Wii gets seniors back in the games

April 20, 2008

April 13, 2008

It's the sort of high-tech gaming setup that you'd expect their

grandchildren to master.

more stories like thisBut at Sudbury's Fairbank Senior Center, and

elsewhere throughout the state, elders like 77-year-old Lael " Mike "

Meixsell and his wife, Anne, 74, are playing Nintendo's Wii gaming

system in growing numbers. They are using the technology to rekindle

their interest in baseball, bowling, tennis and other games in a low-

impact, virtual world where they can exercise their aging muscles and

not get hurt.

The Meixsells are among dozens of seniors who use the Wii system in

Sudbury.

" It's good exercise, but you don't even have to stand up, " said

Meixsell, taking his wife's hands to show her how to properly hold a

remote. " Keep your fingers on the A and B buttons, " he told her. A

retired physicist and mathematician, Meixsell loves the Wii tennis

and golf games, part of a basic software package called Wii Sports.

" Well I like to stand when I play, " Anne said, tightening the wrist

strap on her controller. She prefers baseball because it reminds her

of her softball team on Long Island in the 1940s.

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