-year-old bowler who has been in the league since it started at Carillon Lakes.

Like others, Lukaszka noted that Wii bowling is easier for her than going to a bowling alley. For starters, her score is better. (Her average is 213. At a bowling alley she would score in the low 100s, she said.) And while a remote can have its technical (or operator-induced) difficulties, at least it's not as heavy as a bowling ball.

"This is a lot more fun," said Florence Davis, 74, who has been playing since last year. "There's a lot more pressure in a [regular] league."

I'm curious what sort of impact Wii Sports Resort and it's more accurate version of Wii Bowling will have on this movement. Are the controls, and it's ability to detect flaws, going to mean aging virtual bowlers won't upgrade or will they simply up their game?

Wii bowling leagues right up seniors' alley [Chicago Tribune]

What's more, the study's authors were surprised to find the Wii Sports games, which rely almost solely on upper-body motion, still provided a good enough calorie burn. I guess they hadn't played the home run derby, which still whips my ass every time.

Researchers at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center conducted the study, looking at 23 boys and girls ages 10 to 13. They examined the kids' energy expenditure at rest and while watching TV, then playing Dance Dance Revolution at two skill levels, then Wii Sports bowling and boxing, and then walking at various speeds on a treadmill.

Unsurprisingly, kids burned three times more calories playing the games than watching TV. The researchers were impressed enough to recommend "active games such as DDR or Wii" as "a complement to activities such as walking or cycling."

Of course, anyone who's gone 3 rounds in Wii boxing and ended up heaving and sweating already knew this. But it's a top-flight university study in a leading research journal, and the mainstream media's picking up the ball. So for those keeping score on whether we gamers are getting slapped upside the head or patted on it, today I'd say the latter.

Let the Kids Play Video Games - They're Burning Calories [Los Angeles Times]

This stumble in Nintendo's stride has gained little attention as its competitors chase its dust. It's about the key tool for movement in this big gaming movement.

The original promise of the Wii's controller, the Wii Remote, was that it would augur a revolution in game control, a Motion Control Revolution.

Yet nearly three years later, with the Wii Sports' sequel, Wii Sports Resort,on the verge of its U.S. release, the triumph of the Motion Control Revolution is debatable at best. At the very moment when the wisdom of releasing the Wii is beyond dispute, it can be argued that the Motion Control Revolution has stalled — failed even — and that Wii Sports Resort is the next best hope (the last one?) to save it.

First shown at a game conference in Tokyo in September of 2005, the Wii Remote was going to make imitation swordsmen and dentists of us all. It was going to turn us into sharpshooters and champion fishermen, or so Nintendo's video sizzle reel hyped.

When Wii Sports was released in November 2006, that Motion Control Revolution seemed assured. We swung the Remote like a tennis racket and heaved it like a bowling ball. Those motions first delighted our families at holiday gatherings and then an audience at The Oscars. Day after day, the anchors of cable news seemed charmed to play a game on a console whose name they struggled to pronounce.

Yet, since the Wii Remote birthed the great Wii Sports, it's no stretch to claim that the revolutionary Remote has spawned no other great motion control games.

That's Nintendo's hidden stumble, this struggle for the motion-sensitivity of the Wii Remote to prove itself the equal of traditional button and stick controls, to say nothing of establishing itself as the superior option. Gamers groan at the flimsy motion controls mapped to action games. A shake of a hand replaces what could have been the press of a button. In game after game, motion control presents a different option, but one that seldom seems better.

As right as Nintendo was about so many things, maybe it was wrong about this. Or, as is so often the case with Nintendo's Wii project, the failure here may be one of critical imagination. That happens. Forty years ago on Monday, a human being first stepped on the moon, and what people assumed would happen in the next four decades — trips to Mars, cities in space — have not been built. The guessers often guess wrong.

The future we may have expected in 2006 — of a 2007 and beyond filled with motion-based greats manipulated with a Wii Remote — has not come to pass. The lightsaber, magic wand and music-conducting Wii games we expected were made. But they felt constrained and inaccurate. Mario and Zelda have not been transformed into adventures of motion-based brilliance. Magnificent as that motion control in Wii Sports was, the ability to let a player control their game by swinging the Wii Remote appears to have inspired little confidence and limited mastery even in some of the world's most expert game creators.

Even in Wii Fit, the great successor to Wii Sports, the Wii Remote was all but relegated to a laser pointer used to select menu options. Meanwhile, the mechanism for the game's motion was the Balance Board, a controller inspired by a bathroom scale.

Other Wii designers minimized their use of the Wii Remote's motion control even more. Chart-topper Super Smash Brothers played without it. Blockbusters Mario Kart Wii and Guitar Hero tucked it away in shells shaped like wheels and guitars, doing little to convince anyone that motion control was a must.

A new Zelda down-played it. A new Mario limited its motion-control element, as have so many Wii games, to the occasional vibration of a player's right hand. This fall's New Super Mario Bros. Wii, made in the two years since the last Wii Mario, uses motion control no more than the last.

Some games have used the Remote's motion control aggressively. MadWorld, No More Heroes and Manhunt 2 harnessed its potential for violence. Wii Music marshaled motion for musicality. Boom Blox made it the mechanism for hurling baseballs at stubborn bricks. But fun as some of those games were, they were not hits.

In that dust behind Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft and Sony are in the chase. Last month they revealed their own Motion Controllers, tied to cameras and, in the Xbox's case with Project Natal, absent the need for players to hold anything in their hands. One wonders if the companies have noticed Nintendo's struggles with motion control amidst the Wii's triumphs. The use of arm and body movements to play games has not proven a game-changer in and of itself. By making games more appealing a wider audience, its been a component of a bigger change. But it's also been a red herring.

Designers borrowing ideas from Wii Sports had had better success drawing from the game's accessibility than strictly from its motion controls. The simplicity of its design made Wii Sports approachable, streamlined and friendly, the least intimidating game many people had played since Pac-Man. It has one of the shortest gaps between being turned on and being fun. These have been its smarter qualities — and have revealed that the genius of the Wii Remote may not be its swing but its shape. It can be understood when seen from across a room and clearly it's no threat.

If the lack of games doing great things with motion control was one sign of trouble for the Motion Control Revolution, another was last summer's revelation that Nintendo was building a gadget that would enhance/repair/improve the Remote's motion-sensitivity. Bundled with copies of next Sunday's Wii Sports Resort and made to be plugged into the base of a Wii Remote, the MotionPlus add-on is, in Resort, a necessary attachment for better sword-swinging, archery, bowling, golf and more. A swing is a swing and a flick is a flick, and the controller feels like it finally knows — instead of merely simplifies — how the player is moving.

After years of playing games made during Nintendo's era of the Remote, playing Wii Sports Resort with MotionPlus attached suggests that we've been using a tool that was too blunt for the task. It is a technological success but also an admission by its manufacturers that the original Wii Remote was not capable of the motions we imagined — or that were teased in that sizzle reel.

Wii Sports Resort has greatness in it. A couple of days playing it — of going back for more and more — reveals it to be another joyful construction, a game with plenty of fun to share. The necessary bolting on of MotionPlus could be proof that, like Wii Fit or Guitar Hero, the greatest, most accessible motion-based games needs a unique device of its own, a controller shaped to the actions and fantasies of the game it supports. Wii Sports Resort suggests that for all the virtues of the Wii Remote's simplicity, it was too simple on its own to enable a line of games made great by its motion control.

By exposing what's been wrong with it, Wii Sports Resort may be the game to save the Motion Control Revolution.

(All images via Nintendo of America's press site. Super Smash Bros. player image from Nintendo/Stuart Ramson)

Doh!

Nintendo staffer Takayuki Shimamura recounts the story with a laugh: "Right after getting back to Japan, he suddenly said: "You know we're including golf now." Apparently he'd stated in an interview that this time round golf shots would be determined by the backswing, even though at that time a golf game didn't exist in any shape or form!"

So there you go! Wii Sports Resort golf, courtesy of an interview flub.

Miyamoto tricked devs into putting Golf back into Wii Sports Resort, also belittles employees [GoNintendo]

(The following stats are pulled from the usage data shared by more than two million Wii users through the system's Nintendo Channel. For more information about how we calculate these total playtimes, check out this week's earlier Wii stats post)

Average Per-Gamer Playing Time For Nintendo's First-Party Wii Games (as of July 1)
(Release Dates in Parentheses)
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (March 2008) — 68 hours, 51 minutes
Animal Crossing: City Folk (November 2008) — 54 hours, 16 minutes
Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn (November 2007) – 46 hours, 40 minutes
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (November 2006) — 46 hours, 9 minutes
Wii Sports (November 2006) — 35 hours, 47 minutes
Mario Kart Wii (April 2008) – 31 hours, 40 minutes
Super Mario Galaxy (November 2007) — 27 hours, 37 minutes
Super Paper Mario (April 2007) — 24 hours, 13 minutes
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (August 2007) 21 hours, 37 minutes
Mario Party 8 (May 2007) — 20 hours, 39 minutes
Pokemon Battle Revolution (June 2007) — 20 hours, 2 minutes
Wii Fit (May 2008) — 18 hours, 18 minutes
Mario Super Sluggers (August 2008) — 17 hours, 39 minutes
Excite Truck – (November 2006) 12 hours, 39 minutes
Battalion Wars 2 (October 2007) — 12 hours, 23 minutes
WarioWare: Smooth Moves (January 2007) — 11 hours, 39 minutes
Excitebots: Trick Racing (April 2009) – 10 hours 56 minutes
Wii Play (February 2007) — 10 hours, 7 minutes
New Play Control! Pikmin (March 2009) – 9 hours, 44 minutes
Endless Ocean (January 2008) — 9 hours, 41 minutes
Wii Music (October 2008) — 9 hours, 17 minutes
Wario Land: Shake It! (September 2008) — 8 hours, 47 minutes
Punch-Out!! (May 2009) – 7 hours, 55 minutes
Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree (June 2007) — 6 hours, 56 minutes
Mario Strikers Charged (July 2007) — 6 hours, 18 minutes
New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis (March 2009) – 6 hours, 14 minutes
Link's Crossbow Training (November 2007) - 4 hours, 55 minutes
Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast (October 2007) — 4 hours, 41 minutes
New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (May 2009) – No Data Listed

Away from the chaos of E3, we've gotten a chance to swing a MotionPlus-appended Wii Remote to control Wii Sports Resort, the showcase game for Nintendo's latest controller add-on. Yes, the chaos of the big show was absent, but present were guys from Nintendo.

And here's the thing: the more one spends time chatting with guys from Nintendo of America, the more one feels that parts of their headquarters must feel like a gamer variation of a varsity locker room, where the jocks walk around with swelled chests bragging not about how much they can bench press but how many more times they can return a serve in Wii Sports Resort table tennis.

With meager skills and a willing attitude, Kotaku took a swing.

What Is It?
Wii Sports Resort is the sequel to Wii Sports, which is, Guitar Hero and World of Warcraft notwithstanding, the most-discussed game of the last five years. The original Wii Sports was packed in with every Wii sold in North America. The new Wii Sports comes bundled with MotionPlus, the required add-on that enables a more direct relationship between a player's hand movements and those rendered on-screen. Wii Sports had four five sports. (Edit: sorry about that.) Wii Sports Resort has 12 — well, more than 12 given some of the unlockable variations of the core dozen.

What We Saw
We binged and played five sports: archery, basketball, table tennis, swordplay and skydiving.

How Far Along Is It?
Wii Sports Resort is out in mere weeks. It's done.

What Needs Improvement?
Uh, nothing? This game's quite good. Maybe we should complain about how simple these Miis look. Or about how there's no online play. Or how some of the sports, like bowling, are built upon (or recycled) from what was in Wii Sports. Or how the game would be cooler if it came bundled with two MotionPlusses instead of one to more easily enable multiplayer gaming. But such criticisms would be like yelling at a cute puppy to put on a hat: an ineffectual recommendation and one hardly guaranteed to improve something that's already plenty capable of providing delight.

What Should Stay The Same?

Archery: Seen at E3, previewed by many. Hold the Wii Remote vertical as one would hold a bow and yank back with the nunchuck to pull back the arrow. Hold steady. Account for wind and how gravity will tug on a long-flying arrow. Release. After the easy levels, a batch of new areas and harder difficulty options open up.

Basketball: Select three-point contest (other variations are offered). Hold the remote sideways. Tap the b-button to grab a ball from a rack. Make a flicking motion. Put some spring in your toes. Work through racks all around the half court, just like the pros. It feels perfect, though somewhere a Sony designer is growling that they already did this with Sixaxis for the first NBA game on PS3. Sorry, dude.

Table Tennis: It controls like Wii Sports tennis but plays faster. The variation on head-to-head is a challenge to return serves. Kotaku army, try to beat Nintendo man Melvin's 352 points. That's an order. And don't call the Achievement-like things in this game Achievements. They're Accomplishments. It's unclear, though, whether the times one hits the computer character on the other side of the table with a ball to the head is an Accomplishment or not.

Swordplay: One on one? Played it at E3 last year. Alternate mode involving chopping stalks of bamboo? It's probably dandy. But if there's a trophy for Mini-Game Of The Year, polish it for whatever Nintendo is calling Wii Sports Resort's light variation of Gears of War Horde. You are your Mii. You're holding a sword. And those waves of sword-wielding Miis coming down that rope bridge toward you need to be whacked. Batter them off the bridge and a balloon lifts them to some sort of Wii Sports Resort heaven. Boss Miis with extra health hearts and better blocking abilities await. By the way, imagine if those Miis rushing at you resemble your friends, family and favorite celebrity Miis.

Skydiving: Hold the Wii Remote like it's a small doll and tilt it to make him dive. Shades of the Pilotwings sequel we behaved so well to get but Nintendo never made. Points are taken for linking the diver to other divers, which sends a photographer down to snap a shot. Parachutes open automatically to prevent that Pilotwings pastime of planting skydiver into ground. The unlockable modes for this one include an airplane dogfighting mode, stretching the definition of sport in a manner few will protest.

Final Thoughts
What originally could have been accused as a cash-in or pointless sequel instead appears to boast more depth than any game Nintendo's internal teams have made in a couple of years. There's little to complain about from last night's preview session. In short bursts these games control splendidly.

This is one of those Nintendo games that, when you play early, feels like it's going to both intimidate and inspire game creators. For gamers it will need to prove its depth is equaled by longevity. A healthy sampling of what's on the game's menu suggests that it will. Things are looking up for this one.

Perhaps more importantly, the Wii Motion Plus controller, and a Wii Sports 2 Resort, bundled with the controller, have drop dates of July 10.

We've reached out to Ninty PR in Europe to see if they want to say anything.

RUMOR: Wii Fit Plus Coming, More Evidence of MotionPlus/Wii Sports Resort Bundle+July Release [GoNintendo]

Organizers for Wiimbledon, to be held April 11, are looking to fill a field of 32 doubles teams playing Wii tennis. In addition to being reasonably competent at Wii sports, they're also looking for fun folks who can play well with improv actors, as there will be a ton on hand - meddlesome officials, snarky commentators, klutzy ball kids, unscrupulous opponents and heckling fans. Performers will appear live on a big screen before the rest of the audience, complete with player biographies and other stats.

Those around Seattle (the event is being held at the 911 Media Center), or so hellbent on proving their Wii sports prowess they'd fly there for this, must pay a $20 registration fee and answer a questionnaire, just so they can be sure the players don't lack all sense of humor or won't have a good time. Those who just want to see a zany Wii tournament can pay $8 to watch, and of course, beer and alcohol will be served.

Doubles teams will have to use Wiimotes provided by the tournament, and must create tournament Miis onsite. And the Wiimote strap is required. No code violations for controller abuse here, folks.

Wiimbledon [Official site]

Winslet, wearing Narciso Rodriguez, tells E! that she was actually playing some Wii Sports tennis when she learned of her recent Oscar nominations for some movies I'll likely see under pressure.

"It was extraordinary, I was playing Wii Tennis with my son," the actress relayed to E! Television. "It is fantastic. The boxing is the funniest thing of all. Because you're boxing the air... I'm watching my little five year old go [convincing Wii Sports boxing sounds]. It's hysterical."

Scoff if you want, but the fact that these two telegenic women were delighted to be talking about video games at the Screen Actors Guild Awards red carpet says a lot. When I tell of my accomplishments maxing out my World Court Tennis character stats on the Turbografx 16, I don't get the same response.

SAG Awards: Kate Winslet [E! Online]

Not anymore, as Girl Gear — which may or may not be an actual manufacturer or just an aftermarket pink supplier — is displaying a broad range of peripherals for the Wii that will appeal to the "pink ocean" market. Wii racing wheels, Wii tennis racket remote jackets, a Nintendo DSi starter kit, and even an innuendo filled pink sword.

We'll be delving deeper into the third-party video game accessory bowels of CES later this week, so if rosy, injection molded things are up your alley, don't miss our coverage!

In an article in the New York Times in which our soon-to-be President predicts a Florida win over Oklahoma in tonight’s BCS championship game, it is revealed that Barack Obama's daughters received a shiny new Nintendo console when Santa Claus visited this year.

Mr. Obama said he’d have his hands full attempting to rescue the American economy. But he has gotten in a little practice in bowling lately on the Nintendo Wii his daughters received for Christmas. Mr. Obama, who famously struggled in bowling during last year’s Democratic primaries, said he performs better in the video game.

I don't know much about politics, but it gives me an amazing amount of warm fuzzies knowing there's going to be a game console in the White House.

Obama Predicts a Florida Victory [The New York Times via GameCulture]

"Wii knee" is the latest brand-name computer-entertainment associated injury, joining "Atari thumb" and "Redtube wrist." (Wait, was that my out-loud voice?) Researchers at Leeds Teaching Hospital identified and named the injury; The British Society for Surgery of the Hand also notes "an increase in the number of injuries caused by excessive use of Wii." What's more, they expect to see even more cases of it during/after the holidays.

Here's one non-knee case already:

"She was playing tennis with a partner and fractured one of the bones in her finger when he hit the back of her hand with the control," said Richard Milner of the BSSH. He's one who expects to deal with this more.

Of all the klutzy (I'm aware "spastic" is a big no-no word across the pond, unlike here) Wii-related injuries, that one is a real head-scratcher. Because her free hand would have to have its palm turned away from her swing for that to happen. Correction: Her partner hit her on the back of the hand. That underscores that we're talking about the Wii as a proximate cause of injury and not the actual one. Really, why wouldn't this activity be classified as a sports/fitness/recreation-related activity? Is it because it's done in front of a television?

Of course, the source on this is the Telegraph, in which two anecdotes constitute a trend. Still, be careful out there.

Doctors Fear a Wii Knee Epidemic [Telegraph via HuffingtonPost]