Nerd Surgeon

I've been a big fan of the Wii since I first learned of its cutting edge approach to video gaming. Not to mention, I appreciate Nintendo's attempts to market the gaming engine to a diverse crowd. This isn't just a system for little kids or nerdcore gaming enthusiasts. This is a system for everyone. The games that have been released and that are planned have a broad appeal that attracts young and old, male and female, cool and uncool.

I also like the educational side of the Wii. With games like Big Brain Academy, Sudoku, and Crossword, you can play the Wii, and get smarter at the same time. Not to mention, did I catch wind that there's going to be an Iron Chef America game coming to the Wii in '08? I'm not a huge fan of the watered-down Americanized version of Iron Chef, but if I have the chance to virtually throw down in the kitchen against Bobby Flay(I don't respect him at all) or Cat Kora (I respect her a ton), you better believe I'm going to take it.

Then I heard a story this morning on NPR about the benefits that playing the Wii has on training surgeons. Apparently, surgeons-in-training who warm up on the Wii perform 50% better during virtual surgery than their non-gaming peers. The story went on to say that the research team behind the study has started developing a virtual surgery software series that can be used by surgeon trainees in 3rd world countries, where the staggering price of the current software is out of reach.

I don't yet own a Wii, but I hope to someday. And then my dream of becoming a hobby surgeon will finally be achieved. And I'll finally have the chance to smack Bobby Flay around in Kitchen Stadium.