Tickle Me Elmo Syndrome.

Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and you know what that means: Christmas shopping!  Advertisers are already speculating what some of the hottest gifts will be for Christmas 2008, and it’s not surprising that many of these must-haves are for the techie both young and old.  Some examples include: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle, Amazon’s wireless reading device Kindle, Apple iPod Touch, PlayStation 3 MotorStorm Pack, and Fisher Price Kid-Tough Digital Camera.

My fiance, Brent, was kind enough to give me one of my Christmas gifts a little early, a Wii and a Wii Fit.  And lucky me!  Nintendo’s President and CEO Reggie Fils-Aime just released a quote that he expects the company will meet consumer demands for the Wii this Christmas season, but knows without a doubt that the Wii Fit will fall short.  Expect long lines and angry moms to obtain this fit-for-a family gift.

True fit-for-a-fit-family games.

That got me thinking.  What Wii games are out there for those looking for some good ole PA that can’t find the Wii Fit?  There are almost no resources that tell the consumer which Wii games are designed to really get your heart rate up.  However, a few have been labeled as games that will give you a nice workout:

• Mario and Sonic at the Olympics
• Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum
• Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 2

Potential fat burners.

After looking through all of Nintendo’s offerings, these are some of the Wii games that seem to have good fat burning potential.  The jury’s still out as to whether these are hard core healthy or just give you a nice glow.

• FaceBreaker K.O. Party
• Active Life Outdoor Challenge
• Big Beach Sports
• All Star Cheer Squad
• MLB Superstars
• We Cheer
• Celebrity Sports Showdown
• Wii Big League Sports

Has anyone played any of these games?  Any comments?  Any other Wii games that are full of physical activity that I might have missed?

Arcades can be healthy too.

Back in May of this year, I posted a bit about the Games for Health Conference in Baltimore, MD. We met a lot of people there, including the folks at iConecto. We met them over some good ‘ole New England crabcakes and discussed their idea for Gaming4Health.com, the first online social network for healthy games. A few months later, and we’re a part of their new Healthy Online Arcade!

Check out Gaming4Health.com which features Playnormous games Food Fury and Bubble Trouble as well as many other health games about nutrition, obesity, diabetes, physical fitness, and brain fitness.

They also have a section of health game reviews which I think is a great idea. I’d planned on doing this on Monster’s Blog, but it just hasn’t happened. I’m glad they decided to do it. Unfortunately, Gaming4Health.com’s taste is completely different from mine, and the games they rate as high quality games (fun, educational, good graphics, good health content) are not what I would pick. To each his own, though. I think I’ve been playing too many health games…well, health games, commercial games, advergames, social games, educational games, virtual world mini games… At any rate, an interesting section to visit.

Gaming4Health.com also has a section on gaming conferences. A marketing cheat sheet for me! Haha! I’m looking forward to seeing what other games pop up on this site.