Anyone fancy a Wii spot of lunch?

One of my son’s best friends came round with his family the other night – and we all ended up playing a tennis marathon – on the Nintendo Wii. Next morning, his Mum – who’s a GP – came around to complain about her aching shoulders and back! I prescribed another game – and she and I had a coffee morning with a difference, working out our sore muscles.
Now we both ache even worse, and the bathroom scales say I’ve lost a pound. Haven’t felt so worn out since the last time I went to the local leisure centre – you know, where the wind blows and the rain falls on slushy green stuff called grass? Soon, some technogeek in the Far East will come up with a new fangled device, possibly called a racquet and ball – and they’ll invent a gaming mat that’s roughly the size of a garden, with funny white lines on it – and they’ll call it some Japanese word for “tennis”. And we’ll all think it’s incredibly clever because it’s very expensive and boasts a Wi Fi link to a computer that keeps score.
For the past 15 years or so, I have defiantly shunned my four sons’ attempts to interest me in computer games. I have about as much interest in ruling the universe and defeating the marauding hordes of mythic monster villains as watching Celebrity Wife Swap. But now I’m hooked.
Even my 80 year old Mum is a Wii swinger (as in golf). Now I can’t wait for the very latest – the Wii Fit. It’s a computerised balance board and is designed to give you a total body workout, and nags you if you don’t get it right! Amazingly, I find it’s already being tested at schools throughout the country – one of my local schools, where obesity has already hit 15 per cent of kids between 10 and 15, is already fund-raising to buy another!
A modern solution to a modern problem? Or have we all gone mad?
I think it’s a brilliant step in tempting our kids (and their mums and dads) back into sports. A couple of virtual games of tennis, badminton or even stilt-walking, and you’re raring to go at the real thing. Now, if I can just whet my appetite for some virtual food – instead of the real thing – I might lose a few more pounds.
Anyone fancy a Wii spot of lunch?
Must have a word with those wizards in Kyoto.