For years now, senior citizens have been finding surprising amounts of joy in the Nintendo Wii, thanks in large part to the easily graspable mechanics and design of Wii Sports. But now Nintendo wants seniors to up their game, and try their hands at some of the Wii’s other hit titles, including Wii Sports Resort, Mario Kart Wii, Wii Fit Plus and, most importantly, New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

To encourage seniors to expand their gaming horizons, Nintendo will be sending representatives, along with Wii gaming packages, to 52 senior citizen communities across the country. Only 10 communities will actually receive hands-on support from Nintendo reps, but everyone will receive the following collection of goodies:

• One Wii
• New Super Mario Bros. Wii
• Three additional Wii Remote controllers and three additional Nunchuk controllers
• A copy of Wii Sports Resort and three additional Wii MotionPlus accessories
• Wii Fit Plus with a Wii Balance Board accessory
• Mario Kart Wii and three additional Wii Wheel accessories

Now, I can certainly understand the appeal of Wii Sports Resort and Wii Fit, but I’m not sure seniors are going to be too into New Super Mario Bros., simply because it is too “gamey” in that it’s exactly the kind of thing most seniors probably think of when they think of video games. And it will most likely take some serious finagling to get elderly gamers past this understandable barrier. Not only that, the game itself requires quite a bit more skill, timing and focus than something like bowling in Wii Sports, which means there are going to be a lot of frustrated seniors, and that won't be good for Nintendo at all. Or, elderly gamers will totally dig it, and never want to put their controllers down.

Either way, it’s a fun little program, and if nothing else, it will keep kids entertained while they visit their grandparents.