Wii stories warrant unrelated pics of Wii Fit Girls - It's just us doing our job!

(Gamasutra) – A Potomac, Maryland-based company is the latest to file suit against Nintendo for patent infringement.

IA Labs, also known as Powergrid Fitness, sued Nintendo’s Japan headquarters and Nintendo of America on April 2, according to a filing obtained by Gamasutra.

IA Labs is accusing Nintendo of infringing on two separate IA Labs patents through technology used in the Nintendo Wii, Wii Fit, Wii Fit Plus, the Wii Balance Board, Wii Remote, Wii Wheel, Wii MotionPlus, Wii Nunchuck and Wii Zapper.

IA Labs said that it has been “irreparably harmed” by Nintendo’s alleged “continued infringement.”

The patents in question are “Computer interactive isometric exercise system and method for operatively interconnecting the exercise system to a computer system for use as a peripheral” and “Force measurement system for an isometric exercise device.”

The claim said that IA Labs had been in contact with Nintendo during 2007-2008, discussing possible overlaps of IA Labs and Nintendo patents. Emails between IA Labs and Nintendo showed that IA Labs wanted to license its technology to Nintendo.

IA Labs was also in talks with Nintendo about a product called Sqweeze, a controller for Wii and PC that’s meant to increase physical activity when gaming.

IA Labs is seeking a court declaration that Nintendo is infringing on the patents, and it’s pursuing an injunction against the alleged infringements in addition to unspecified damages.

Interaction Labs’ founders Greg Merril and Phil Feldman said that their patents were used in IA Labs’ products Kilowatt Sport, the Exer-Station controller, Exer-Station Pro and the PowerSquad Leg Joystick, among others.

The Exer-Station controller, for example, connects to a video game system and provides resistance for a workout while playing any off-the-shelf video game. The Kilowatt Sport had the same full-body workout-plus-games concept. Both won awards at CES in two separate years.

Nintendo recently won an appeal in a suit that accused the game company of infringing on controller-related patents.

EA's Sports Active

(Reuters) – Videogames were once blamed for rising obesity rates but are now being championed by the medical industry and for use by government departments for their health benefits.

Games like Electronic Arts’ “EA Sports Active” and Nintendo’s “Wii Fit” have got players of all ages moving, and game developers and investors looking for hot new titles to cash in on this booming segment of the market.

Big John Games’ upcoming “Butt Kicker” Nintendo DSi game will provide an action-based environment in which players fight against cigarettes and “Karate Bears” for Wii teaches players real karate routines using the Wii’s motion-sensor controllers.

With interest in health games rising, the fifth annual Games for Health Conference in Boston expanded to 390 people this year from 100, including developers, investors and medical experts, while numbers at many other conferences are down up to 40 percent.

“Healthcare is 18 percent of the GDP of the United States and so games for health is probably the largest sector of activity in the serious games field long-term,” said Ben Sawyer, co-founder of The Games for Health Project.

[Full article at Reuters.com]

This is how 'Wii Fit' in at BusyGamer.com

(Newsblaze.com) – Michael Torchia’s mission is to have Nintendo pull their Wii games off the shelves until they make important changes to their products.

People around the World are sustaining serious injuries due to the lack of proper warnings on their products and Torchia is taking a stance to ensure that people are aware of the potential dangers.

In addition, Torchia feels Nintendo is misrepresenting their Wii games as a replacement for sensible exercise and sports activities. He believes that Nintendo needs to issue a warning that these games are intended for entertainment and not to replace actual physical activity. Through slick advertising campaigns and product placements on popular television shows, children and adults are being brainwashed that Wii games are safe and effective ways to become physically fit.

“On the contrary, Nintendo is contributing to the epidemic of obesity. Young and old are putting away their gym clothes and shying away from going outdoors to play sports, because the addictive appeal to the Wii game products. Just as the tobacco companies created such a false image of their products and hid the potential dangers, so is Nintendo,” says Torchia.

There is a new phenomenon that is occurring as a result of extensive and widespread usage of the Wii Fit and Wii Balance Board. As more people use the Wii as an exercise tool, they are sustaining injuries in their knees, back and wrists because of overuse and improper warm- up.

It seems that up to ten people a week are being hospitalized with injuries caused by playing Nintendo Wii games, prompting doctors in Britain to issue warnings of the dangers associated with the Wii video game system. “Most patients are admitted after playing tennis or running games which involve sudden movements, resulting in tendon stretching or tearing”says, Dr. Dev Mukerjee of Broomfield Hospital, Essex.

[Read the full original article]