I just read a great article. It was telling how a medical teaching hospital in Australia had decided to investigate the Nintendo Wii balance board as a possible therapeutic tool for stroke patients. They even took the thing apart to see how well-made it is.
Guess what they found (you’ll probably guess)… they found that the balance board was indeed very well made and that it was sensitive enough to use in place of a the standard medical device that doctors use to assess a patient’s balance.
This is a huge discovery!
Since the Wii was initially released, we have all heard story after story of the gaming console finding its way into unusual places such as nursing homes, assisted living facilities and physical therapy clinics. This new look at the Wii balance board by doctors at a teaching hospital will undoubtedly open a multitude of new possibilities for its use.
I love this story for so many different reasons. It always makes me smile to think of nursing home residents playing Wii games. For so many of these people, daily life is less that rosy. But then they may find themselves bowling or playing tennis or ping pong and feeling a little exhilaration!
Beyond that type of story, I really love the fact that this somewhat unassuming (albeit wonderfully technical) “toy” is finding so many uses in medical environments. With the raging healthcare debate, it’s hard to ignore the rising costs of medical care. When a diagnostic tool costs tens of thousands of dollars it quickly becomes out of reach for many medical facilities. It doesn’t matter how necessary that diagnostic tool is, if the funds aren’t there then the tool won’t be either.
To me, this is a wonderful modern business version of David vs Goliath.
A little upstart bucked the status-quo. They decided to look in a different direction and explore the possibilities. As a result, they have charted a whole new world of gaming technology and it is paying off big! Businesses everywhere should be paying attention to all of this and take a chapter from the book of Nintendo. The marketing lessons here are tremendous!!
While Nintendo has been around for a long time, they’ve held a small market share in recent years when compared to Sony Playstation and Microsoft Xbox. Despite that, Nintendo has always had a very loyal following much like Apple with the iphones, ipods and macs. Still, when the Wii was released there were audible “ooh”s and “ah”s from every direction. Not only did the loyal Nintendo players snatch it up but so did the rest of the gamers out there who were starving for something new, different, and VERY exciting.
All of that was to be expected.
The evolution of this little video game platform into a therapeutic tool is what has excited me the most, not only because of the current uses for the game but also for the myriad possibilities for future uses.
I love video games and, yes, Nintendo is my platform of choice. I also happen to know more than a few ‘boomers that enjoy playing. It thrills me that the Nintendo platform, the market underdog for so long, has emerged as the new market leader in innovation. The other platforms are working frantically to catch up and the bar has been set high. Technology has laid so many possibilities at our feet, it will be incredibly interesting to see what those guys create next.
But gamers aside, the real winners here are the medical patients that are finding new and effective therapies coming from a very unexpected source. And with the price on the Wii and its accessories being so economical, especially when compared to other medical alternatives, it is thrilling to see it being so readily incorporated into therapy programs. This means more accessibility to people that really need that help that it can offer. How incredible is that?!
I applaud Nintendo and I give a standing ovation to those in the medical and allied health fields that are quickly incorporating this wonderful “toy” into their therapy programs and taking advantage of the benefits that can be derived from its use.
Well done, or should I say ‘game on‘!
