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Nintendo Apologizes to Fat Kids

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Irridium
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wow, I think its pretty funny.

people are just too self consious nowadays

Eye Spider
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Oh stop crying and grow a thicker skin you fat fucks.

not literally...

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Easykill
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Eye Spider:
Oh stop crying and grow a thicker skin you fat fucks.

not literally...

Going WAY to far there.

Arbre
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WhiteFangofWar:
Wow, and here I thought this was going to be another mutual 'Jack Thompson' incident we could all have a laugh over, but there's some nicely deep stuff here about modern instances of prejudice and how to overcome them.

That being said, I don't believe Nintendo has any reason to apologize for 'insults' in a game, especially unintentional ones in a physical examination. Guitar Hero has style rankings from 'YOU ROCK' to 'YOU SUCK' and the latter hasn't caused a lawsuit for gross mental anguish... Yet. I can't even COUNT the number of games that gleefully insult it's players in one case or another. Wii Fit isn't even doing that- it simply listing a score based on weight measurements, just like a scale in a doctor's office. If that scale's needle pops out of the glass casing a la Garfield, do you sue the doctor? The manufacturers?

They're probably sending another lawsuit to MacDonald's or whatever that store is that they're in. For making them fat.

Personal accountability, how I miss thee.

Is it me or are you the first one to mention Jack Thompson here?

We need a Godwin's law variant here as well, like, you know, blah blah blah, page 1; blah blah blah, page 2; blah blah blah, 2011; blah blah blah Jack Thompson!

Fire Daemon
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qbert4ever:
Inspired by User, but aimed at the general public...
The problem is that most parents coddle their kids to much. The sad truth of the world is that life is hard, and people are dicks. I'm not trying to justify being a dick, but crying about it won't solve anything. You need to be able to shrug it off, and since nobody else (Read: parents) seems to be teaching that, I'm going to help.

Step 1: Someone calling you names? Call 'em names right back. Ask them to cause a vacuum on certain parts of your body. Attack various parts of their looks that can't be helped with names like "pizza face", "four-eyes", "turkey neck", and "huge gaping vagina".
Step 2: Make use of what you have. People calling you fat? Sit on them. I never make fun of fat people (to their face) for fear of a giant ass being the last thing I see. Too small for that? Burn down their house. Na, just kidding. But sack-taping (also called "nut-knocking") will do just fine.
Step 3: DON'T GET OFFENDED. Having a thick skin is a must because chances are, if you take it far enough, then the person that started shit will be the one that ends up crying. People are vultures that can sense weakness a mile away, so save the tears for your pillow.
Following these three (mostly serious) steps is only the beginning. It's up to YOU to decide how other people treat you, and to do that you need to be able to dish it out as well as take it.

And as far as the article goes...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Yeah but you can't do that to a video game can you.

Anyway, I think the Wiifit should not have included the "Your a fat bitch and no one likes you, and chances are your adopted" title. Also I think that if Wiifit called those who get a laugh at this article fat then their attitude will change, change very quickly.

It is true some people need to harden the fuck up (long live chopper) but you have to realise that a lot of people play video games to escape the insults, to enter a land where they aren't insulted because of their appearance.

GenericWit
Paperboy
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Cheeze_Pavilion:

Actually your original comment was talking about being psychologically conditioned--what else can the question: "I don't know what kind of kids are into playing Wii for exercise when they could be outside... you know... running around." be referring to?

EDIT:

I haven't heard of people losing weight just by being ready to.

Neither have I; however, have you ever heard of someone losing weight that *wasn't* ready to?

In other words, although it may not be a *sufficient* step, it may be a *necessary* step.

Umm... I'm tired of this thread so it'll be the last time I reply here. My quote, which has the word "exercise" in it actually was about "exercise" not about being psychologically ready to blah blah blah so I think you're wrong there. But whatevs.

And the second one, yeah I have heard of people who have lost weight before they meant to/were ready to. Back when I was in band, as a section leader, I knew this guy who was pretty overweight, and he said he was going to start losing it after the marching season ended, and he was totally freaked out about eating better and whatnot, but through the exercise, he actually did lose something like 40 pounds over the season so... yeah, I'll leave it at that.

And props to whoever said that taking offense to something is your own choice or something along the lines of that. So very true.

Eye Spider
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Fire Daemon:
It is true some people need to harden the fuck up (long live chopper) but you have to realise that a lot of people play video games to escape the insults, to enter a land where they aren't insulted because of their appearance.

I agree, but in this case it sounds like the game isn't insulting people for their physical appearance (how can it, it doesn't have eyes), it is commenting on the player's BMI rating. That is an inescapable medical fact and if even that can't be said in plain terms for fear of offending then we've become a society of pussies.

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Fire Daemon
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Eye Spider:

Fire Daemon:
It is true some people need to harden the fuck up (long live chopper) but you have to realise that a lot of people play video games to escape the insults, to enter a land where they aren't insulted because of their appearance.

I agree, but in this case it sounds like the game isn't insulting people for their physical appearance (how can it, it doesn't have eyes), it is commenting on the player's BMI rating. That is an inescapable medical fact and if even that can't be said in plain terms for fear of offending then we've become a society of pussies.

I agree with the society of pussies argument but we don't need to become a society of hateful jerks who walk around insulting each other either just to not be a society of pussies.

There is a happy middle ground but no one can be bothered to look for it.

Cheeze_Pavilion
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GenericWit:

Umm... I'm tired of this thread so it'll be the last time I reply here.

Whatevs. No one cares.

My quote, which has the word "exercise" in it actually was about "exercise" not about being psychologically ready to blah blah blah so I think you're wrong there. But whatevs.

No, it really wasn't. It had the word exercise in it, in the phrase "into playing Wii for exercise." Being "into" something is a psychological state. It's really that simple.

And the second one, yeah I have heard of people who have lost weight before they meant to/were ready to. Back when I was in band, as a section leader, I knew this guy who was pretty overweight, and he said he was going to start losing it after the marching season ended, and he was totally freaked out about eating better and whatnot, but through the exercise, he actually did lose something like 40 pounds over the season so... yeah, I'll leave it at that.

Being "totally freaked out about eating better and whatnot" does not mean you aren't ready to lose weight, it just means you are apprehensive about the decision you've made. Again--it's that simple.

And props to whoever said that taking offense to something is your own choice or something along the lines of that. So very true.

That is totally untrue. Not taking offense to someone insulting you makes you a doormat. Now, not *suffering psychological harm* from someone insulting you because you choose not to, that's a different story. That kind of response does not preclude labeling the person insulting you a dick and calling for them to shut their ignorant ass up.

I really don't see why everyone thinks it's so noble to shrug off people trying to hurt you. I don't care if someone hurts me or not when they attack me--it offends me that they *tried* to hurt me in the first place. And I like to make those people pay...

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Cheeze_Pavilion
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Eye Spider:

I agree, but in this case it sounds like the game isn't insulting people for their physical appearance (how can it, it doesn't have eyes), it is commenting on the player's BMI rating. That is an inescapable medical fact and if even that can't be said in plain terms for fear of offending then we've become a society of pussies.

The thing is, 'fat' is not "plain terms." A word like 'overweight' would be a plain term, and in digging around a bit, it seems that's what WiiFit actually uses.

However, BMI isn't an "inescapable medical fact." From what I'm to understand it does not accurately measure many people, including athletes and children.

It's fine to maintain that we should be objective about reality, but from what I've read, the BMI isn't the "inescapable medical fact" you're making it out to be.

If you're so concerned that we not twist medical facts, shouldn't you be just as concerned that WiiFit is giving people erroneous information about their physical condition? Aren't you concerned that a person that is "4ft 9in tall and weighs only six stone" was giving the "inescapable medical fact" that she's overweight, when actually, her BMI would be about 18.2 making her *underweight*?

Am I doing the math wrong here? Or am I the only person to actually check for myself if this isn't a sign of how our kids are lazy/parents coddle our children/not calling a person fat will incur the wrath of the Old Ones who will come and smite us all/any other Decline-Of-The-West doomsday scenario everyone is going on and on about, and might be that the programming in WiiFit is messed up?

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righthanded
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Cheeze_Pavilion:
That is totally untrue. Not taking offense to someone insulting you makes you a doormat. Now, not *suffering psychological harm* from someone insulting you because you choose not to, that's a different story. That kind of response does not preclude labeling the person insulting you a dick and calling for them to shut their ignorant ass up.

I really don't see why everyone thinks it's so noble to shrug off people trying to hurt you. I don't care if someone hurts me or not when they attack me--it offends me that they *tried* to hurt me in the first place. And I like to make those people pay...

So you're really being hurt by the intent, not the actions or words? Exactly what I got at earlier. That intent is what matters, not the actual action. The offending party still succeeds when they get what they intended to get, though--response from the offended party.
As far as the high ground goes, of course there is nobility in taking it. If you can't grasp that, well, have fun going blind with pointless eye-for-and-eye bullshit.

Cheeze_Pavilion
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righthanded:

Cheeze_Pavilion:
That is totally untrue. Not taking offense to someone insulting you makes you a doormat. Now, not *suffering psychological harm* from someone insulting you because you choose not to, that's a different story. That kind of response does not preclude labeling the person insulting you a dick and calling for them to shut their ignorant ass up.

I really don't see why everyone thinks it's so noble to shrug off people trying to hurt you. I don't care if someone hurts me or not when they attack me--it offends me that they *tried* to hurt me in the first place. And I like to make those people pay...

So you're really being hurt by the intent, not the actions or words? Exactly what I got at earlier.

No...I'm angered. Big, big difference between being angered and hurt. Anger...is fun.

The offending party still succeeds when they get what they intended to get, though--response from the offended party.

Not when the response makes them look like a jackass and everyone laughs at *them*

As far as the high ground goes, of course there is nobility in taking it. If you can't grasp that, well, have fun going blind with pointless eye-for-and-eye bullshit.

You've misunderstood me. It's not eye-for-an-eye. It's frightening the people who make this world suck into keeping their mouths shut.

There's a difference between vengeance and deterrence. If you can't grasp that, well, have fun getting your ass kicked through life. You can have the high ground full of strife--I want to live in the lowlands in peace. You seriously misunderstand the meaning behind that quote given the way you use it.

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righthanded
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Cheeze_Pavilion:
There's a difference between vengeance and deterrence.

You think you're that intimidating? Jah, make me laugh, kiddo. The fact that you're worried about getting your ass kicked through life makes me laugh as well. Maybe when you're a bit more mature, you'll understand.

As an adult, there is no laughing "them". That silly shit disappears after high-school. But since you seem to be of that age, yeah, go for it. Kick someone's ass if you really think they have it coming and that's going to make all the difference in the world--hopefully that works out for you.

Cheeze_Pavilion
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righthanded:

Cheeze_Pavilion:
There's a difference between vengeance and deterrence.

You think you're that intimidating? Jah, make me laugh, kiddo. The fact that you're worried about getting your ass kicked through life makes me laugh as well. Maybe when you're a bit more mature, you'll understand.

As an adult, there is no laughing "them". That silly shit disappears after high-school. But since you seem to be of that age, yeah, go for it. Kick someone's ass if you really think they have it coming and that's going to make all the difference in the world--hopefully that works out for you.

So much for you taking the 'high ground', hmm?

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righthanded
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Cheeze_Pavilion:

righthanded:

Cheeze_Pavilion:
There's a difference between vengeance and deterrence.

You think you're that intimidating? Jah, make me laugh, kiddo. The fact that you're worried about getting your ass kicked through life makes me laugh as well. Maybe when you're a bit more mature, you'll understand.

As an adult, there is no laughing "them". That silly shit disappears after high-school. But since you seem to be of that age, yeah, go for it. Kick someone's ass if you really think they have it coming and that's going to make all the difference in the world--hopefully that works out for you.

So much for you taking the 'high ground', hmm?

Were you insulting me? Was I insulting you? I honestly think you're a highschool aged kid that is looking at the world through that prism. If you're not, well, I could see how calling you a highschooler might be insulting. I thought we were two people trading ideas. Are you trying to pick an e-fight with me or something? Did I miss the part where the e-gloves came off?

Cheeze_Pavilion
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righthanded:

Were you insulting me? Was I insulting you? I honestly think you're a highschool aged kid that is looking at the world through that prism. If you're not, well, I could see how calling you a highschooler might be insulting. I thought we were two people trading ideas. Are you trying to pick an e-fight with me or something?

I'm just pointing out to you that you don't actually believe in taking the higher ground. You advocate it in your arguments, but you don't practice it, you don't act in conformity with those ideals in your behavior.

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righthanded
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Cheeze_Pavilion:

righthanded:

Were you insulting me? Was I insulting you? I honestly think you're a highschool aged kid that is looking at the world through that prism. If you're not, well, I could see how calling you a highschooler might be insulting. I thought we were two people trading ideas. Are you trying to pick an e-fight with me or something?

I'm just pointing out to you that you don't actually believe in taking the higher ground. You advocate it in your arguments, but you don't practice it, you don't act in conformity with those ideals in your behavior.

if you want to discuss Wii Fit and BMI or whatever, keep posting in this thread. If you want to discuss the high ground, pm me.

KapnKerfuffle
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This thread is making me hungry.

qbert4ever
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Cheeze_Pavilion:

BlueMage:

And yet, if you had been proactive sooner, the motivation for most to tease you would've been gone sooner. Perhaps it is wrong that they teased you, but all along you had the power to change that, and you chose not to use it, and you cannot blame others for that.

Umm, yes--yes you can. If someone starts hitting me with a bat and I say 'no' but don't move, that doesn't give them the right to keep hitting me with a bat, does it? Now not only do we have to retreat before the dicks of the world if we can before using force against them, but if we don't retreat what they are doing becomes acceptable?

You're blaming the victim here.

No dude, you're missing the point. The point is that you should never put yourself in that type of position in the first place. And if you do, then you need to learn your lesson and not do it again. Take your example for instance; if someone is hitting you with a bat, you need to say "what did I do to get in this position?" If you're walking through New York back alleys in the middle of the night, you kind of have to expect something bad to happen. As for being made fun of if your overweight, why are you overweight in the first place, and why don't you do something to get thinner, or to earn the respect needed for people to stop making fun of you? If it's something you can change about yourself to get people to stop making fun of you, then do so. Either work out, ignore it, or take a baseball bat to some knee-caps. I'm not justifying the people that go around making fun of fat kids or attacking people in alleyways, but the world is tough and you need to learn how to cope.

At any rate, you can't really compare physical to mental violence. Words only hurt if you let them, and if you don't have the ability to say "fuck you" and walk away, then that's your parents fault for not helping you with it.

And as far as the murder thing, it kind of depends. If you walk up to a guy you know is a killer and shoot him in the face, you're still a murderer. The only time it would be justified is if the murderer is about to kill you or another person.

Funny thing, this started off as a five sentence post. I guess I'll know tomorrow weather writing at 1 in the mourning turns me into a genius, or bat-shit insane.

Cheeze_Pavilion
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qbert4ever:

Cheeze_Pavilion:

BlueMage:

And yet, if you had been proactive sooner, the motivation for most to tease you would've been gone sooner. Perhaps it is wrong that they teased you, but all along you had the power to change that, and you chose not to use it, and you cannot blame others for that.

Umm, yes--yes you can. If someone starts hitting me with a bat and I say 'no' but don't move, that doesn't give them the right to keep hitting me with a bat, does it? Now not only do we have to retreat before the dicks of the world if we can before using force against them, but if we don't retreat what they are doing becomes acceptable?

You're blaming the victim here.

No dude, you're missing the point. The point is that you should never put yourself in that type of position in the first place. And if you do, then you need to learn your lesson and not do it again.

Maybe. However, if I *do* put myself in that position again, well, that doesn't *justify* their actions.

I'm trying to distinguish the question of *what you have a right to expect to happen* from the question of *what you have the right to morally condemn*. No matter how many times a person walks down "New York back alleys in the middle of the night," the last attacker is just as blameworthy as the first.

I'm not justifying the people that go around making fun of fat kids or attacking people in alleyways, but the world is tough and you need to learn how to cope.

In that case I you're missing *my* point--people are conflating 'the reasonable coping response to a tough world' with 'if you do not respond reasonably you have no right to complain and therefore your attacker is justified'. I think you have a very different point than BlueMage. What I believe you are saying is:

'sure they don't get the *right* to hurt you just because you didn't learn your lesson; however, it means that you can do something besides complain, and that is to come up with a better coping mechanism'

What I believe BlueMage is saying is:

'well, you knew it would happen, so therefore what they do to you isn't wrongdoing'.

+++

I still don't see why one can't embrace the fact that the "world is tough and you need to learn how to cope" AND retain one's moral indignation at the world for being so tough. In fact, I wouldn't say the world is *tough*: tough implies a morally neutral state of affairs--climbing a mountain is tough. I think it would be more productive to say 'the world has a lot of really awful people,' to reiterate at every step of the conversation that these people are morally wrong.

Why? Because people come up with better coping mechanisms when they feel they did nothing wrong. When they feel less like a natural victim and more like an temporarily unlucky regular person. When they feel that even if they give up the *practice* of walking down "New York back alleys in the middle of the night" because the world is tough and you need to learn how to cope, that doesn't mean they surrender the *right* to walk down "New York back alleys in the middle of the night."

Because that's how things get better--people get morally indignant without losing their common sense for self-preservation. I don't know where you're from, but have you been to New York recently? The same streets that were littered with crack vials in the 80s are now a million dollars a home. There's a lot of power in recognizing that some risks are worth it.

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qbert4ever
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Alright, I can see where you're coming from Cheese, and I suspect we are agreeing with each other through different means. However it's really friggin late where I am right now, so I need to get some sleep. But if this thread is still alive, and I can somehow manage to pull a logical opinion out of my ass, I will definitely be back tomorrow. Bad timing really, I find a thread where I can have a well thought out opinion, and it's on the day of my dad and uncles (twins) 50th birthday party. To say the day has been hectic would be a gross understatement.

Cheeze_Pavilion
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qbert4ever:
Alright, I can see where you're coming from Cheese, and I suspect we are agreeing with each other through different means.

I agree. I think a lot of this is about vocabulary, and the different ways in which people are using words like 'blame' and 'cause' and 'justify' and 'wrongdoing'.

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Eye Spider
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Cheeze_Pavilion:

If you're so concerned that we not twist medical facts, shouldn't you be just as concerned that WiiFit is giving people erroneous information about their physical condition? Aren't you concerned that a person that is "4ft 9in tall and weighs only six stone" was giving the "inescapable medical fact" that she's overweight, when actually, her BMI would be about 18.2 making her *underweight*?

I'm not concerned at all about what WiiFit says about people being fat; anyone that takes medical advice from a Nintendo Game instead of going to their doctor for a checkup is beyond hope anyway. I'm sure the WiiFit manual has all the necessary disclaimers on it and as such Nintendo should not be apologising for anything. WiiFit is first and foremost entertainment and should be taken with a pinch of salt.

That the BMI index's accuracy is less in certain individuals is also not Nintendo's concern. It's used because as a general and simple indicator of fitness for most of the population, it works pretty well and is the best we've got. Any doctor worth his salt will be able to tell that fact to a patient who thinks they are overweight because of it, as will many easily available online documents including the first line of the Wikipedia article on the subject.

It's a storm in a teacup that somewhere out there made an oversensitive chubby girl cry; I mean what's next, games that use the phrase "You Lose" instead of "Game Over" to have to apologise for making the player feel like a loser? Sheesh!

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nightmare_gorilla
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nice, maybe we should turn gamestop into a check ids at the door type place and sell videogames like cigarettes and beer, seriously if a game like wii fit is "banned for kids" then not a damn thing is safe for kids these days, or even better maybe we could put kids in little bubbles that only lets their parents talk to them and then they can put their ideas straight into kids heads without worrying about outside influences having an oportunity to give the kids their own opinions on stuff. then we'd be trully safe...

Malignis
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Cheeze_Pavilion:

Skrapt:

Cheeze_Pavilion:

How does insulting bigots make one a bigot? That's like saying 'killing an armed soldier who is killing unarmed civilians makes you a killer of unarmed civilians'. It just doesn't make sense.

Of course it does, killing a murderer, makes you a murderer, regardless of whether it was right or wrong.

No dude--it *really* doesn't. The word 'murder' means 'someone who commits a wrongful killing'. You might as well be arguing about married bachelors.

Sorry--you're just 100% wrong here.

You are making a straw man argument here, perhaps without meaning to. I believe what he means is that killing a killer (A killer being defined as someone or something that kills) does not make you any less of a killer yourself.

Here is the definition of a bigot:
a person who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion.

Being bigoted against bigots, DOES IN FACT MAKE YOU A BIGOT.
Everyone is a bigot, but only the people who will admit it are the ones you can trust.
I myself am bigoted against:

People who are stupid/ignorant by choice.
People who don't give credit for the actions of others, or take the blame for their own actions.
People who take everything too friggin seriously.
Anybody who attempts to be politically correct.
Any advertisement that uses animals talking in a child-like voice in an attempt to be cute.
Bigots.

EDIT: Trying to keep your kid safe from the evil in the world is a noble cause, but they will eventually have to go out into the world themselves. If you have opted to protect them from all evil instead of giving them the tools to defend themselves from it, and combat against it, then they will be completely destroyed or consumed by it when the time comes and you are not there to take the blow for them.

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life" sort of sums it up. Don't give them what they need, give them the ability to get what they need for themselves.

I do tend to ramble on.

Terramax
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"anonymous father". I smell the Daily Mail made up crap again...

I for one would prefer if the video game told people they were obese. No point in buying a fitness product that's going to lie to you, is there?
I mean, if I were that kid in the picture stepped on that thing and it said "Wow, you're healthy!" I, who would know by now my physical state, would be appauled it was just trying to feed on my character flaws for a quick buck.

I also personally think any parent who doesn't stand up and inform their kids they're fat, skinny or whatever, is also lying to their children and ought to be more ashamed than Nintendo.

I had health problems for being too skinny until a doctor told me I was dangerously so and ought to stop being a vegetarian. So I did what he said. I feel better.

The Wii game tells people they're fat. Get it into your thick heads it's doing you a favour, and do something about it rather than whining because a £69 product doesn't kiss your arse!