I’m not much of a “gamer”. (In fact, I’m not even entirely sure that’s the preferred nomenclature to describe one skilled at Halo and aroused by watching Grand Theft Auto.) The only video game system I’ve ever owned is the original Nintendo which still sits proudly attached to my television with a quarter holding RBI Baseball in place (undefeated through much of college). But, I do cover sports and its broadly defined intersection with technology, so when Nintendo began advertising Wii Fit, I felt obliged to turn off Tecmo Bowl and see just what the past twenty years has done to 64-bit technology and what it meant to the world of fitness.

There have been 786 reviews of the Wii and Wii Fit by men and women far more qualified than myself to compare its gaming merits to Dance Dance Revolution (never played), Guitar Hero (dabbled once in Best Buy) and the best of PS2 (never touched it). PopSci’s own gaming guru gave an excellent review of the system. But Wii Fit, and to a degree the Wii, isn’t only intended for Donkey Kong prodigies.

Used to be, a guy could sit comfortably on the couch and, by mashing a few buttons, make onscreen characters do all the hard work. Nintendo changed all that with the Wii. Suddenly, if you wanted to bowl or play tennis or help Mario save the galaxy, you had to stand up (gasp!) and move major muscle groups in a coordinated manner (heresy!). All those years of disciplined training to develop Thumbs of Steel (and Buns of Marshmallow), and Nintendo changes the game.