Wii Love Bowling!

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

07 Jan 2008 11:59 AM

This past Christmas, we got our daughter a Nintendo Wii. I've actually been interested in getting one for more than a year, but besides being among the hardest to find game systems out there, it was also a little more of an expense than I felt like I needed to devote to myself, but after we got one for our nephew as a huge family gift, my daughter went crazy for it. When she wrote her letter to Santa, she asked for just six things and one of those was a Nintendo Wii.

What Wii Love

When I first wrote about the Wii, I had very little experience, just the bit I'd played on it at the store. But using it at home was an entirely different experience. Christmas afternoon, while dinner was cooking, we set it up and loaded the game package that came with it. Our options were tennis, baseball, bowling, golf and boxing. As all three of us are fans of bowling, which was the first game we loaded up.

Two things to remember when using a Wii, it comes with wireless controllers that have wrist straps. You want to use the straps to hang onto the controllers because flinging one across the room is not only unsafe, it could lead to breaking the controller (or a pane of glass) - luckily, we didn't break anything when this happened. But the best part of the Wii is that we do it together, all three of us and that we're on our feet, moving, throwing, tossing, hitting and more.

Bowling

Bowling is something we've always enjoyed. We own our own bowling shoes, we have our own bowling balls and I even took a bowling class (yes, seriously) when I was working on my Associate's Degree. Once upon a time, we were also in bowling league for a couple of years. Bowling is a physical sport, anyone whose bowled 9 frames in 3 different games can tell you that it's a workout. Your heart rate gets elevated, you have to use precision and muscle control to aim your ball and then there's the ball itself (mine weighs 10 pounds).

So how is Wii Bowling different, yet the same? Well, first and foremost, you're not using a bowling ball, but a controller. There is no significant weight to the controller. The game allows you the perspective of seeing the lane and you have to sight, and throw correctly because the controller responds to the twisting of your wrist almost as much as it does to the force with which you 'throw' the ball.

Straining Your Arm

While you aren't lugging a 10 pound bowling ball, bowling game after game after game for 2 hours can really put a strain on your arm. But if you bowl in moderation, it's still a workout and we're going to talk more about the Wii Workout this week!

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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Mary Ann Romans (26876) 07 Jan 2008 12:06 PM

Interesting. I wonder what other games can give you a good workout.

Lindsay Gray (19038) 07 Jan 2008 02:06 PM

I got a Wii this year for Christmas to! And it does get you moving! When I play tennis I'm all over the room!!

Another game we got for the Wii was Dance Dance Revolution. It's using the dance pad to match the dance steps that come up on the screen. That's a lot of fun and you're entire body is moving!

Courtney Mroch (9169) 05 Mar 2008 07:52 AM

The bowling is a blast, but I'm with Poliscmjr --tennis rocks! And Mary Ann, another one that really gets you moving is the boxing. That's a cardio workout BIG TIME (and good stress reliever. ;) Also, a lot of the games in the Mario vs Sonic Olympics. The 400 M swimming relay really wears your out. My husband is a swimmer and I can't compete with him in a real pool but I give him his money's worth on the Wii. FUN!!!