Wiinjuries On The Rise, But Still Probably Not The Most Dangerous Thing In Your House

from the go-outside-and-play dept

Tue, Jan 8th 2008 1:47pm — Dennis Yang

Back in 2006, Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Joel Zumaya almost missed the ALCS playoffs due to an injury, caused not by hurling baseballs at 100+ miles per hour, but by excessive video game playing of the popular guitar simulation, Guitar Hero. Fast forward a few years, and once again, there are now reports of an increased number of injuries as a result of playing the Nintendo Wii, due to the more physically involved play associated with the new game system. The reports do seem a bit alarmist, however. Anyone that has actually played with the Wii quickly learns to control themselves (and also learns that the excessive movement that could potentially cause injury is actually not even needed). Even Nintendo's own study has shown that Wii playing is not great exercise, so it is highly unlikely that anyone is really going to heed the article's advice and stretch prior to playing Wii. The article mentions an increase in the number of Wii-related ER cases, but fails to give any supporting data to this anecdote. So, until some supporting numbers are published to prove the contrary, it is probably a safe bet that rollerblades cause more ER visits than Wiis.

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Filed Under: injuries, wii

10 Comments

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Brandon, 8 Jan 2008 @ 3:57pm

Idiots cause WII injuries
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Cixelsid, 8 Jan 2008 @ 4:19pm

Re:
Idiots don't need Wii's to cause injuries!
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Jan 2008 @ 4:54pm

Wii injuries = epic fail
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Jan 2008 @ 6:17pm

I read "wiinjuries" as "WINjuries". I expected this to be an article about like, injuries sustained while having sex with the hottest people you know.
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Anarchy_Creator, 8 Jan 2008 @ 7:42pm

Wii's don't cause injuries...
Stupid people who don't know how to set them up with enough playing room, and don't know how to properly strap the arm band on do.
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Twinrova, 9 Jan 2008 @ 3:49am

No pain, no gain.
Having recently received a Wii as a gift, I've noticed pain while playing.

Oddly enough, the pain isn't caused by hyper stimulation, but rather in my wrist as I hold the controller. Because of the way the remote has to face the TV, it's rather... unique.

Of course, I could always turn the sensor bar to more accurately face my "natural game playing position", but then it'll stick out like a sore thumb.

Sidebar: I'm playing Metroid Prime 3 currently and it's the first title I've played since ownership of the console. This game and its controls may be unique compared to others.
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Duodave, 9 Jan 2008 @ 12:11pm

Not exaguration!
I have a nintendo wii and I had to give up playing "Tiger Woods 07" because it literally forces you to play nearly as forcefully as if you were playing real golf.

In Wii Sports, you can play golf with a gentle flick of the wrist. Not so in Tiger Woods, you have to hit the ball with a good deal of force. Like I said, I had to give it up due to a Wii-caused elbow injury - my doctor said I had tennis elbow and she laughed when I told her how I received the injury.

I didn't think it was terribly funny, as I had to stop playing a fun game, was in a great deal of pain for weeks, and lost a good deal of arm strength during my recovery period. Elbow still pops now and then, too.
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Ursula, 8 Apr 2008 @ 2:22pm

GAY!
Seriously who cares if people hurt themselves while playing the Wii its funny!!!! just let them hurt themselves... laugh about it.... and move on!
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Squid, 21 Jan 2009 @ 8:55am

Wiinjury is Real!
Hey Ursula...uh, an injury is an injury. If you do know what that means, it's probably a) you're not playing the games that people are talking about and b) you lead too sedentary of a lifestyle to actually be affected by a real injury.

I had to layoff guitar hero because of left wrist injuries - and only for playing short periods of time; we are not talking hours here. I have been playing Tiger Woods '09 for less than a week and can tell that I am going to have to quit soon because of the pain I now have in my right wrist. I am a recreational weight lifter and a golf and I am going to have lay off of Wii so I don't hinder my workouts and mess up my golf swing. It kind of stinks, but it's reality. I know I am not alone on this either - I have discussed with others about this as well.
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Scaricare Video, 27 Feb 2009 @ 1:05pm

Stop Playing
There is a solution to this problem. Just Stop Playing ..... If you can. ;)
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