balance board
Latest
Nintendo says it refuses to 'succumb to patent trolls' as it wins Maryland case
Nintendo issued a fairly terse press release earlier today, announcing that it has prevailed in a US patent lawsuit for the "third consecutive time this year." That particular case concerned Nintendo's Wii Balance Board accessory and Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus software, which a company called IA Labs said infringed on one of its patents (No. 7,121,982); a claim that was dismissed by the Maryland District Court judge in the case. IA Labs was also more or less dismissed as a company by Nintendo's senior vice president of legal and general counsel Rick Flamm, who said that "we vigorously defend patent lawsuits when we firmly believe that we have not infringed another party's patent," and that "we refuse to succumb to patent trolls." The company's full statement can be found after the break.
Wii Fit patent lawsuit dismissed
We know you've been unable to sleep restfully since the announcement of InterAction Laboratories' 2010 lawsuit against Nintendo, so you'll be relieved to know the situation is resolved. Nintendo announced this morning that a Maryland judge has summarily dismissed the case, which alleged that Nintendo's Wii Fit games and Balance Board accessory (among pretty much every other Nintendo peripheral) violated patents owned by IA Labs for exergaming devices.IA Labs' last announced gaming product was the "XR Station," a controller attached to a big lever, that players must exert pressure on -- push, pull, lean -- to operate. It also showed the "Sqweeze" in 2008: a Wiimote peripheral with two rubber grips to squeeze.
Wii becomes best-selling current generation console in Europe
We're always wary to talk numbers and Europe in the same breath, mostly because numbers over there don't mean the same as they do here. "One pound is a half kilogram? What does that even mean?" Luckily for us, there's no way to misconstrue the fact that the Wii is now the best-selling console in Europe this generation. The European chapter of the Wii Defense Force is popping the bubbly now, we imagine, celebrating the 30 million Wii consoles in the region as of 2011's end. New console bundles brought a new "value Wii" into the region, The PS3 isn't far behind, however, with reports of over 22 million consoles sold at the end of August. But, the Wii figure looks even better when compared to the GameCube, which sold 4.7 million throughout its five year lifetime in Europe and Australia, combined. On the peripheral front, Nintendo's also got robust sales figures for its Wii Balance Board and its bundled titles, Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus, to celebrate. 22.67 million copies of Wii Fit and 19.31 million copies of Wii Fit Plus have been sold worldwide.
Black Wii Fit Plus bundle headed for UK
For years, you've been left out of the Wii Fit craze. Not because you're unwilling to put in the requisite physical effort, but because the Balance Board simply doesn't match the sleek black lines of your entertainment center. In a month, that all comes to an end -- in the UK, at least -- as Nintendo will soon release a black Wii Fit Plus console bundle, which looks to retail for £99.99 ($155), though Zavvi.com has it listed for £73.85 ($114). Arriving October 7, the bundle includes a black Wii console with Wii Remote Plus, a black Balance Board and a copy of Wii Fit Plus. And, as an added bonus, new Balance Board adopters can soon belatedly take part in another fad: Never using the Balance Board again. We've contacted Nintendo to see if the new bundle is headed to North America as well.
Students use Wii Balance Board for kids' physical therapy system (video)
Nintendo's kid-tested, researcher-approved Wii Balance Board has struck at the heart of the medical supply industry yet again -- this time, the Bluetooth-connected scale is being used to help physically challenged children at Shriners Hospital in Houston. Seniors at Rice University hand-machined a set of force-sensitive parallel bars and programmed a monster-shooting game called Equilibrium to get kids excited about improving their walking gait, where they can play and score points with each proper step they take. The game automatically ratchets up the difficulty as patients improve, and handrails will play a part too, with a custom three-axis sensor box able to detect how much patients rely on the parallel bars (and dock points accordingly) in an effort to improve their posture. Yep, that sounds just a wee bit more useful than the Balance Board lie detector or the Wii Fit Roomba. Video after the break.
Nintendo of America patent shows off unreleased motorcycle game concept
Every night, before we loose ourselves from the moorings of the conscious world, we say a short prayer that a game developer will realize the potential in a relaunch of Sega's arcade almost-classic, Harley Davidson & LA Riders. Our wishes haven't been granted yet, but a recently uncovered patent (.pdf) shows that Nintendo of America came awfully close to creating something similar to Sega's Easy Rider-esque masterpiece. The patent depicts a motorcycle (and/or Jetski) racing game controlled using the Wii Balance Board and Wiimote. Twisting and turning the remote accelerates and turns the bike, while leaning on the Balance Board allows the player to take sharper turns. It's unclear whether the game depicted is still in development, but we'll keep our fingers crossed regardless. Hey, it beats buying and riding an actual motorcycle, you know. Those things are like, super dangerous.
'Night of the Sacrifice' horror game features mysterious Balance Board function
Ikenie no Yoru, or "Night of the Sacrifice," is a newly announced Wii horror game from Marvelous Interactive, and it's just as mysterious as the possibly-haunted mansion in which it's set. This is partly because so little has been revealed: All we have to go on is a translation of a Famitsu magazine article about the game and an accompanying trailer, also from Famitsu -- but even the trailer raises more questions. The clip shows semi-realistic characters interacting with silhouetted, stylized Feel the Magic-esque characters. Additionally, the Famitsu article reveals that Night of the Sacrifice will somehow integrate the Balance Board, the creepiest of all Wii peripherals. How exactly will that work? We have a lot to learn before the game's March 24 release in Japan.
Mel B and Wii exercise accessories: 2 Become 1
How does former Spice Girl Mel B keep in shape?
Two universities adopt Wii Fit to monitor football concussions
As it turns out, there are quite a few uses for a $100 off-the-shelf computerized scale, above and beyond getting fit -- Nintendo's Wii Balance Board is now providing a mechanism by which college football teams at Ohio State University and the University of Maryland can cheaply determine whether players are suffering from concussions. Taking the place of force plate machines that can cost tens of thousands of dollars, the white plastic boards measure students' balance (using yoga poses) and coordination (in Table Tilt) before a game, to provide a frame of reference against which trainers can measure whether athletes are fit to keep playing. Though some scholars found Wii Fit didn't stack up favorably against the expensive force plates, the universities trialing the system called it "pretty decent," so the question is whether Nintendo's peripheral offers a reasonable enough benchmark for the price. We suppose the American Heart Association liked it well enough.
Wii Fit used to diagnose football-related concussions
Did you know that a football player's vocation requires them to hurtle their head at other football players' heads with little regard for the safety of either? Did you know that this type of reckless cranial colliding can cause concussions and other serious, long-term head injuries? It's true -- but according to the Washington Post, athletic trainers at the University of Maryland and Ohio State University have found a tool to help diagnose and monitor players' dome-piece health: Wii Fit. Trainers at the two universities now require players to use the Wii Balance Board to get a baseline reading of their -- what else? -- balance. When a player suffers a fairly nasty blow to the head region, they can take another Wii Fit test to see if their balance has deteriorated -- one of the telltale signs of a concussion. Man, combine this test with the Vitality Sensor, and the Wii will become a one-stop-shop for sports-related injury diagnoses!
2K Play announces Nickelodeon Fit, bringing exer-fun to the children
With the recent reveal of Nickelodeon Fit, 2K Play looks to capitalize on the still-raging exergaming craze in a fairly unorthodox way. The Wii-exclusive is a youth-oriented, Balance Board-supported title that features characters from Nickelodeon cartoons, including Dora the Explorer, Go, Diego, Go!, Ni-Hao, Kai-lan and The Backyardigans. The game's young players will participate in context appropriate exercises, such as pogo-sticking with Dora (which we all know is the most efficient method for blasting your core). Scoff as you might, but we don't think this sounds like too terrible an idea. If we had access to an exercise game when we were kids featuring Rocko, Ren, Stimpy and Doug, we probably wouldn't have received a "Laughable" rating on our Presidential Physical Fitness Test.
Grease: The Game to utilize microphones and balance board
You've used your Wii Balance Board to exercise, ski, hula hoop and snowboard. Soon, you'll have the opportunity to use the peripheral in the manner God intended: To do the Hand Jive Hop. According to a press release from publisher 505 Games, Grease: The Game will allow two teams of four players to fight for "musical domination" using two USB microphones and the Balance Board. Oh, man. We've got chills, and we'll be entirely damned if they're not multiplying. The board will be used for Grease's many minigames, which include T-Bird racing, carnival games, and singing to the title's 16-song soundtrack. Not mentioned in the presser is the minigame where you take a nice, sweet-natured young girl and transform her into a spandex-clad hussy. We'll find out if that one made the cut when the game launches on Wii and DS in September.
Nintendo sued by exergaming company IA Labs
Was it something we said? No sooner does Nintendo close the book on the two-year-old Anascape suit than does the prolific peripheral manufacturer get slapped with another legal challenge. Gamasutra has obtained documentation of a lawsuit filed against Nintendo, on April 2, by exergaming company InterAction Laboratories, a.k.a. IA Labs, a.k.a. Powergrid Fitness, for alleged patent infringement. In typical dramatic legalese, the suit cries out that IA Labs has been "irreparably harmed" by Nintendo's violation of two of its patents through a long list of Wii products. Here goes: the Wii system itself and its primary controllers, the Wiimote and the Nunchuk, and the MotionPlus add-on; Wii Fit, its expansion pack, Wii Fit Plus, and its peripheral, the Balance Board; and the Wii Zapper. Phew! Are we forgetting anything? Oh, yes -- the Wii Wheel. Uh-huh, that circular piece of plastic is allegedly infringing upon a patent for either (1) "Computer interactive isometric exercise system and method for operatively interconnecting the exercise system to a computer system for use as a peripheral" or (2) "Force measurement system for an isometric exercise device." IA Labs claims that these two patents are used in a number of its products, including the Kilowatt Sport and Exer-Station controller. Both have won an award at separate CES events. If you're real up on your Wii peripheral pitches, you will recall the Sqweeze, a ThighMaster-esque device for your hands, developed by IA Labs and introduced in late 2008. While a PC version appears to be available, the Wii iteration never made it to market, perhaps evidence that the relationship between IA Labs and Nintendo soured long ago. Documentation from the recent suit reveals emails from 2007–2008 between the two companies, which had once been in talks for IA Labs to license its technology to Nintendo.
Wii Balance Board: decent for measuring equilibrium, medical study says
This one's pretty cute (or evidence of a completely uncreative healthcare industry). Researchers at the University of Melbourne and Singapore General Hospital's Department of Physiotherapy have run a battery of tests on the Wii's Balance Board, and found it to be somewhat useful in testing patient's balance and equilibrium, medically speaking. Current medical equipment used to test these skills is very expensive, heavy, and in short supply. The Balance Board, on the other hand, runs about $99. The Wii accessory was tested on 30 patients, and found to be about as good as the expensive force platforms usually used by doctors... which is great news for Nintendo -- this product has seemingly endless real-life applications -- but rather embarrassing for the makers of medical equipment, no? Hit the source link for a fuller look at the story.
Scientists using Balance Board in stroke rehab
While the Balance Board is a good tool for controlling cute little monkeys and perhaps creating a career, Australian scientists have found it's also an inexpensive way to measure the balance in stroke patients. University of Melbourne scientist Ross Clark decided to pick one up after reading that some physicians were using Wiimotes to help recuperating soldiers, and found it to be "an extremely impressive strain gauge set-up." That's a very good thing, considering the only alternative is a "force platform" which can set scientists back a hefty £11,000 ($15,700). There aren't any results out of Melbourne yet, but if you're interested in what's under the hood of that little plastic pad you're slowly turning a kind of brownish-black (would it kill you to wear clean socks when using it?), check out this Nintendo Channel video from back in the day. [Via Kotaku and New Scientist]
Super Monkey Ball: Step and Roll gameplay trailer
Super Monkey Ball: Step and Roll is something of a troubling proposition. Sure, it might be fun at first -- something we can attest to -- but it could very easily become the most maddening experience in video games. Remember all the times you fell off the old Monkey Ball levels while using the precision inputs of a controller? Yeah, that's probably going to happen a lot more with the Balance Board. That said, after watching the above video, we'll be darned if we don't wanna give it a try.
Friiboard peripheral takes all the balance out of the Wii Balance Board
We initially dismissed the Friiboard, a Balance Board attachment created by the husband-and-wife team at Swiit Game Gear, as another inconsequential plastic Wii add-on, or worse, a Roll & Rocker for the Wii. The device adds a convex surface to the bottom of the Balance Board, adding real movement to the board, with the goal of enhancing the realism of snowboarding and skateboarding activities.But upon viewing the (very homemade) video, we think it actually looks like it could be fun. It gives the Balance Board a little wobble, but not so much wobble that it will destroy your body, loved ones and home like the Tony Hawk Ride board. One thing the device shares with Ride: it costs a lot. At $44.99, its price makes it a shaky proposition.[Via GoNintendo]
Thrustmaster puts a board on your (balance) board
For those of you who aren't totally bored with boards and board-based peripherals, Thrustmaster has just the thing for you. Introducing the T-Freestyle NW, a skateboard attachment designed specifically for the Wii Balance Board. The peripheral is crafted of maple and includes "Rolling Motion Board" technology for "true lateral movement capabilities." Also, unlike your real skateboard, the T-Freestyle NW includes a "safety stopper" to keep overzealous virtual skaters and snowboarders from tipping over. Perhaps such a peripheral could interfere with games designed to work with a naked Balance Board but, assuming it works as advertised, the T-Freestyle NW just might be the thing to make your extreme games that much more extreme. For the asking price of $29.99, it had better. Expect the T-Freestyle NW to hit shelves at the end of November. %Gallery-77489%
Wii balance board could be used in fruitless airport security effort
You know that sweeping feeling of guilt that comes over you every time you're pulled over as part of a "standard traffic stop?" Yeah, those natural emotions are about to make you look incredibly suspicious on the way to your next flight -- or it will if the FAST project is ever turned into reality. The Homeland Security-funded Future Attribute Screening Technology effort, which has already ate away at $20 million in taxpayer dollars, essentially hopes to let flyers keep all of their clothes on while forcing them to stand on a Wii balance board (or similar) and have an array of sensors watch their every reaction to a battery of questions. The problem? Every innocent person on the planet's going to start sweating and shaking just being in that kind of scenario, and only the trained terrorists of the world are apt to be able to put truth aside and fake the machine into thinking everything is cool. Oh sure, we're being a little dramatic here, but seriously -- maybe the TSA should just require a complete life history as a prerequisite to boarding.[Via Popular Science]
Balance Board used in experimental airport screening study
The US has invested a healthy amount of money into combating the terrorist threat -- certainly a bit more than $100. According to a CNN report, one of a few experimental methods being used to identify suspicious dudes at the airport uses Nintendo's Wii Balance Board (sans Wii Fit Plus).Scientists part of the Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST) program have taken the Wii Fit peripheral and adjusted it to measure how a person shifts their weight. Scientists hope to find "a level of fidgeting that would suggest the need for secondary screening." We're just glad we're not a part of the study, because every time we step on a Balance Board, we can't help but act like we're playing that awesome hula hoop minigame. That's a suspicious amount of fidgeting.[Via Kotaku]
