For the uninitiated, the Wii has nothing whatsoever to do with either bladder movements or the Women’s Institute. The Wii is an entertainment system from Nintendo.

Nintendo’s Wii is a world of entertainment in a box. It’s so much more than just another games console for the educationally challenged. So what is the Wii and what can it do?

The Wii (pronounced ‘we’) is Nintendo’s home video game console. It represents a radical step into a new era of home entertainment. For years, video games have been growing in popularity but also in complexity. With Wii, Nintendo changes the way you play by maximising the fun and minimising the fuss.

Unlike most video games however, the Wii console makes you feel less like a player and more like you’re in the game. Frenzied sword battles are no longer confined to pushing a button. With Wii’s unique Wii remote controller, Nintendo puts you in the middle of the action.

Forget about pushing a button to start a golf backswing. Wii lets you swing the club. Don’t push a button to swing a sword, actually swing the sword!

So where is this leading you might be forgiven for asking yourself? Well, believe it or not when we’re talking about a video gaming console, it’s exercise and social interaction.

Wii Sports for example offers five distinct sports experiences, each using the Wii remote to provide a natural, intuitive and realistic feel. In Tennis, you’ll grab the controller like a racket and swing – the game will register forehands, backhands, volleys, lobs, slices, spin and power depending on how fast you swing and at what angle. Baseball will have you gripping the controller like a bat and swatting fastballs out of the park in a home run derby.

In Golf you’ll step up to the tee, hold the controller like a golf club and swing naturally to smack the ball onto the green. In Bowling, players raise the Wii Remote in their hand just like a bowling ball, and then swing their arms to roll the ball. When Boxing, using the controller as one glove and the Wii remote as the other, players dodge, weave and punch their opponents.

Get the idea? The Wii is not just a gaming console, it’s an entertainment system and exercise machine all rolled into one.

So where’s the social interaction? Well, in Lincoln there’s a new virtual bowling league for the Over 50s in which contestants don’t even have to leave the room to compete. And the likes of nursing homes are taking up the Wii challenge too, by providing Wii games for their residents. One of the many benefits of the Wii is that you don’t have to be physically mobile to have fun and enjoy some exercise at the same time.

So if you’re in your Third Age, the Wii could be for you too!