Eighty-four-year-old Dorothy Asher enters the activities room at the Golden Living Northside nursing home in her wheelchair, ready for her scheduled boxing match. She can barely move her fingers — but she can throw a punch. PHIL SKINNER / pskinner@ajc.com PHIL SKINNER / pskinner@ajc.com Clad in blue sweats and white socks, Asher wryly smiles as she grabs a small white remote control and swings both her arms toward a 57-inch flat-screen TV. “Take that!” she says, as the roomful of residents-turned-cheering squad chants “Bring him down!” and “Don’t let him rest!” Boxing and other sports games from Nintendo’s Wii gaming system arrived at Golden Living in January, and the software known for getting techno-loving kids (and their parents) off the couch is quickly gaining traction with senior residents here, as it has elsewhere. Some of these new Wii fans are active baby boomers and older seniors eager to test the latest fitness fads. Others are home-bound elderly with very limited mobility. At a Sunrise Living residence in Alpharetta, the Wii Fit exercise program was used to turn the 3 p.m. social hour into a karaoke dance-off, with residents taking turns on the microphone to sing Frank Sinatra songs, and later following the steps for hip hop-inspired dance moves. Sunrise is now planning to use the Wii sports program to hold a bowling tournament and hula-hooping contest. “We got the Wii Sports and Wii Fit a month ago, and it has caught on very quickly — it has become the talk of the town,” said Jon’ll Moreaux, director of community relations at the Sunrise at Ivey Ridge in Alpharetta. In some ways, the Wii gaming system — released in November 2006, it’s sold more than 19 million consoles in the United States alone — brings the outdoors (tennis courts, baseball fields) inside. Even Nintendo has noted that the system’s appeal to baby boomers and older users has caught them by surprise. Although no demographic breakdown is available, Denise Kaigler, vice president of corporate affairs for Nintendo of America said in an e-mail: “We know a lot of senior communities are having fun with Wii.” Unlike traditional video game systems controlled by a player’s thumbs and fingers, Wii games can respond to a player’s whole body moving. The newer Wii Fit program — rolled out about a year ago — involves a pressure-sensitive balance board and comes with 40 exercise-oriented games including yoga, soccer and ski-jumping. ‘Win or lose, I played’ After several attempts at hitting the virtual tennis ball coming at him on the screen, 94-year-old William Cooper finally nails one. You can hear the sound of the ball hitting a grass court. You can hear the simulated crowd cheer. And you can watch the replay. Before long, it’s match point and Cooper misses the target. His on-screen avatar flops forward in a prolonged mope, and the words, “You Lose” in big letters hit the screen as if to rub it in. But for Cooper, a long-term resident at Golden Living nursing home who is in a wheelchair, the game was no letdown. In fact, he said the experience reminded him of his younger days playing the real game at Chastain Park. “I honestly cannot remember the last time I played tennis, it was so long ago,” he said. “But I’ve always enjoyed the game.” Experts say playing sports video games like Wii tennis and bowling can increase coordination and improve balance and endurance, and even coax some older men and women into exercise. Emma Bhende, rehabilitation coordinator at Golden Living, said patients in rehab often appear more eager and motivated to exercise when the video sports game is part of the routine. “Some really resist the idea of exercise. … But with this, it’s fun and gets their minds off exercise,” she said. “And at the end of the game, there is this sense of accomplishment, win or lose. I played this. I completed this.” Ready for a rematch J. Andrew Doyle, chair of the department of kinesiology and health at Georgia State University, said some older people initially might be turned off by the idea of using a video game to exercise. At the same time, he said, it’s easy for them to use once it’s set up. He said the Wii games also provide a social aspect for players, with many of the games accommodating several players at a time. Still, Doyle said, research suggests the level of intensity of Wii games is at best low to moderate, so it may not provide significant cardiovascular benefits. But for Wii boxer Asher, who suffers from neuropathy and struggles with basic tasks like using a fork or doing arts and crafts, Wii has opened new possibilities for using her muscles. Boxing, she said, is not about winning or losing. “It’s about keeping your mind going, and it’s a lot of fun,” she said. Still, she pointed out, she did win one of the three rounds against her digital opponent, a red-haired guy with a goatee. Heck, he was even wobbling, hanging on by a thread, she pointed out. And she’d already scheduled a rematch for the next day. PLAYING IT SAFE Seniors — and others — should observe a few simple precautions when undertaking a Wii fitness or sports regime: Go slow: If you’ve been sedentary, start at a low intensity and progress slowly until you’ve become used to the game. Don’t overdo: Avoid getting too caught up in the game and too excited and overdoing it. Serving too vigorously in the tennis game, for example, and you risk straining your elbow. Hold onto the remote: Don’t let the Wii controller slip from your grasp and hit the TV. Source: J. Andrew Doyle, department of kinesiology and health, Georgia State University FEW WORDS ABOUT WII • Nintendo released the Wii gaming system in November 2006. • About 19.6 million consoles have been sold in the United States. • Among the Wii Sports available: tennis, baseball, golf, bowling and boxing. • Wii Fit, launched in May 2008, involves a pressure-sensitive balance board and comes with 40 exercise-oriented games including yoga, ski-jumping and hula hooping. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/homefinder/activeadult/stories/2009/04/26/senior_wii.html 
Dorothy Asher takes on a Wii boxing opponent at Golden Living Northside nursing home. The 84-year-old is among the older fans of the video game system that allows them have fun while they exercise.
Emma Bhende (left) and Sylvia Cooks help William Cooper, 94, play Wii tennis at Golden Living Northside in Sandy Springs.
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