ELSPA applauds Change4Life's endorsement of Wii Fit Plus

Nintendo's Wii Fit Plus expansion is nearing release in the United Kingdom, and the ELSPA (Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association) confirms the game will be the first ever in the country to be endorsed by the National Health Service's Change4Life campaign. As a result, the ELSPA believes there is a strong chance Wii Fit Plus will be able to use the Change4Life logo in future advertising in the region.

Change4Life promotes exercise and healthy eating, but came under fire from the video gaming community earlier this year when it ran an ad depicting gaming as an unhealthy activity. That alone probably doesn't sound too serious, but the ad's slogan was considerably more hardline: "Risk an early death, just do nothing."

The gaming community groaned at the lazy gamer stereotype, and a number of complaints against the ad were lodged with the Advertising Standards Authority thanks to its suggestion that gaming was life threatening. Sony Computer Entertainment in particular took issue with what appears to be a Dual Shock controller in the ad itself.

ELSPA's director general Mike Rawlinson expresses his approval for Change4Life's change of heart toward gaming with their endorsement of Wii Fit Plus:

We are thrilled that active videogames are finally being recognised by the Government for contributing to a healthy, balanced lifestyle. Since the negative portrayal of videogames in a Change4Life advertisement earlier this year, ELSPA worked with the Department of Health to gain proper recognition of the many benefits which active gaming can bring to an energetic lifestyle. Children and adults across the UK already know that dancing, jumping or even boxing within an active videogame have real exercise benefits. We are encouraged by this positive step to gain wider recognition of the health benefits that videogames can offer to individuals, families and communities alike.

To be sure, the Department of Health stresses it technically wasn't endorsing a particular game but rather the active lifestyle it promotes.