Wii Sports Experiment, from Digg to book January 30, 2007
This is a follow-up to the “Wii Sports Experiment” article I conducted and wrote.
First of all I’d like to thank EVERYONE who has emailed me, it’s really great to hear such positive feedback and it’s really a nice feeling to hear you’ve inspired people to not only purchase a Wii, but to use my experiment as a motivator to create their own Wii Workouts.
I’d also like to let everyone know about my plans for “Round 2″ of the Wii Sports Experiment, and to share with you all of the press coverage and different opportunities that have arisen.
Also, I tried to follow the “media trail” of my little experiment, so down at the bottom of this page I tried to map out how I went from just simply submitting my Wii Sports Experiment article to Digg.com to ultimately literary representation with a great literary agency on Fifth Avenue in NYC, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates, Inc.
OK, let’s jump right into the media coverage, I compiled a list of some of the news agencies that I have been interviewed by. I’m still compiling links to some of these and I’m actually still in the process of giving interviews, so I’ll update this section as I get more elements.
Television
NBC 10 Television Report – Watch
MyPhl17 Television Report – Watch
!10 Show Television Talk Show – Watch
6ABC Television Report - Watch
FOX29 Television Report - Watch
CityTV – Watch
MSN’s ConnectedLife - Watch
CBS3 Wii Fit Interview - Watch
E3
Nintendo displays my footage at E3 - Watch
Radio
BBC Radio One – News Beat – Listen
BBC Radio Five Live
BBC Radio Asian Network
CBS Radio WCBS NYC- Listen
CBS Radio KMOX St. Louis
FreeFM WYSP – Listen
B101 Philadelphia
Q102 Philadelphia
Opie and Anthony (explicit) - Listen
105.7 Salt Lake City
WZZEE-FM Madison
WKQI - Detroit
New Zealand Radio
Podcasts
PodTech.net - Podcast
unclegamer.com - Podcast
Print
TIME - Year in Review - View
The New York Times - View
ESPN - Sweat Spot
The Philadelphia Inquirer - View
South Philadelphia Review - View
The Washington Post - View
The LA Times
NY Daily News – View
Sydney Morning Herald
Metro UK
The Straits Times (Singapore)
VCD Magazine - View
Websites
CNN – View
FoxNews – View
Yahoo! News – View
Yahoo! News UK – View
MSN - View
Netscape – View
Digg.com – View
TIME Magazine - View
LA Times - View
Associated Content - View
Good Morning Silicon Valley - View
The Inquirer - View
Philadelphia Weekly - View
Philadelphia Will Do - View
The Washington Post – View
NBC 10 Health Watch – View
Newsday - View
MetroUK – View
NY Times - View
New York Times (printed version online) - View
Engadget.com – View
C-NET News – View
RegHardware - View
IGN – View
The Journal Gazzette - View
GameSpot – View
GamerSquad - View
Games Radar - View
BBC Radio One – View
New Zealand Stuff – View
Sydney Morning Herald – View
San Mateo County Times - View
MarketingVOX - View
Forbes - View
Afterdawn - View
Red Herring - View
eMediaWire - View
India Times – View
I know there’s hundreds of other sites, thanks to everyone who covered the story!
Traineo.com
I used Traineo.com towards the end of my Wii Sports Experiment (I wish I used them the whole time…) and I was approached by Traineo after they saw that I used their site during my experiment. I was asked to team up with them to create Wii specific training tools on Traineo.com. I loved Traineo as a site and was honored to be asked to help out as much as possible. The Wii Workout and competition section of their site is set to launch this Thursday (Feb. 1st), so make sure to check back here for further info in the coming days. For now, you can still sign-up to Traineo and join the Wii group on there.
Literary Agency
After my story broke on local news, The Philadelphia Inquirer and on TV during the NBC 10 O’clock news I received an email from, Jeremy Katz, who was excited about my project and wanted to develop a book with me.
Jeremy was an editor for 15 years, first at St. Martin’s Press, where he published the #1 New York Times Bestseller THE ARTHRITIS CURE. He then joined Putnam, publishing breakout health, fitness, and narrative titles. Katz was recruited by Rodale to lead its nascent Men’s Health and Sports Book Group, publishing more than 30 titles a year and helping to define the modern notion of men’s publishing. While there, he published two New York Times Bestsellers: PETE ROSE: MY PRISION WITHOUT BARS (#1) and million-copy franchise THE ABS DIET.
Jeremy is now with Sanford. J. Greenburger Associates. Its prestigious reputation, built representing such icons as Kafka and Sartre, provides the foundation for the dynamic and independent spirit of the agency today. With over two dozen New York Times bestsellers in two decades, SJGA provides representation to contemporary authors including Nelson DeMille and Dan Brown.
The Media Trail
It’s funny to see your story move through the media circuit. It has taken me from Philadelphia to San Francisco to London to Australia to Singapore. I tried to track how my story moved around, below is a few of the companies that have featured the story and it shows who picked it up next. It’s actually still in motion, I hope I can make a new one where it ends with “Nintendo of America”
FAQS:
Have you heard from Nintendo?
Unfortunately, no. But, I have had indirect contact with them. Traineo.com has been in touch with Nintendo’s PR team and they are very excited to work with Traineo.com. If you missed it above, I’ve teamed up with Traineo.com to create a competition / workout area on their site focusing on the Wii. The Wii Sports Experiment is going to be used as their “case study/poster boy”.
Do you still keep up the 30 minutes a day?
I’ve actually been consumed by interviews and work and have not kept up the 30 minutes everyday. I still play fairly often and I just weighed myself last night and I’m one ounce less than my final weight, so I’ve been maintaining my weight at the very least. I will most likely start a more controlled workout with a real trainer to gather “scientific” data for the book I’m working on (see above).
Inbox, RE: Wii Sports Experiment:
“On behalf of all the blokes around the world, we want to thank you for giving us an excuse to play video games to our wives and girlfriends, cheers” - New Zealand Radio DJ
“Congratulations on your success. This is really a great story” - Saif
“Hi Wii champ! I was very amazed about the results of your totally cool experiment!” - Debby
“I knew that Wii sports gave you a workout, but I never thought it could actually be used as an exercise routine. I’m going to start playing Wii Sports for a half-hour a day.” - Logan
“Great job on the “Wii Diet”, It’s very impressive what you’ve done.” - Lisette
“I’m from London, UK, but i was just looking on the news when your story popped up. I want to congratulate you on your achievement and to say that i think more people should do what you have done.” - Kate
“Hey man, just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your site.” - Ethan
“Wow! I have seen the commercials on this nintendo and thought it was a new neat and cool idea. I’m a mother of three and I’m totally against the kids sitting around playing video games (seeing as the big thing is kids of america are getting fat and lazy). Now I beleive i’m sold and will buy my children this (me and my husband too) and i will no longer have to hear “can i have a nintendo all my freinds have one�?, because we will too and I won’t have to worry about my family and if they are being active because we will be! Thanks.” - Beth
“First of all, nice experiment you’ve done right there. I am going to start exercising too with wii sports everyday!” - Martain
“It is inspirational .. We all need something and you found yours! Good for you!” - Giovanina
“Awesome job with the contest and good job with the site, it is now added in my favorites!” - Scott
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Congratulations to you sir.
I will buy the book when it’s finished and released.
Wow.. congrats!
And to think it all started here. Great work. Ive literally followed it all on my Wii.
This is great! Never posted but I read your full article when it came out and I thought to myself, why didn’t I think of that? Video games have been on the top of peoples lists for the cause of obesity in America and the first time I played boxing I knew the possibilities for this system were huge. Congratulations on your success and thanks for all you’re doing for overweight individuals everywhere and for the industry. I know that sounds pretty hockie but like the trainer on one of the news interviews I saw stated, whatever motivates people to lose weight. I’m still sticking to my guns with the whole Japanesse trying to get us in shape theory.
Congrats! I’ve lost 16.4 pounds using the Wii in just 30 days… though, admittedly, I started out a lot fatter than you
Enjoy the ride!
-Tom
Mickey, congrats again on your success. By the way, the traineo.com links on your article are pointing to the Greenburger & Associates website.
Whoa, A book? Thats awesome! Bet you never thought it would be this big when you started!
Congratulations man, you deserve it. Maybe future Wiis will come packed with your work
I’ve been doing much more Wii boxing and Baseball since reading about the Experiment.
Congrats Mickey.. good luck with the book.. it will certainly be a must-read
hahahhaa anyway.. were those your 15 minutes? or are there more to come? anyway.. talk later =D
Thanks guys!
@Jose
I actually just did an interview with TIME Magazine, The Washington Post (newspaper) has a HUGE article in this Sundays paper, and I got a call from ABC to do a TV report. So, the media is still interested.
I’m focusing on the Traineo.com Wii site and making sure the book turns out good.
Oh very nice!!! so is more like you’re three+ weeks of fame ;)… anyway.. what is the book going to be about? just Wii Workout or some more stuff?
Congrats again honey
xo
diana
[...] Update 1: I gathered some of the media appearances I made world wide, you can watch, listen, and read them here. [...]
A book? Wow. That surprises me, a lot, I mean if that book actually catches ground and is sold often enough it could mean a lot of profit for Nintendo, I’d be surprised if they didn’t contact you soon.
reggie, president of nintendo of america should be paying you cause this is definitely increasing wii sales, they should at least put you on the team, and hook me up when u get there, i got great ideas for nintendo
[...] View the “Wii Sports Experiment” results View all of the media coverage of the experiment Track your “Wii Workout” at Traineo These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]
Get Fit With Wii…
Dicono che la nuova console di Nintendo sia anche un toccasana per la forma fisica.. Se è davvero così devo cestinare la play 2 (che tra l’altro è stata ben poco utilizzata dal sottoscritto).. per passare o ritornare alla grande N…
[...] Tja, wie’s aussieht, hat der gute Mann jetzt nicht nur eine fette Liste an Fernsehreportagen, Radio-Interviews und allgemeiner Berichterstattung in praktisch allen Medien über sein Experiment vorzuweisen, sondern hält seit kurzem auch einen Vertrag für ein Buch über die Aktion in seiner Hand. [...]
Great story! I am currently writing my master’s thesis and need primary souce information. Specifically, I need any information regarding the use of video game technology to improve fitness. If anyone can get me this information, it would be greatly appreciated. I am not at all familiar with the Wii - YET! You may reach me at my email address: d.dupay@lsc.edu
Thanks,
Dan
@Dan
I sent you an email.
Haha, I love the internet. I wondered if the Wii would be good for exercising, so I googled “Wii exercise,” and viola, here appears your website.
Great job!
And I’m happy that this is getting a lot of media coverate and that Nintendo acknowledges it.
I really hope that this attention leads Nintendo or third party companies to develop games and accessories catered to working out. I can imagine something like interactive aerobics or some kind of shin-bands where you can attach the remote and walk/run in real time with your character!
LOL, thanks to this blog I have one more reason to get a Wii!
Another Newspaper to add: Visalia Times-Delta featured a small article on this. I seemed to have lost my copy though….
I would add it in myself, but I lost the login link…
i will no longer have to hear “can i have a nintendo all my freinds have one?, because we will too and I won’t have to worry about my family and if they are being active because we will be! Thanks.? - Beth
Yeah, until your kids grabs a copy of Zelda, and vegetates on the couch for the 60+ hours it takes to beat, then he finds godfather, sinks in another 40 hours, then super paper Mario etc etc. One game doesn’t mean the whole system is active…
For some reason people keep telling my I’m negative, and too much of a realist. I dunno why…
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guiop.info
[...] the unexpected international success of my “Wii Sports Experiment” I thought it was time to put my body through the ringer [...]
[...] the unexpected international success of my “Wii Sports Experiment” I thought it was time to put my body through the ringer once [...]
[...] the unexpected international success of my “Wii Sports Experiment” I thought it was time to put my body through the ringer once [...]
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[...] 2007 I ended up losing 9lbs. by just playing Wii Sports every single day. The experiment gathered national media attention and I’ve been looking forward to following up to all those who covered the story with my [...]
[...] my before and after photos, video, charts, stats, and more, HERE. After the experiment I received international media attention from the largest and most respected news agencies in the [...]
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[...] my before and after photos, video, charts, stats, and more, HERE. After that experiment I received international media attention from the largest and most respected news agencies in the [...]
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