The Wii Might Not Be Much Exercise, But Suing Nintendo For Self-Promotion Is

from the and-1-and-2-and-file-and-sue dept

The Nintendo Wii has been the subject of class-action lawsuits before, but this could be a new low: some guy now claims he's preparing another one for the company to deal with, because he alleges Nintendo misrepresents the Wii as a fitness tool when it actually contributes to obesity. He equates Nintendo to tobacco companies misrepresenting the safety of their products, but as Engadget points out, he's not just some do-gooder concerned about the health of America, he's also somebody who makes his living from it, and apparently has a fitness radio show that's about to launch. Somehow it's hard to imagine this suit will get anywhere; but we also imagine it was never really meant to anyway.

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Your Computer Thinks You're Lazy

from the get-off-the-couch dept

Anyone that watches late night television is constantly reminded of America's growing beltline. To combat our obesity epidemic, infomercials abound with the latest exercise gizmos that promise to make us all fitter. But, most of these gadgets end up gathering dust in the corner since they don't do anything to motivate us to actually use them. So, need help getting off that couch? Have your computer call you. Stanford researchers have found that an automated computer message reminding people to get out and exercise is nearly as effective as a human counselor. People who were called by the computer exercised an average of 157 minutes per week, as compared to 118 minutes for the people who weren't called. Not bad -- if only someone could figure out how to actually get the computer to do the exercising, that would truly be the killer app.

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