Daily Mail Newspaper said:

Is a Nintendo a safe Christmas present? From epilepsy to stroke, incontinence to Wii-itis, several life-threatening conditions can be triggered by your console

• Dutch researchers looked at whether Nintendo consoles are a safe present
• They found 38 reports of injuries after searching two medical databases
• Findings of the study have been published in the British Medical Journal
• Researchers conclude Nintendo is a relatively safe present this Christmas

Nintendo games consoles might be wrapped up under a lot of trees this Christmas but scientists have found that unless you take plenty of breaks from playing, you might just end up in hospital.

Nintendo consoles have been linked to dozens of injuries to gamers, including Wii-itis to a stroke,

While most have suffered little more than a sore thumb from hammering the buttons too hard, some have been struck down with life threatening injuries from playing too much.

Two patients were rushed to hospital having had a stroke after playing on a Nintendo Wii, while another needed surgery for a hernia after exercising on the Wii Fit game.

A 55-year-old woman was also found to have suffered a massive chest bleed after falling on to her sofa while playing tennis on her Wii.

The injuries were uncovered after a team of Dutch researchers gathered all reported cases of Nintendo-related problems to see whether it was a safe present to give at Christmas.

After searching two medical databases they found 38 reports of injuries and problems ranging from neurological and psychological to surgical.

The findings, published in the Christmas issue of the British Medical Journal, include early reports of seizures, dubbed 'Nintendo epilepsy'.

There were also two cases of Nintendo-related incontinence, where children were so engrossed in playing Super Mario Bros they ignored the need to got to the toilet.

A case of 'Nintendo neck' was reported in a child playing his Game Boy for 30 minutes in a hunched position, while 'Nintendo elbow' was diagnosed in a 12-year-old who played his console 'a lot' for more than a month.

Nintendo-related problems in the thumb, hand and wrist are referred to as 'nintendinitis' or 'nintendonitis', and were associated with strenuous game play using a traditional controller with buttons or a joystick.

After receiving more than 90 complaints, Nintendo handed out protective gloves to all owners of the game Mario Party, in which players had to rotate the joystick quickly with their thumb.

And after Nintendo introduced the Wii in 2006, with its motion-sensitive remote controller, there were reports of injuries arising from playing its most popular game, Wii Sports.

A 29-year-old man was found to have acute tendinitis in his right shoulder after playing the game for several hours.

Another report described a case of carpal tunnel syndrome in a woman who played a bowling game for six to eight hours daily for 10 days. There were also two reports of Achilles 'wii-itis' - a partial tear of the Achilles tendon.

Tennis was found to be the most dangerous Wii sport overall, and the most common injuries were hand lacerations and bruising.

The researchers, led by Dr Maarten Jalink of the University of Groningen, said: 'Overall, a Nintendo is a relatively safe Christmas present.

'However, those who receive such a gift should not swing the controller too hard, they should be careful about where they play, and they should take frequent breaks.'

A spokesman for Nintendo said: 'The Wii video game system is often credited with getting people up off the couch. But, as with any activity, people playing the Wii system, or any other Nintendo product should pace themselves and not overdo it.

'Nintendo is committed to the safety of its customers and always includes comprehensive health and safety guidelines with its products. Provided these are followed correctly, a user should be able to enjoy their Nintendo product safely.'

Who commissioned this shit?

First comment nails it:

"- For a start, the Wii is outdated, the Wii U is Nintendo's relevant console. - Secondly, from over a million consoles sold, I think that 38 people being injured is a trivial thing, especially with one of them being 55 years old and prone to injury. - Thirdly: "There were also two cases of Nintendo-related incontinence, where children were so engrossed in playing Super Mario Bros they ignored the need to got to the toilet". The Wii was so good that people wet themselves so they could continue playing? That is fantastic advertisement actually. - Lastly, please don't write any more articles related to gaming, you're obviously bad about it, hugely outdated on current gaming trends and highly biased against gaming. Heck, considering this is DailyMail, I'm surprised that it didn't say "Nintendo gives you cancer!"

Steambox as a term makes me feel uncomfortable. It sounds like a group of men getting together to give each other Cleveland Steamers in the back of a van.

....or maybe I should spend less time on Urban Dictionary.

So now that Archie The Great has finished Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, no one is currently watching it.

GG's getting upset!

edgecrusher said:

So a friend of mine who has been Xbox only since the 360 came out, hates the Xbox One and is thinking about going the Steambox route instead. Thoughts?

He'd be better off just building his own micro computer.  There is no such thing as steamboxes, since the Steam OS is still in beta.  All there is now are overpriced small computers that aren't very upgradeable. Eurogamer did an article on building a budget pc that could match the PS4 and Xbone.

Or if he already owns a decent PC, he could build an even more micro computer, with the sole purpose of being small and being able to run Steam in-home streaming.  I played all of Psychonauts on my telly, through my Surface Pro2 which was streaming the game from my desktop.

Or he could get a different console.

edgecrusher said:

For some reason he doesn't seem into PS4.

What reason exactly? And has he ever tried Nintendo or is he one of these guys who refuses to touch their stuff and grew up with Playstation etc?

It sounds like he doesn't want to play anything. He could play all those online games on X1 but doesn't like it. He could play all those online games on PS4 but doesn't want to because his friends play on XB or PC. So his only choice is PC if he's not content with an XB1. Why even ask the question? He either gives up gaming or goes PC.

Warn him that PC's these days have the Metro tiles too though  

Red Dead Redemption 2 or Bully 2?

Red Dead please. The best open world game they ever made and the ending made me want revenge. Bully doesn't need a sequel so much.

edgecrusher said:

Bully doesn't need a sequel so much.