Wiiii!!!

by Chris Bodenner

I just wrote a fun little piece for the Atlantic.com examining the cultural breakthrough the Wii has had in nursing homes and what it could mean for the gaming industry:

Sales of video games -- an $8 billion industry once thought recession-proof -- have plummeted in 2009. May alone showed a 23 percent drop from the same month last year. And the horizon looks bleak, since disposable income tends to tighten in an uncertain economy. The industry, therefore, would be smart to look to a new, seemingly unlikely, audience: the 80 million Baby Boomers entering old age..

Seniors today are already using the Wii not just for entertainment but to help fend off physical and mental infirmity. It's becoming so popular that retirement communities are using it to lure new residents, evidenced by the promotional video above.