15 (or so) days of Wii Fit
I can’t say I rushed off to buy Nintendo’s all conquering Wii Fit, but when I saw it on display, well, it seemed like a decent alternative to joining a gym, starting Yoga lessons or even hopelessly searching downtown Athens for a free basketball court. So, I bought the thing, appropriately walked it home and impressively have been using it ever since. Daily, that is, and despite starting our relationship in the wrong way (it called me overweight! Moi? Oh, dear).
Now, before I actually begin with this review of sorts and in case you’ve been living under a rock or something and have somehow missed the publicity the thing has been getting, let me first explain what Wii Fit is. Well, it’s a piece of Wii software obviously, albeit one that comes complete with a balance board, and is supposedly designed to measure and improve your weight, posture, overall fitness and health, while simultaneously promising to make exercising fun. Impressively and as long as you don’t expect Super Mario Galaxy levels of fun it actually delivers. And as it can also vaguely guess the state of your body, it is one of them rare products actually doing what it says on the tin. Nice.
Admittedly, measuring your daily progress and weight loss is what will mainly draw you back to exercising with your Wii, though most of the included mini-games are above passable and a few (Skiing and Snowboarding do come to mind) are downright addictive. Then again, most of the available training programs are not supposed to be fun. They are instead focused on making boring, tiring and repetitive activities such as jogging or doing sit-ups and push-ups seem less atrocious, for -don’t get me wrong- Wii-ish as Wii Fit may be, it still is a bastard. The average training session will leave you breathless, sweaty, aching and quite frankly exhausted. Thus, yes, it works and unless you’re an athlete or live somewhere without cars/with trees (Berlin, is it?) you’re probably in need of it.
As for Wii Fit’s production values, fear not. This is standard Nintendo quality with lots of content, a nice Wii Fit channel, full Mii support, many unlockables and an overall polish. Oh, and the balance board itself is as sturdy as they get.
Posted on May 19th, 2008 by konstantinos
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Nice write up. I’m seeing more evidence that Wii Fit does seem to get your heartrate up near ‘real exercise’ levels.
I don’t play and work outdoors like I used to, but here in Dallas, it can hit 100 degrees in May and stay unbearably hot until September. Plus, we have this ozone problem that makes being outside, you know, dangerous to your health. Add to that the fact that with both of us working, finding the time to go to the gym difficult. I was doing tae kwon do, but I need to lose weight to get any better at it.
One of the things I’ve learned as a 40something guy who tries to do what I did in my 20s, being flexible is just as important as building your heart rate because I have had 3 injuries in the latest 2 years that took weeks to heal thanks to a lack of flexibility.
So, I see some potential in this, especially with my wife who tries to work out regularly, too, at home. But, knowing her routines, I think Wii Fit might have missed a couple of key features with this package:
Music options–A lot of people like to have that background music while exercising, whether it’s atmospheric music for yoga or dance-beat music for aerobics.
Download content–This could still be a possibility through Wiiware, but people want to vary their routines, and [I may be wrong] I doubt that Wii Fit comes with sufficient content to last a person a year or two of training every day. I see some 15 strength exercises, 15 yoga exercises, but just 5 aerobic exercises.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:23 amWell Dallas does sound only slightly worse off than Athens in the temperature department then… And I did grab the Wii Fit for the same reasons more or less, though admittedly -besides the odd basketball game- I haven’t had any sort of excercise those last years. Besides walking around that is.
Anyway. I have to agree with the points you’ve made, even if I’m not particularly bored with what’s on offer just yet. Oh and I do tend to either listen to the radio, music or -better yet- Ricky Gevrais podcasts while exercising.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:10 ami ahve no idea i haven’t got one haha !
May 28th, 2008 at 8:53 amI’m so poor gimme a wii fit
May 28th, 2008 at 8:53 am