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| Wii having fun yet?
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| Friday, April 11, 2008 |
Wii having fun yet?
By Joe Killian
FRIDAY, APR. 11, 2008 3:00 AM
HIGH POINT — In the old days, unwinding after a day at the High Point Market meant late night poker games in smoky hotel rooms or painting the town red at bars and strip clubs whose signs still read "Welcome Furniture Market!"
But the times and the industry have changed. Need proof? Head over to the Commerce and Design Building's Wii Relax and Play Lounge — a large, open, seventh-floor space where weary marketgoers can rest on plush leather sofas, grab some mints and bottled water, and, if they're brave, rock out with Guitar Hero on Nintendo Wii.
"It's not something I ever expected to see at the market," Fred Dougleman, a 43-year-old buyer from Nebraska, said after a rousing game of Wii table tennis. "But I have to admit, this is a really good way to blow off some steam after a long day where everything is business."
The Wii lounge, in its second year at C&D's showroom, is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and has become an oasis where marketgoers can come when they need to relax and regroup.
"When my mother used to bring me to market, I remember there weren't places like this," said Tiffany Tucker, one of the C&D staffers in the lounge. "It used to be that you'd grab some Chick-fil-A and try to find any place in all the loud hustle and bustle where you could sit down
and try to get your head together. Now, almost every building is offering someplace like this."
Well, not exactly like this.
The Wii lounge is a cool, glass-walled area that offers many of the accoutrements of other showroom rest spots — free Wi-Fi Internet access, refreshments and comfortable couches. But the games — from cards and chess to those two Nintendo Wiis with their huge, slick flat screens — seem to be the real draw.
"Sometimes you don't necessarily need to go somewhere and take a nap," said Debra Cummings, 38, a buyer from Minnesota. "You need some sort of interaction and some sort of brain activity that isn't business. You need to just get away from the 24-hour number crunch that goes on for the whole week. I think a game room is perfect for that."
Cummings said she has two sons at home who don't have a Nintendo Wii. But after a few frames of bowling on the Wii she thinks she may have to get them one — and insist that they share with mom and dad.
"There are a lot of different types of people who come in and play," said Patty Marsh, another C&D staffer who greets marketgoers at the lounge. "You do get some people who have them at home, and they're excited to play here, but you also get some people who are just trying it for the first time, and they're excited."
Rob Calhoun, a buyer from Virginia, said he'd seen his grandkids play the Wii, but this week was the first time he tried it himself.
"I think it's funny because before there were video games you would go out and play pool, you would play poker, with guys you worked with or at a market like this," he said. "And here, with these games, you can play video pool and video poker on the Wii. I think it's great. And I don't lose any money, either."
Source: News-RecordLabels: Nintendo, Wii |
posted by Perimbean @ Friday, April 11, 2008
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