The woman helping children to put down their Wii consoles and get ...

Wii tennis is nothing compared to the real thing

Are your children umbilically linked to the TV by a Wii console? Are you umbilically linked to the TV by a Wii console? If so, let me introduce you to Helen Bentley. She could be just the person you need.

Helen, who I met on Radio Four?s Off the Page recently, is a games organiser in Bristol. Yes, I mean proper games, the ones where you actually have to leave the house and engage with those old-fashioned concepts the ?outside world? and ?other people?. None of this standing in front of the telly dementedly wafting a bit of souped-up plastic. Don?t worry, this isn?t jolly hockey sticks, either literally or metaphorically. Helen?s genius is that her games, although real, are inspired by the computer games that have got so many people in their grip these days. There?s 2.8 Hours Later, a real-life zombie game in which participants have to cross a city to survive an apocalypse. There are grand-scale versions of Tetris, Pacman ? even the legendary Angry Birds. Helen organises Igfest (the Interesting Games Festival) ? you can read about the most recent one here.

More power to her elbow (even if, as a zombie, her elbow?s about to drop off). This is an inspiring reversal of the process whereby outdoor games are making their way indoors and onto our games consoles. Obviously I?m not calling for a return to ye olden days, when youngsters were given a skipping rope, a set of marbles and a belt round the ear if they asked for anything else. The microchip has its place (otherwise you wouldn?t be reading this) ? but it can become addictive, turning kids into pasty-faced prisoners of their own bedrooms. The downside isn?t just social ? excessive computer gaming has been shown to sap your concentration on other tasks, as David ?Calamity? James discovered when he was Liverpool?s goalkeeper. Spending every spare moment on his Playstation led to him regularly dropping the ball during matches. Not good for a goalkeeper, that.

The really annoying thing about games consoles is their claim to be almost as good as the real thing. A new version of a tennis game will proudly trumpet that it?s ?99.9 per cent accurate?. Well there?s a game that?s 100 per cent accurate and has always been there ? it?s called tennis. A second-hand racket and a few balls will set you back a mere fraction of what a Wii console costs, and they?ll keep you a damn sight healthier. Helen Bentley?s leading the way in enticing youngsters back outdoors. Getting them to play at zombies might just stop them turning into zombies.

Source: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/markmason/100054679/the-woman-helping-children-to-put-down-their-wii-console-and-get-back-outdoors/

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