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The Wii

 

 

The Wii is a video game created by Nintendo that uses a wireless controller to show the movements of your body, hands and legs on a television screen. It was first presented to the public in November 2006

Wii controllers have many forms and shapes . For example, they can simulate the movement of a tennis racket, a golf club or other things. A fitness pad allows you to do exercises that a fitness trainer on the television screen shows you.

The Wii turns a video game into a physical activity that is fun too. It is also used by doctors and therapists who show patients how to balance themselves or build up muscles after an operation or illness.

But how does the Wii really work? There are chips, sensors and accelometres in the Wii remote that can record shifts and angles in your body movements. You can move it in all directions. When the body moves these changes are sent via Bluetooth to a console. You can shoot at something by pressing a button, move an object on the screen and do many other things with the remote.

 

 

 

There are many advantages of Nintendo’s Wii . It is easy to use and the controller is fast and accurate . Objects move on the screen exactly the way you would expect them to.

In 2006 Nintendo released a new game console called Wii Fit containing more than forty different kinds of physical exercises. It has a wireless balance board that you can stand, sit or lie on. It can calculate your body mass index and be your personal fitness trainer. The balance board can also be used for other sports that require a sense of balance , like snowboarding or windsurfing.

With the Wii you cannot only compete with other players in your own living room. You can connect the console to the Internet and play with people around the world.

In the meantime you can buy many other accessories that work with the Wii . A steering wheel that gives you the feeling of driving a real car, boxing gloves allow you to stand in the middle of a ring. With a special ball you can even simulate bowling .

 

 

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Words

  • accelometre = something that records how fast you move a part of your body
  • accessory = pieces that you can use with the game
  • accurate = exact
  • activity = action, something that you do with your body
  • advantage = the good side of
  • angle = the space between two lines that are not parallel; measured in degrees
  • balance = to be in a position that you do not fall to one side; to be steady
  • balance board = board that you keep straight by moving it all the time
  • Bluetooth = wireless technology
  • body mass index = a number based on a person’s weight and height
  • bowling = indoor game in which you roll a heavy ball down a track and knock down a group of pins
  • calculate = find out something with the use of numbers
  • connect = link
  • contain = to be made up of
  • controller = an object that is connected to a game console and used to play video games
  • create = make
  • exercise = physical activity
  • glove = soft piece of leather that you wear on your hands
  • movement = changing of position
  • pad = flat object mostly made of rubber or plastic
  • patient = an ill person
  • physical = relating to your body
  • public = all people
  • record = save data
  • release = to make public so that you can buy it in shops
  • remote = an object that you use for controlling a machine without touching it
  • require = need
  • sense of balance = feeling that you can always keep your body on an object without falling down
  • sensor = a small plate that records movements
  • shape = form
  • shift = change, movement
  • simulate = to have the feeling that something is real
  • steering wheel = round object in a car that lets you move in different directions
  • therapist = someone who has been trained to help you after you have been ill
  • wireless = a system of connecting computers and other machines by radio signals