Video games common around the house

The latest addition to our family's entertainment options arrived Sunday afternoon in the way of the Wii Fit Plus. My wife, Jena, made the purchase, as part of a birthday present for herself and the rest of the family.

So far, it's been a hit. The kids love all the balancing games, from the snowboarding to the ski-jumping to the soccer ball heading. Jena is looking forward to some of the many yoga exercises included. And I've even been able to take my running habit into the cyber world, via the unique technological capabilities of the game.

Wii Fit joins a strong portfolio of electronic games in our household. On the Wii, we enjoy everything from Wii Sports to something called "Just Dance."

There's also the Nintendo DS that actually belongs to 8-year-old Drew. He bought the DS used last spring, after saving up his money for several months. He has a coveted Pokemon game for it, as well as a game featuring some kind of "Kirby" character. The DS will also play the plethora of GBA games we had for our old worn-out Game Boy Advance, which technically belonged to now-10-year-old Katie.

And of course, we have our iPhones, which Jena and I have loaded with games ranging from checkers to Scrabble to Othello.

So I guess you could say we do a lot of gaming these days. Whether it's in the family room, in the car or waiting at the doctor's office, it seems there's always a video game within reach.

It's a far cry from my childhood. When I was in elementary school, about the only place to play video games was at the video arcade at the mall or in the back room of the bowling alley. My parents weren't keen to let me spend too much time in either place, so I wasn't much of a gamer.

Somewhere along the line in elementary school, Atari came out with the 2600 game system. Suddenly, everyone was playing video games in their living rooms, from Space Invaders to Pac-Man. Well, everyone but me, it seemed. My parents saw no need in spending money on such a silly fad, and the closest thing I ever got to a video game was a crude handheld electronic football game.

By the time I got to college, the Nintendo Entertainment System was king of the dorm. Indeed, during my freshman year, I think I learned as much about Super Mario Brothers and Zelda than I did about College Algebra or English Comp. Later, my roommates and I were known to stay up into the wee hours of the morning playing simulation games like Civilization on our PCs. (We were quite the party animals.)

Needless to say, growing up in the 1980s, it was pretty much impossible to not spend a little time playing video games. Any effort my parents put forth to eschew such trivialities was futile.

So that's why, when my own kids fire began showing interest in video games, I was generally content to oblige. I understand the allure of such games — and in today's computer-driven world, it's good to be technologically savvy.

Of course, there need to be limits. I have no intention of raising a couple of couch potatoes, who do nothing but stare at video screens all day and recoil at the sight of the sun.

That's one of the things I like about the Wii, and especially the new Wii Fit Plus. There's no sitting on the couch with these games. They get you up, get you moving around. You're likely to break a sweat. On Sunday, Drew jogged in place for nearly 30 minutes straight playing one of the running games. Katie has been building up balance, agility, flexibility and endurance with the strength activities and the hula-hoop game.

In other words, this isn't their father's video game system.

And with the hot Delta sun making it pretty much impossible to get outside this time of year, the Wii Fit is certainly a welcome option for indoor family fun. I'm glad it's part of our home.