wii controller

You can already swing a metaphorical tennis racket, do the virtual hula or drive a virtual steering wheel. So what could possibly be next for the Wii?

Why, this inflatable horseback riding saddle controller, of course. Seriously—-a saddle. To ride in your living room.

Online gaming has a real-life environmental impact, whether through a computer's energy usage or the power-hungry server farms owned by game companies. But a media expert at the University of Stanford has suggested harnessing the allure of online multiplayer games such as World of Warcraft for the greener good.

Byron Reeves sketched a scenario where a player might get in-game feedback from a smart meter which records energy usage in the house. Turn off the lights, and the game takes note and rewards you accordingly.

Bob de Graaf

Step away from the console. Drop the Wii controller. A study conducted
by the American Medical Association suggests that too much gaming
could be a viable addiction. Though the authors caution that there
hasn't been enough research yet to make a definitive case, and some
addiction experts lambasted the idea, the report definitely makes
over-play—more than two hours a day—sound like serious business.
Rough estimates suggest that as many as 10-15% of gamers could be
addicted. The group most at risk? The 9% of Americans involved in
Massive Multi-player Online Role Playing Games.

Apparently, spending
three hours a day as an entirely different person in an alternate
universe could leave some psychological marks. Wow. Who would've
guessed that?—Gregory Mone

View the entire report here