14 DAY TRIAL // Even as the media appears to focus on the negative aspects of videogames, it seems that some people are interested in making use of them in a more productive manner. So, a high school in the United States has turned to fan favorite Mario Kart Wii to teach its students the dangers that they are facing when they are distracted while driving by sounds or text messages.
The Vail Christian High School has partnered up with the Sheriff's Department, the Colorado State Patrol, the Fire Fighters and the Vail Valley Medical Center in order to create what they call a “distracted and drowsy driving project.” The fancy description is basically code for putting people in front of a Wii Wheel peripheral, firing up Mario Kart Wii and throwing some distractions at them while they try to drive around.
Kim Greene, who represents the Vail Valley Medical Center, stated that “The whole focus of Vail Christian High School's traffic safety project is about distracted driving.” And it has been proved that introducing useful information while offering fun as compensation can lead to clear changes in behavior.
So, Mario Kart Wii will be responsible for a reduction in the number of accidents on United States roads once children at the Vail Christian High School get their driving licenses. Let's hope that they don't get used to seeing other drivers as rivals and don't look for weapons to take them off the track.
Mario Kart Wii was released in April 2008 and helped make that month a record one for videogame sales, along with Grand Theft Auto IV. Since then, the Wii and the DS version of the title have shown up constantly in sales charts and have helped Nintendo become one of the most profitable videogaming companies in the world. Of course, it didn't hurt that Mario featured prominently on the cover of the title.