Wii Fit, the best “game” around since Guitar Hero

Introduction: This review was originally scheduled for the middle of July since I dedicated the site’s colors to it. Then as I started writing the initial story a while back, the ATI-based video card was overheating so it was out of commission for about two weeks. Yet why bother? Wasn’t this “game” covered to death weeks ago by the pros? Yeah, but I wanted to include my immediate results. Now to the “meat” of the review.

If you’ve played Wii Sports which comes with the console, then you’ve probably sweated a bit while playing tennis, boxing and baseball; bowling and golf are debatable. Sports has a fitness element yet it’s weak and unlikely to provide a decent workout.

Nintendo to the rescue with Wii Fit. Through the game’s primary controller called the Fit Board (a modified scale) players operate it by shifting their balance to make their characters or objects move about. The categories of games are divided into four sections: yoga, strength training, aerobics and balance; the latter being the fun, video game element.

The yoga and strength-training sections have a virtual trainer lead you through 30 different exercises. To help you do these exercises correctly, it guides you by a red dot representing your center of balance while the trainer does the motions. The key is to keep the red dot near the center of the yellow circle until you’re done. Sometimes the yellow circle is an oval-like strip or rectangle. Other times, you’re trying to keep the blue meter in a small zone representing the right amount weight distribution.

Its aerobics part involves jogging, step boxing, hula hoops and step aerobics. Jogging excludes the board as the hand-held control is reacting to you running in place with your Mii moving around a cool virtual landscape. Hula hoops are straightforward, shake or twist your waist around. Step boxing is similar to the boxing moves for Sport, you’re just punchig in time to the voiceover. Stepping is a dumbed-down DDR with duller music.

The balance games are where everyone will forget they’re “exercising” because they’re having real fun: tightrope walking, being the goalie at soccer practice, ski jumping, snowboarding, etc.

Here’s the $90 question about Wii Fit though…does it provide an actual exercise routine to help lose weight? After 70 days of owning one and doing at least 15 minutes for 54 of those 70 days (over 19 hours total), I have had some results but I would say they’re too early to give Wii Fit the credit. I would need to go 150 days along with making sure I’m consistently completing at least 30 minutes; what doctors recommend.

In its defense, I think it may have provided a tipping point. If you’ve seen me in the last year, especially after Jose and Nancy’s wedding, I weighed 243 pounds; oink oink! So I took more aggressive stance on my diet sans exercising, even after my cholesterol level (CL) was declared 242. I did lower the CL to 200 in 4-6 weeks but my weight hit its first plateau around the low 230s. Then I got the Fit during its debut week which said I was 229.9. By the time the console had to be replaced on July 10, I lost over five pounds. Currently, I’ve regained nearly two back thanks to my birthday excesses.

Overall I am pleased with the Wii Fit despite its shortcomings. As a video game for a party, the set-up process is slow and tedious entering each new player; not all the balance or aerobic games are unlocked for the new players t00. I quickly found myself in agreement with The Onion’s reviewer about what I would give to have an “A” button on the Fit Board. Having to constantly use the handheld controller to confirm choices slows down the whole workout process.

Finally, here are the funnier observations I’ve discovered with 70 days of usage. While going for a jog, some of the Miis from your plaza will trip and fall down after they pass you. Always a chuckle to see this happen to my Homer or Spongebob Miis. The others involve my virtual trainer, the lady with no name. I think her hair grows because one day I noticed she had it tied up in a bun and then it was short again the next day; a virtual hair cut? The better one happened more recently. I chose the first exercise of my daily workout (the Half Moon pose). Then the screen showed the studio but my trainer was absent. My immediate reaction was, “Crap! This replacement Wii just broke after a week!” Suddenly the screen flicked and the trainer appeared, apologizing how she overslept! Wow! One normally has to pay a monthly membership fee at a gym to get tardiness and Nintendo built it into the programming.

Currently Wii Fit is hard to find in stock anywhere. I was lucky and smart, I paid the deposit fee at my local Best Buy about two weeks before release. I do recommend it for a few reasons. You don’t have to drive to the local gym with all its numerous issues. It will make you sweat and get your heart moving. It is a video game so it has game-like traits; earning “coins” to unlock features and rewards; it did something after accumulating 10 hours and it made an announcement on my birthday. It keeps track of your progress based upon the goals you set; mine is a pound and a half every two weeks. The Wii loads activities, etc. faster than my PS2 could with DDR’s 90-second bursts. Lastly, it only has a $90 price tag, far cheaper than a gym membership and less difficult to get out of.

Let’s see how long I can keep it up. Meanwhile I need to have a friend who’s a certified yoga instructor give her professional assessment on Fit’s accuracy, potential and usefulness.

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