August 15, 2009 Mtg., Presentation: The Wii, Carmella Vowinkel, Presenter

The members of HCC met at the Hunterdon Medical Center as usual for bagels and coffee and a social hour before the August 15 meeting began.

At the meeting, it was announced that the October meeting will be a breakfast meeting to be held at the Country Griddle, 190 Center Street in Clinton, 908-713-1200. Parking at the restaurant is limited so park at the community parking lot nearby and walk the short distance to the restaurant.

Surprisingly, there were no computer-related questions for our club experts at this meeting. But there was a lively discussion about the Magic Jack, how it is used and its benefits.

Presentation: The Wii, Carmella Vowinkel, Presenter

The Wii is a gaming system created by Nintendo which is connected to your TV and is played interactively with a remote and a nunchuk which control the game on the screen. There is a large variety of games available for the system that is appropriate for children and adults of all ages.

The basic system is composed of the console, a sensor, the controller and nunchuk, and the game disk. The Wii sports game comes with the purchase of the console. The list of sports in this game disk includes tennis, baseball, golf, bowling, and boxing. The games can be played with one to four players using one or more controllers. The players create character representations of themselves called Mii’s which are used in the games.

Other channels available with the basic gaming console include the photo channel, the Wii shopping channel, the forecast channel, and the news channel. Except for the photo channel, these channels need to be connected to the internet to operate,

The Wii Fit is an exercise program that operates with the Wii console and TV and uses a balance board to assist in the exercises. The game contains four different types of exercises: yoga, balance games, aerobic exercises, and strength training. There are ten different games in the four categories, and different exercises in the yoga and strength training sections. Most of the exercises require the use of the balance board. The program keeps track of your accomplishments, speed, and level of difficulty. It also keeps track of your weight and BMI.

Certain labeled games can be played through the internet with other players in their own home around the country as long as each player has the same copy of the gaming disk.

Thanks to Don Columbo for his help in putting together the presentation and in setting up the Wii system in the auditorium so we could all enjoy seeing it and giving it a try.