Wii Fit? Almost.

Posted by Chris Ward at 6:30 PM Apr 26, 2008

I've taken a break from blogging this week because my Grandpa underwent quintuple bypass surgery and there were major complications afterwards. He had a "sudden event" (which is the new PC way of saying "oh crap, something really unexpected and bad has happened and we don't know what).

According to the doctors, less than 15% of people survive what he went through. The fact that he's 76 didn't help his odds.

Today, I'm happy to say he's somehow recovering, and the doctors are flabbergasted. He's an incredibly strong guy who, when he was around my age, took actual mortar fire in a Korean foxhole, rather than just re-enacting it on Xbox Live like I do. He also kept me knee deep in Atari games when I would visit his house, and let me beat him at most of them. When the first Game Boy came out (the one that weighs 50 pounds), he wanted one. He gleefully played Tetris once, put it in a drawer, and never touched it again...though his grandkids enjoyed it. Farmers don't break out the Game Boy often, you see.

So, now that things are looking a little better with each day, I thought I'd share my favorite videogame based story about the guy.

When the Wii first came out, I brought it over for Christmas to do a little field research on the family. I showed my Grandpa the basics of bowling, he took aim and rolled his first frame. After picking up the spare, everyone was applauding but he just stood there with a quizzical look on his face. "Huh," he said. Looking at his furrowed brow, I knew what must be running through his head: never in his life did he think he'd experience a video game so spot-on. So lifelike. So intuitive!

"What's the matter, Grandpa?" I asked.

"You mean...it keeps score for you?" he asked me.

To this day, I think that should have been Nintendo's major selling point for the Korean War Veteran's market: "Wii Sports: It Keeps Score For You."

Get well, Grandpa. I love you, and you'll be rehabilitating on a plastic Wii Fit board any day now.