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Miyamoto says we need to have balance in gaming

The man who built Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto, had some wisdom for gamers as he discussed the role of video games in our lives. He said that video games were a vehicle to enrich us, but also stressed that gamers need balance as well.

He hoped that the game Wii Fit, a low impact exercise game, would bring family and friends together. "In Japanese households suddenly new conversations are springing up between fathers and mothers, fathers and daughters, talking about Wii Fit."

Miyamoto said that gaming needs to be offset with other activities. He drew from a personal example to illustrate his philosophy. "Spending too long, staying in and playing any video game is not good. I always tell my children to get out on a sunny day and I, myself, went jogging in Central Park yesterday. But I do my stretching on Wii Fit. They work together."

He discounted the idea that video games are irrelevant or harmful. "I want to show that computer games can be good for you, can enrich your life. People say video games are a waste of time and are bad for your brain and for your health. We wanted to create [Wii Fit as] something to answer that."

The Wii has certainly brought friends and family together with its unique game interface and decidedly casual game emphasis. While most observers may point to the Wii as a game machine that has struck a chord with the public, the other aspect of the Wii, its social draw as Miyamoto pointed out, may be the hidden factor of its overall popularity as well.

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