Idea
Recently, I wrote a letter to Nintendo, requesting that they make a "Winter Hiking" game for their Wii system. I carefully explained that winter hiking in the Northeast has become far too dangerous for the average New Englander -- post holed trails, or packed trails ruined by careless buttsliders are the norm leaving us to decide do we stay home and watch television or do we risk serious bodily harm or at least a day's worth of aggravation being out in the woods, tripping over some yokel's postholes. I've actually resorted to volunteering at work to come in on the weekends for free in order to avoid my conundrum of deciding what to do. But now, I've come up with a solution that will leave the cavemen to their knuckledragging postholing techniques and enable me to enjoy winter hiking with fresh, nicely groomed trails!
What I proposed to Nintendo was a multi-parted scheme. First, the game itself, obviously titled "W48" -- the object being to hike all 48 NH 4k peaks in Winter. Second, the gamer would wear special "shoes" that would mimic the motion of snow shoes (with a special "crampon" attachment) therefore enabling this to be an "interactive" and "workout" style game so that you're actually exercising in the process. No couch potatoes please: only those in top physical shape need apply. The third and last idea, and probably an very optional and expensive add-on is for those that would enjoy the W48 Wii game but would miss the cold "Winter" experience.... a refrigerated suit that the user would wear in order to play the game. This "Eco-Suit" would replicate "Winter Conditions" that the user would expect to encounter in his or her hike: snow, occasional freezing rain (Turn the game off!), extreme cold and so on. The particularly hardy gamer would find that by wearing the Eco-Suit one would enhance the extreme physical aspect of Winter Hiking in the Whites.
I haven't heard back from Nintendo and frankly, I'm pessimistic about the game reaching the general public by 2011 which means we'll have to wait a few years to be able to enjoy Winter hiking that the Giggy's and Fulsteroy's have stolen from us with their post holes and bareboots. But alas, it will be worth the wait. In the meantime, you can help by bombarding Nintendo with requests for a W48 game for the Wii... but don't expect compensation because it was my idea first. *Note: I asked Nintendo not to design the game with postholed trails as a potential hazard. I just told them to leave that idea at home.
-Dr. Wu