We've all had it up to our eyeballs with the mainstream press rolling out scenes of octogenarians Wii Bowling every time they want to talk about the successes of the Wii. Apparently so have they.
So the press has moved on to Wii Boxing.
Blanche Betten, a 76-year-old retired restaurant owner, hammered Bob Warner, 85, with a flurry of punches, sending the World War II and Korean War veteran sprawling to the ground.
“Again, again, again,” onlooker Rosa Villanueva, 61, shouted at the Perris Hill Senior Center as Warner tried to regain his footing.
The San Bernardino, California, seniors weren’t fighting in a real ring. They were boxing on Nintendo Co.’s Wii video-game console as part of a public-health class to encourage physical activity. They’re among a growing number of former non-gamers who have taken up the Wii and made it the dominant player in the $21 billion U.S. video-game industry.
Bloomberg moves on from that touching scene of sweaty old men virtually pummeling one another to the hard numbers:
In San Bernardino County, 350 people aged 58 to 85 have participated in six-week fitness classes at senior centers since July, underscoring how the Wii has expanded the market for Kyoto, Japan-based Nintendo.
U.S. retailers have sold 15.4 million Wii players since the console was introduced in 2006, according to research firm NPD Group Inc.
The 8 million purchased through 11 months of 2008 exceeded the combined total for Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 and Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3.
Four of the top 10 games in November were for the Wii, Port Washington, New York-based NPD said.
The story also talks about some new research being done on the positive impact waving around a remote can have on a person.
Nintendo’s Punching Seniors Get Workout, Sell Out Wii (Update1) [Bloomberg]