Research in the US suggests that surgeons who play on the Nintendo Wii console are more dexterous, have better hand-eye coordination and make fewer errors. Dr Mark Smith* even proposes that doctors in training have an hour on the Wii nightly to improve their performance.
An article in today's technology section also says,
There have been numerous studies carried out across the globe that all come to the same conclusion: surgeons who play videogames have better hand-to-eye coordination and dexterity...
"We can always tell the surgeons who are gamers, because they're naturally better," says [Dr. Mark] Smith. (He's also keen to point out that within a very short time period, non-gamers are on a par.) "But what we're finding with the Wii is that the surgeons that use it regularly are achieving results that far outstrip those who have just gamed before. And that's because the Wii is very different."
But don't get your hopes up if you're a 40-hour-a-week PlayStation or Xbox player; the difference, according to the article, is the Wiimote.
Gosh, didn't they manage to crack onto a winner with this new console? While hard-core gamers bemoan the lack of 'true' software for their market, the bods in Kytoto are popping the champagne corks. They may make overtures about producing games for the old target market in future, but I'm betting the real focus is on the games they're producing for the casuals.
And with headlines like these, the PR in the mainstream only gets better and better.
Rolling. In. It.
*nothing to do with The Fall, but I can imagine Mr. E. Smith singing something about the Wii-ah in the surgery-ah or summat.
