As you may have seen, Nido and I spent a lot of time at the Miami Nintendo Wii event this weekend and Robert Summa also received his Wii last Friday (Don't miss his various videos from unpacking to gameplay ). Besides having our own respective blasts, there were some Wii sores from exercising with the Wiimote. Even Summa's girlfriend reported weary elbows after Wii Sports Tennis. We can empathize -- after three long laps on Excite Truck while standing at the press event I began to feel my shoulders burn slightly as I had my arms extended, steering wheel style.

Don't get me wrong -- it's a blast and it felt very natural, but making the full gesture in suspended air over the course of a few 5 minute stages would have surely rendered my underused geek deltoids useless after 20 minutes. So! Unless you aspire to build rocks on your shoulders, here's some pointers on how to reduce joint stress and last longer when playing Wii games in general:

Don't:

• Extend your arms outwards unless absolutely necessary
• Let your elbows and shoulders do all the work
• Stand (unless you hate being at the edge of the sofa)
• Allow little chilluns form a line near you for their turn

Do:

• Try to handle the Wiimote with arms relaxed at your sides
• Be patient with it -- there is definitely a learning curve!
• Attempt to perform the majority of the actions with your wrist
• Sit on nearby little chilluns if no sofa is available

We can't stress that last Do point enough, as you'll be able to spend a heck of a lot more time gaming if the small ones are gasping for other more essential things than the Wiimote. Like oxygen.

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