DreamCatcher Interactive and JoWooD Productions have announced they will be bringing Yoga for Wii and The Hardy Boys: The Hidden Theft to the Nintendo Wii. Both games are currently under development and are set to be released Fall 2009.

Yoga for Wii will utilize the Wii Balance Board as players are guided through a variety of popular yoga exercises. A “yoga guru” will act as the player’s personal instructor and help monitor progress, making suggestions based on the player’s performance and computations taken from the Balance Board.

The Hardy Boys: The Hidden Theft comes about as the result of a partnership with Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing to develop a series of interactive games based on the Frank and Joe Hardy characters. Already available for Windows, Hidden Theft puts the young detectives at Spencer Mansion where a vault has been robbed and the police apparently need the help of teenage boys to tie-up some loose ends.

Just when you thought the world was turning an evil eye towards video games, accusing it of converting children into violent thugs, rotting their brains and making them fat. Consoles like the Nintendo Wii have opened up a new way for the medical field to use the games to their advantage. With games being integrated into physical therapies that can not only improve a person’s hand-eye-coordination it may just help shed some pounds in childhood obesity.

According to an article published by the UK Press Association video games that engage children in any form of physical activity “may be an effective answer to childhood obesity…”