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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Entertainment Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo |
games as exercise a reality with the inclusion of the new balance board peripheral. The new peripheral allows users to see how well,
fitness and fun, which for the most part is true. It is a great alterative to going to the gym for those that may be a little too self-conscious
for the gym, a yoga class or aerobics class. Of course there a couple of things missing that could make it a little better such as the lack
of creating personal workout programs and the inclusion of health advice that is a little questionable, which limits the effectiveness “Wii
Fit” has as a workout program and game.
The most important and most obvious elements at the core of “Wii Fit” is the new balance board, an elegant and surprisingly sturdy
peripheral which features several internal scales that can detect even the slightest changes in weight and pressure. The board,
weighing in 8.8 pounds, interacts with the Wii system wirelessly and requires four AA batteries (which are included with the system).
The board has four rubber feet to help prevent it from slipping on smooth services during exercises and games. Like the Wii Remote
the balance board is intuitive to use once players get into a game or exercise program with its sensitivity that can pick up even the
smallest shifts in weight. However, the board can only handle up to 330 pounds, locking out those that are heavier from trying out this
workout system.
Although “Wii Fit” is a great way to track weight-loss, or gain, it definitely isn’t a total fitness solution. Instead it focuses more on
improving muscle tone and balance than on cardiovascular fitness and weight loss. However, it does offer a great way to track weight,
body mass index or BMI (which sources tell me isn’t very reliable) and total time spent exercising both within the game and any external
activities, giving the user a clear picture of how the users health progresses over time. “Wii Fit” isn’t going to make anyone any thinner
than “Wii Sports” is going to make players a professional bowler, but it can provide a strong base for a more expansive fitness workout
should the motivation hit. While BMI is a well-established tool for measuring a person’s ideal weight, “Wii Fit” fails to inform players
that variables such as muscle mass and age can significantly affect a score, giving an otherwise healthy person with more muscle an
overweight rating.
Many may recognize “Wii Fit” as being structured similar to various programs used to train the brain, such as “Brain Age” on the
Nintendo DS with exercises players can do regularly to improve their health. These exercises are split into four different categories:
yoga, muscle, aerobics and balance. The yoga and muscle categories feel like traditional exercise with 15 yoga poses and 15 muscle-
toning exercises. The yoga poses range from incredibly simple to quiet difficult. It is similar with the muscle-toning section with basic
lunges mixed in with more strenuous activities including push-ups. Virtual trainers guide users through the exercises. The aerobics
and balance activities represent the fun side of “Wii Fit” with 18 games to try. The aerobic games include hula hoop, boxing, step
dancing, jogging and more. The balance activities are probably the most enjoyable and game-like and include ski jump, ski slalom,
snowboarding and a table tilt game.
Players will be anchored to the balance board for most of the activities and exercises with the board giving feedback on the performance
of the users. Each activity features an onscreen indicator showing where weight should be placed and where it is being placed. At the
end of the activity players are given a score based on how well they manage to keep their balance or shift their weight to the appropriate
areas.
Although online is non-existent in “Wii Fit,” it does feature a Wii Fit Channel function which allows users to check their progress and
compare it to other Mii characters on their Wii without having to start up with the Wii disc.
Overall, “Wii Fit” presents the material in a typical Nintendo way, which means that it is clean and cheery for the most part. The title
looks best with its aerobics and balance games because of its fluid inclusion of the Mii characters. The character models for the
fitness trainers are rather dull, but the function quite well. Also, the fact that many of the activities have to be unlocked through
continuous use of activities makes “Wii Fit” seems quite repetitious at the beginning, but as more activities are unlocked the program
becomes more diverse. Though there is a lack of exercise options, poor support for multiplayer and questionable health advice, “Wii
Fit” shows a promising future in workout programs on the Wii.
For a game that is being marketed so heavily on being about fitness and fun, “Wii Fit” is a little underweight in both areas, but shows
great potential for the future. There are already many games and programs in the works to use the balance board with, and we can only
hope that in the next couple of years a new workout program will be developed with more depth and fun.
fitness and fun, which for the most part is true. It is a great alterative to going to the gym for those that may be a little too self-conscious
for the gym, a yoga class or aerobics class. Of course there a couple of things missing that could make it a little better such as the lack
of creating personal workout programs and the inclusion of health advice that is a little questionable, which limits the effectiveness “Wii
Fit” has as a workout program and game.
The most important and most obvious elements at the core of “Wii Fit” is the new balance board, an elegant and surprisingly sturdy
peripheral which features several internal scales that can detect even the slightest changes in weight and pressure. The board,
weighing in 8.8 pounds, interacts with the Wii system wirelessly and requires four AA batteries (which are included with the system).
The board has four rubber feet to help prevent it from slipping on smooth services during exercises and games. Like the Wii Remote
the balance board is intuitive to use once players get into a game or exercise program with its sensitivity that can pick up even the
smallest shifts in weight. However, the board can only handle up to 330 pounds, locking out those that are heavier from trying out this
workout system.
Although “Wii Fit” is a great way to track weight-loss, or gain, it definitely isn’t a total fitness solution. Instead it focuses more on
improving muscle tone and balance than on cardiovascular fitness and weight loss. However, it does offer a great way to track weight,
body mass index or BMI (which sources tell me isn’t very reliable) and total time spent exercising both within the game and any external
activities, giving the user a clear picture of how the users health progresses over time. “Wii Fit” isn’t going to make anyone any thinner
than “Wii Sports” is going to make players a professional bowler, but it can provide a strong base for a more expansive fitness workout
should the motivation hit. While BMI is a well-established tool for measuring a person’s ideal weight, “Wii Fit” fails to inform players
that variables such as muscle mass and age can significantly affect a score, giving an otherwise healthy person with more muscle an
overweight rating.
Many may recognize “Wii Fit” as being structured similar to various programs used to train the brain, such as “Brain Age” on the
Nintendo DS with exercises players can do regularly to improve their health. These exercises are split into four different categories:
yoga, muscle, aerobics and balance. The yoga and muscle categories feel like traditional exercise with 15 yoga poses and 15 muscle-
toning exercises. The yoga poses range from incredibly simple to quiet difficult. It is similar with the muscle-toning section with basic
lunges mixed in with more strenuous activities including push-ups. Virtual trainers guide users through the exercises. The aerobics
and balance activities represent the fun side of “Wii Fit” with 18 games to try. The aerobic games include hula hoop, boxing, step
dancing, jogging and more. The balance activities are probably the most enjoyable and game-like and include ski jump, ski slalom,
snowboarding and a table tilt game.
Players will be anchored to the balance board for most of the activities and exercises with the board giving feedback on the performance
of the users. Each activity features an onscreen indicator showing where weight should be placed and where it is being placed. At the
end of the activity players are given a score based on how well they manage to keep their balance or shift their weight to the appropriate
areas.
Although online is non-existent in “Wii Fit,” it does feature a Wii Fit Channel function which allows users to check their progress and
compare it to other Mii characters on their Wii without having to start up with the Wii disc.
Overall, “Wii Fit” presents the material in a typical Nintendo way, which means that it is clean and cheery for the most part. The title
looks best with its aerobics and balance games because of its fluid inclusion of the Mii characters. The character models for the
fitness trainers are rather dull, but the function quite well. Also, the fact that many of the activities have to be unlocked through
continuous use of activities makes “Wii Fit” seems quite repetitious at the beginning, but as more activities are unlocked the program
becomes more diverse. Though there is a lack of exercise options, poor support for multiplayer and questionable health advice, “Wii
Fit” shows a promising future in workout programs on the Wii.
For a game that is being marketed so heavily on being about fitness and fun, “Wii Fit” is a little underweight in both areas, but shows
great potential for the future. There are already many games and programs in the works to use the balance board with, and we can only
hope that in the next couple of years a new workout program will be developed with more depth and fun.
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