Do short breaks during the day boost productivity?

I'm not sure how it works at your business, but at AM's head quarters we've just had a football table installed on the third floor and Bauer (our owner) has invested in a Nintendo Wii for journalists to play when they're not supping their mochalochachocalattes or jetting between five star hotels.

I reckon it's important to take short breaks throughout the day in order to boost productivity, but i think it's difficult to justify taking five minutes out for a game of virtual tennis when there's work that could be done.

Is it a case of give an inch take a yard? There's someone on the fusball table and Wii most of the time (i can currently hear someone gasping and gawking at their super ultra fresh skills).

Do you tighten up to stop people taking advantage or do you loosen things and make the working environment a bit more casual?

All i know is i'm losing out both ways, i feel bad about skiving work to play a quick game of table football and i can't concentrate because other people are playing it in the background, "click click tap click.....Yesssssss."