In college there were a few classes that I enjoyed taking, like various music performance classes, and athletic classes like tennis and bowling.   But there was never anything related to playing video games.  (Well, I did get to take one about programming for games.)

The University of Houston is now offering a class on Wii Performance.   The games used in the course will be Wii Fit, Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, and Wii Dance Dance Revolution.   Their program coordinator said:

Our department conducts a host of research into the epidemic of obesity, not only its root causes, but ways to combat it and the diseases related to it. Using the Wii games can be both fun and an effective tool. We anticipate that many students will want to take this class.

I think their anticipation is right-on.   Of course many students will want to take that class!  If I could get college credit for playing video games, I know I would’ve!

The music on the Mii channel on the Nintendo Wii has an unusual groove to it, and apparently it prompts some people to dance.  In the following video, the instructor of a recent Boogiezone University workshop danced to it for his students.

It’s too bad the Miis (characters / avatars) on the Wii don’t dance to it.  However, in Wii Fit you can see your Miis dancing (and you get to dance along, too), albeit it’s more of a step up / step down routine, but you can creatively add to it.

BTW, who knew there was a Boogiezone University?  Can you get a degree in getting your groove on?  I’m glad I didn’t have to take a dance class in college, or I might’ve lost my scholarships…

The other day I was reading about Wii Fit by Nintendo, one of this year’s hot selling items during the holiday shopping season.  The article I saw on it mentioned the weight limit, and it was quite humorous how they worded it in an effort to be very politically correct:

Its sensitivity only goes so far, however, with the board able to take only 330lbs (150kg) maximum weight, locking out the particularly robust from joining in on the Wii Fit fad.

So if you’re over 330 pounds, you’re “particularly robust”?!?  That’s amusing!  Robust means “full of health and strength; vigorous; powerfully built; sturdy; requiring or suited to physical strength or endurance; full-bodied”.   Some of those just don’t seem to fit this usage, particularly “endurance”.   The “sturdy” part might work, in that it’s difficult to push over someone that heavy.  There is another definition, which says, “marked by richness and fullness”.  I don’t know about the richness part, but people over 330 pounds probably experience fullness on a regular basis. 

Anyway, it’s ironic that the balance board included with a game that’s all about making you fit has a limit for the people who need it the most.   So we (the Buffet o’ Blog staff) were discussing this and came up with a few possible solutions for those who would like to participate but are over the limit:

1) Get two Wii Fit boards, one for each foot.
2) Lose a hundred pounds, and try to enjoy life again.
3) Make an aftermarket balance board that can handle more weight, and call it Wii Fat.  You could even have a larger version called Wiily Fat.

AWW-RIGHT! 

FYI, for any “Captain Literal” type folks who find this post, this is humor.   If you’re offended right now, you should get a life.

Thank you, drive thru…

A lot of people are making birthday cakes with video game themes these days, but this one I’m about to show you really takes the cake.  (That was a really bad pun, wasn’t it?  Nonetheless, I refuse to apologize because some of you deserve it.   You know who you are.)   The design of this cake comes from the Nintendo Wii game Super Mario Galaxy (which is one of the best games ever, in case you didn’t know).  Not only is it cake, but it’s also animated.  There’s cake and Rice Krispy treats, but also electrical wiring, motors, MP3 players, a wooden frame, fiber optic lights, and so forth.  (Obviously it’s not all edible, at least for normal people.)

For starters, here’s a picture of it:

But that picture is not a good representation of it.  At the creators’ homepage, you can see a lot more pictures of it, up close and from different angles.  (Just scroll past the text, unless you’re interested in that.)  But they also have a video of the cake in motion, as well as a few behind-the-scenes shots.  For your convenience, here’s the video:

I read the FAQ by the cake’s creators, and they’re not professional cake-makers.   In fact, they make just 2 cakes a year, or 3 if they volunteer one for a friend.  In the FAQ, someone asked them why they don’t start a cake business, because someone would pay a lot of money for that.  The creators said they don’t want to make it a business, though if someone offered them “a lot of money” they would build them a cake.  However, no one has ever offered them money for it.

The same people have made numerous cakes, with themes like Elmo, Halo, Wheel of Fortune, and so on.  That’s a lot of work for a birthday cake that gets destroyed rather quickly.   But, then again, there are sites that are talking about it (such as this one), so they are getting some publicity.  Maybe they feel famous.

I think it’s pretty safe to say I never got a birthday cake like that… but that’s okay, because I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and people like me.   I don’t need any fancy cake to tell me I’m special.

There is a new version of the original Punch-Out!! coming to the Nintendo Wii!  As you probably recall, this was originally released on the first Nintendo, the NES, as Tyson’s Punch-Out!! and was one of the best games on that system.  And, the original game is still fun.

This is a recreation of the original game, using updated graphics and using the Wii’s motion controls, so it has a lot of potential.

Here’s the first trailer for the new Punch-Out!!

Of course, this new version has a lot to live up to, with high expectations.  But hopefully the developers will keep the fun of the original while updating it.

It is scheduled to be released in Spring 2009.

I’m looking forward to it!  I don’t think it can be better than the original, but if they can make it anywhere close to as good as the original, it will be awesome!