Slyde Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Just keeping people up to date with some gaming based news. Wii-itis: Up to ten hospitalised weekly from playing Nintendo Source As many as ten people a week are being hospitalised due to injuries incurred playing Nintendo Wii games, prompting doctors to warn of the dangers associated with the popular video game system."There has been a 100 percent increase in patients complaining of Wii-itis," Dr. Dev Mukerjee of Broomfield Hospital, Essex, told Britain's The Sun newspaper. Most of the injuries occur in games such as tennis or running games that require sudden movements, resulting in tendon injuries. "It's possible Wii-itis may lead to rheumatism or arthritis later in life. Patients often have inflamation of the shoulder or wrist," said Dr. Mukerjee. Up to ten people a week are being hospitalized with injuries caused by playing Nintendo Wii games, prompting doctors in Britain to issue warnings of the dangers associated with the video game system. The Wii-Fit game even has an injury all of its own, dubbed Wii-knee, blamed on the bending on the knee required during the game. In some reported cases, the kneecap can be dislocated or pop out of joint. Doctors reccomend regular stretching exercises before playing any Nintendo Wii games. American boy picks up driving skills from video games Source (Short Version) You are six years old. You wake up one morning, Dad's at work, Mum's still asleep, but you have to get to school and you just missed the bus! What do you do? Obviously, you grab the keys to the family car, and drive there yourself. How did you get the skills to drive a car, when you're ten years too young for your L-plates? Why, Grand Theft Auto and Monster Truck Jam, of course.At least, that's what happened in Virginia earlier this week. The boy drove more than ten miles toward school before sliding off an embankment and hitting a utility pole about a mile and a half before reaching his destination. While the car was written off, the boy got out suffering only minor injuries and started to walk the rest of the way. Northumberland County Sheriff Chuck Wilkins observes: "He was very intent on getting to school. When he got out of the car, he started walking to school. He did not want to miss breakfast and PE." Things could have been much worse According to media reports, the boy (who has not been named) made "at least two 90-degree turns" in his parents' 2005 Ford Taurus, ran off the rural two-lane road several times, made it through two intersections and passed a number of cars at "a pretty great rate of speed", before hitting the embankment. Police have been able to piece together that the boy was possibly standing while driving (he had also moved the seat as far forward as he could), and looking out of the side window more than the main windscreen. The accident allegedly happened when the boy decided to cross the double-line to overtake another car - as he pulled out, however, he saw a tractor-trailer heading towards him in the other lane. He swerved back into his own lane, but ("unlike in video games" say the mainstream media), the car skidded out of control, slid into an embankment and collided with a utility pole on the rear passenger side with enough force to crack a wooden beam on top of the pole. The boy and his 4-year-old brother have been placed in protective custody while their parents, who were known to police, are facing child endangerment charges. Sheriff Wilkins continues: "This really is a story of miracles ... We're a rural area, but if we do have a rush hour, that's it ... The Lord was with him, along with everybody else on the highway." As for the boy himself - he was briefly taken to hospital to check out a bump on his head before being driven to school, arriving shortly after lunch (after all that, he did miss Monday morning PE!). Discuss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huckleberry Pie Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 American boy picks up driving skills from video gamesSource (Short Version) You are six years old. You wake up one morning, Dad's at work, Mum's still asleep, but you have to get to school and you just missed the bus! What do you do? Obviously, you grab the keys to the family car, and drive there yourself. How did you get the skills to drive a car, when you're ten years too young for your L-plates? Why, Grand Theft Auto and Monster Truck Jam, of course.At least, that's what happened in Virginia earlier this week. The boy drove more than ten miles toward school before sliding off an embankment and hitting a utility pole about a mile and a half before reaching his destination. While the car was written off, the boy got out suffering only minor injuries and started to walk the rest of the way. Northumberland County Sheriff Chuck Wilkins observes: "He was very intent on getting to school. When he got out of the car, he started walking to school. He did not want to miss breakfast and PE." Things could have been much worse According to media reports, the boy (who has not been named) made "at least two 90-degree turns" in his parents' 2005 Ford Taurus, ran off the rural two-lane road several times, made it through two intersections and passed a number of cars at "a pretty great rate of speed", before hitting the embankment. Police have been able to piece together that the boy was possibly standing while driving (he had also moved the seat as far forward as he could), and looking out of the side window more than the main windscreen. The accident allegedly happened when the boy decided to cross the double-line to overtake another car - as he pulled out, however, he saw a tractor-trailer heading towards him in the other lane. He swerved back into his own lane, but ("unlike in video games" say the mainstream media), the car skidded out of control, slid into an embankment and collided with a utility pole on the rear passenger side with enough force to crack a wooden beam on top of the pole. The boy and his 4-year-old brother have been placed in protective custody while their parents, who were known to police, are facing child endangerment charges. Sheriff Wilkins continues: "This really is a story of miracles ... We're a rural area, but if we do have a rush hour, that's it ... The Lord was with him, along with everybody else on the highway." As for the boy himself - he was briefly taken to hospital to check out a bump on his head before being driven to school, arriving shortly after lunch (after all that, he did miss Monday morning PE!). Discuss Another reason for Jack Thompson to bash at R*, saying that the six-year old kid "trained in GTA"? The parents should have given him some kiddie games instead, duh... My seven-year old niece (with her mother sometimes) watches me wreak havoc in San Andreas, although the girl obviously knows that doing it IRL would be deadly. And that's a very good reason for parents to lock their car out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott. Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Saw the second one on the news this morning and I instantly lol'd. How many of you lot played GTA when you was 6? Jack Thompson is gunna be all over this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butters! Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Child Endangerment? Hundreds of kids play GTA, and about 12 shops in my town sell it to anyone any age. I bet the guy who arrested his parents was some guy trying to get promoted to Chief Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaz The Great Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Really, the child shouldn't of had access to the car keys. And the Wii hospitalization just shows how unfit America is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butters! Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 I bet some prick will sue Nintendo for it now Theres not much of a difference between the Wii and The actual sport. It's your own fault people! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbanoutlaw Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I'm sorry, I missed what cars are driven via VIDEO GAME CONTROLLERS? J(A)T & his like really need to sit this one out. As for the Wii injuries, maybe public schools should consider an introduction to Wii classes (seriously). An ex US Navy Seal I know of recently played around w/ Wii Fitness & got a case of macho (even though his wife warned him to ease into it. She had it for physical therapy & weight loss). The result was he pulled muscles he forgot he had after setting the game on "expert" settings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Chestnut Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Wow ... maybe people should consider getting off the couch, put down the Cheetos and pop tarts, and living a normal healthy lifestyle. Than these completely pathetic injuries would not occur. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbanoutlaw Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 FULL POINT! The whole point of the Wii is to get kids active & it's backfiring (which sucks). Part of this is parental responsibility, they need to get their kids active instead of letting a Playstation babysit them 24/7. Yes, I spend a lot of time playing video games. I also spend a lot of time doing physical activity (work, which pays for the video games). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rashon. Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 Pretty impressive he drove ten miles before crashing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harwood Butcher Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 LOL. So his parents let him play the game and they put their keys in a place where they could easily be found. If Jack Thompson were able to sue Rockstar, I bet he'd use this in court. Although, GTA games don't teach you how to steal car keys and insert them into the ignition. This is just a case of shitty parenting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Husky Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 The first time I played Grand Theft Auto was when I was in Kindergarten. But seriously , I lol'd with everyone else with this XD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToonSkull Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 This is not the first time a kid jacked his parents car. It happened a loooong time ago I was watching it on a David Letterman repeat. He was pulled over by a cop and the kid got a shot on Letterman. So they can't blame GTA SA if it happened years ago. Now years later, the same thing happens and everyone is shaking a finger at video games and poor parents. As far as the Wii-knee this means I MUST get a Wii now so I can jump on that class action suit and get paid $150 in damages after the lawyers keep the millions they make from it. Lawyer are good when cooked with salt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbanoutlaw Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 There was the 8-year-old who led cops on a 20 (or so) mile chase, claiming he learned to drive from GTA. Still would like to what car that was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate10 Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 Wow ... maybe people should consider getting off the couch, put down the Cheetos and pop tarts, and living a normal healthy lifestyle. Than these completely pathetic injuries would not occur. Agreed completely. I laugh at the people that are trying to blame this on the Wii. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azn Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 I have a Wii..And I never got injuries..I eventually stopped using it because it never gave me a workout, and I'm not lazy. As for the kid...GTA could teach children to be safer drivers in the future! But driving GTA style would be an epic fail, lol. I'm surprised he knew which was the right key..Reversed the car out of the driveway (If he did), drove TEN miles, and ended up alive. This kid is a genius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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