I have to admit — when GameCyte analyzed the dangers of Wii Fit almost two weeks ago, we hardly considered the impact of the device on personal property. We figured once you place the Balance Board on the ground, it doesn’t move, and so it follows that you’re not likely to accidentally throw it at your TV or similar breakable objects. Of course, we forgot to figure flailing feet into the equation…
Today, in the latest mainstream media attempt to sensationalize video games, the Daily Telegraph is running a story which suggests that female owners of Wii Fit, increasingly driven to indoor exercise despite the shrinking capacity of the average UK living room, are responsible for £20 million worth of property damage.
Thankfully, these claims are blown completely out of proportion, as you might notice when perusing the original press release from the female-only insurance company that sponsored the study. While it makes perfect sense that the combination of smaller living quarters and a greater propensity for indoor exercise would lead to both injury and property damage — and the general trend towards household damage is supported by a survey with hundreds of thousands of respondents — the new number of £20 million is derived from a separate survey with a mere 1,000 women replying, with the average amount of damage from exercise-related mishaps, a small £6.55, weighed against the entire female population of the country to arrive at the grand sum.
There’s also no mention of whether these particular 1,000 ladies were selected because of a keen interest in keeping their valuable shoes, make-up and handbags safe in the event of catastrophe.
Finally, Wii Fit is only mentioned tangentially in the press release, and does not appear in a provided list of the five most popular indoor exercises.
Though careful perusal of the Telegraph’s article would seem to suggest that the paper got their facts straight, the headline and general tone of the piece are incredibly misleading, and so we will not be surprised if the far-fetched correlation soon appears as fact in the mainstream consciousness.
Leave a Reply