• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Wii Offers Up Fitness and Fun for the Family

Posted on: Wednesday, 21 May 2008, 06:00 CDT

The Nintendo Wii has already done what video game naysayers said couldn't be done -- get children and adults off the couch with active games such as Wii Sports. The innovative Wii Fit takes it a step farther by creating a virtual gym in your living room that helps families incorporate fitness, as well as the escapist fun of video games, into their daily routine.

The Wii Fit offers more than 40 activities including yoga, aerobics, strength training and balance exercises. Up to eight family members can track their weight, Body Mass Index (BMI) and center of balance, setting goals for weight loss.

Key to the Wii Fit's success is the Balance Board, an advanced peripheral that can measure a person's weight and sense movement and balance. Setting up the board to work with the Wii only requires the push of a button.

The Wii Fit is surprisingly accurate. I had the same tests done at a gym recently, and the weight measured by the Wii was only a pound off. The Wii Fit's reading of my BMI, a measurement based on height and weight, was the same as the gym's reading.

Once you've created a profile and set your personal goals, which can be password protected if you're a little sensitive about anyone else seeing your stats, you choose either a male or female personal trainer to guide you through the exercises. The personal trainer demonstrates each exercise before you start, and then talks you through it while your perform the exercise.

As far as graphics go, your personal trainer is just a simple 3D model that effectively illustrates the exercise. There's nothing fancy when it comes to visuals for Wii Fit, although the environments for the running exercises are pretty. The game uses standard Mii characters in basic, yet colorful surroundings. The music used for the exercises, akin to elevator tunes, might make you want to turn down the volume.

When you begin working on the exercises, only a few will be available to you -- one of the big negatives of the game. I'm not sure what Nintendo's rationale was on this. Did they want gamers to start off slow and work their way up to the tougher exercises? If that's the case, they are assuming that most Wii Fit players have a low fitness level and alienating gamers who are relatively fit. What's the harm in having all the exercises available from the get-go?

I found the yoga exercises to be the most challenging, maybe because I've never done yoga. The poses include the half-moon, cobra, spinal twist, warrior and sun salutation. For aerobics, the hula hoop exercise along with the running got my heart pumping. For running, you use the Wii Remote instead of the Balance Board. It measures how fast you are running in place by the bouncing movement of the remote. I was skeptical at first, but found myself out of breath after completing a race. The step aerobics, on the other hand, was way too slow and boring to have any value.

Some of the strength training exercises available include single leg extension, sideways leg lift, lunge, side plank, push up and rowing squat. All use your own body weight and are surprisingly effective. The balance games are just plain fun and include ski slalom, ski jump, tightrope walk and soccer heading. Completing exercises will earn you Fit credits that unlock additional exercises and activities.

Another odd decision by the developers is that you can't set up your own fitness program. Instead you have to go into the menu, pick one exercise, perform it and then go back to the main menu to pick another exercise. It's a waste of time. Nintendo would have served gamers better by giving them an option to choose a group of exercises and then queing them up in succession. An estimate of calories burned during a session would have been a nice addition as well.

It is possible to cheat on the exercises, but really you'd only be cheating yourself (cue the after-school special music). Old-school gamers will remember the Nintendo Power Pad circa 1988. It was played with World Class Track Meet and the idea was to get kids running in place. Instead of running, ingenious children realized they'd get the same effect -- if not better -- by slapping the pressure points with their hands while sitting on the floor. I must confess I was guilty of this. With Wii Fit while running, you can just bounce the Wii Remote with your hand to keep your Mii moving; you can also neglect the upper body movements in other exercises to keep your balance. But it defeats the purpose of the game.

Minus the few negatives, the Wii Fit does an excellent job of getting families, especially ones with younger children, focused on the benefits of exercise. It also further casts a net over nontraditional gamers, like women and older players, who won't feel intimidated by either the fitness or gaming aspects. In its attempt to reach everybody, however, it might not be as effective for those with higher fitness levels, but still offers some challenging, sweat-inducing exercises.

Score: 3 out of 4 stars

Rating: E for Everyone

Price: $89.99 (includes Balance Board)

Platform: Nintendo Wii

Publisher: Nintendo

Website: www.nintendo.com/wiifit/launch

Source: The Miami Herald

More News in this Category