I was not one of those people that waited in line to get the Wii (or the Xbox 360 or Play Station 3 for that matter.)  I am not a gamer.  Never have been.  (Sorry).  I am also not one for spending countless amounts of time ensuring that I have something before anyone else has it. 

But I'm all for creativity and innovation. 

And it is in that vein that David Pogue's story in the Dec 28th edition of the New York Times caught my eye.  It seems that Ninendo loaned Mr. Pogue a Wii to check out for a TV segment.  He notes that what is unique about it is not the graphics, but:

"The Wii's controller is a white plastic handheld slab. It communicates wirelessly with a thin sensor strip that lies atop your TV set. As you swing the control through the air, your animated character on the screen flawlessly mimics your motions."

So what you ask.  Well - - that is what is interesting.  David continues:

"What surprises me most, however, is how few people are commenting on the Wii's potential for providing exercise to America's sedentary kids.

My nine-year-old son isn't especially inactive; he does tae kwon do and tennis. But he loves video games, too. And the Sunday he got his hands on the Wii, he spent *four hours* playing the included suite of sports games (tennis, golf, bowling, baseball, boxing).

The next day, he taught his seven-year-old sister how to play. Using a second controller, the two of them have been playing doubles tennis for about half an hour daily."

Now, this has some potential, don't you think?  Imagine thinking that gaming and sitting (er, standing and moving) in front of the TV could actually be good for you.  I mean, I'd consider getting a Wii so that I can play tennis or go bowling at home on my new large screen HDTV.  (But would it be less than the membership fees we pay for our club?  Quite bit of math says, no, not really, especially when one has to take in to consideration all the games you have to buy in addition to the Wii.)  But it has potential for lots more fun!)

In fact, one additional note is that one blogger has now launched an official six-week Wii fitness experiment. He'll track his body fat and resting heart rate as he builds daily 30-minute Wii workouts into his routine. He also plans on taking pictures of himself and providing condensed video of the changes (if any).

This has some potential marketing legs, don't you think?