Get Fit With The Wii Fit

So there it was, the rectangular piece of plastic - that not only weighed almost ten pounds, but was particularly boring to look at. My first surprise was that there were no wires to plug in - OK so all the other controllers I have for the Wii are wireless, but I expected something like this to require wires as the measurements it's undoubtedly going to make seem to be far more 'analogue' than data collected from the normal Wii controller. I find that the way you wave the Wii controller around isn't always transferred to the screen exactly, and therefore I assumed a wireless device like the balance board would suffer as it seemed this kind of game would require a higher degree of accuracy - not that I would complain if it knocked a few (dozen) pounds of my weight.

I was actually impressed by the sturdiness of the balance board. It feels like a quality product - only time will tell if it will put up with the constant use it is undoubtedly going to get from me and my family. I note that many of the exercises state that you should not jump up and down on the board, this is a clue to the sturdiness I guess

The first thing I was disappointed about is that it takes regular batteries (but they were included) - while the system does automatically switch the board off after a period of activity, I'm sure it's going to cost a bundle in batteries - lo and behold, I find out that Nintendo also sell an 'add-on' that allows you to use chargeable packs - I feel with the money I've already spent on Wii Fit that they could include the rechargeable packs within the price.
So having received the game and the board, and managing to keep it away from the kids we put the game in the Wii. The first thing you have to do is calibrate the board - this takes a few seconds and is very easy to do - simply follow the onscreen instructions and you're all done.

My first impression about the game was that I didn't really need the instruction manual - everything was explained as I went along and the game told me when and how to use the board.

Once you've gone through your initial set up and chosen your personal Mii (I note that the game is a single player game, but it does allow you to keep statistics etc for all your Miis) you are directed to do your daily 'test' - this essentially will weigh you, let you know you BMI (Body Mass Index) and then test your balance with a few 'silly' games.

I should note that the BMI is perhaps a little incorrect as it doesn't allow you to enter a body type - if you are really muscular you will have more body weight and thus the Wii will think you are obese and give you a high BMI - however as this really is an indicator rather than an accurate reading this is OK. The system should not be used as a be-all and end-all for fitness - perhaps it should be used just to see your progress rather than being an accurate reading. It also effectively allows you to track how long you exercise each day.

One fun part of all this is that when you get weighed, your Mii suddenly takes on extra 'fat' if you are overweight.

Once you've been weighed and told your BMI you are then asked to perform a couple of balance tests. After this you are then given your Wii Age - to me this was not useful as it told me I was very fit for my age - hmmm but I'm overweight and definitely not fit. This is definitely inaccurate and doesn't take into account any progress I've made in the training exercises.

If you've played brain training games on the Nintendo DS you'll be very familiar with the concept and format of the game. Wii Fit is broken down into a series of exercises in four areas (See below for detailed descriptions of each area). Each area (Yoga, Strength, Aerobic and Balance) has 15 different exercises - however they are not all unlocked as you start the game - as you reach certain goals you begin to open up different exercises and also increase the difficulty of the existing exercises (more repetitions, longer times etc).

You are graded as you finish each exercise and this makes the game more challenging in a way as you always strive to break your record in each individual event - you can cheat in some events, but this really defeats the object of the game - which is about fitness not winning!

This category starts of gently and then increases your difficulty as you go along. It is interesting how you are introduced with a simple breathing exercise - this is easy, but is part of the learning curve as it teaches you that breathing correctly is essential in all aspects of Yoga. Most of the exercises involve stretching and balance.

Don't be fooled though - while they may look tame, they actually give you a decent workout and I felt I actually gained quite a lot by doing Yoga.

These tend to be more fun than most other sections. With a combination of Hula Hoops, Step Dancing, Jogging, Skiing, Dodging the soccer ball, boxing, snowboarding etc you'll find these fun but aside from increasing balance, and perhaps giving you a little stamina.

I don't feel you'll benefit much from many of these - the ones that probably benefit you most are the jogging and the step dancing.

This is perhaps the toughest of the sections with pushups, lunges, planks and many other strength building exercises. This combined with some of the suggested yoga exercises really test your fitness and I have definitely found myself sweating and aching after these.

As I mentioned earlier, as these exercises will help tone and build muscles, you may find that initially you may gain weight - eventually though, you will increase your metabolism and lose weight.

All of the above areas use the board in some way or other - some simply to lean on, while others use the board in balance and in 'steering' etc. The board is very effective and I was surprised how accurate it was - if you play the skiing, it's amazing how well you can adjust the amount of weight applied to part of the board, making some very sharp turns, or some very shallow turns. This sensitivity makes the game far more playable than expected.

One thing I noticed is that you'll constantly be moving the board to different positions - you'll also find certain exercises could be potentially dangerous (not just because of the strain) - for instance, when doing press-ups, my hands became slippery, and despite the grips on the Wii Board, I found I slipped a couple of times.

Is it boring?

Well that remains to be seen - if you are fit then you'll probably find it boring and mundane - especially as you have to spend about six hours or so playing before you unlock all the games. Additionally, as you unlock games, you only unlock for one player - thus if there are two people in your family, they both have to play six hours to unlock the games!

As someone who is unfit, I find that I am still interested and will use it every night until I achieve my required fitness level - after that it remains to be seen if I will continue to use it.
Perhaps the biggest downfall is that it is a one player game - it definitely would have been useful to be able to link two boards and exercise with someone else. While there are a couple of games that allow multiplayer, these are minimal.

There is a lack of' logic to the design of the game - while there is a favorites list this is based on the exercises you do most - there is no way for you to define a list of favorites that you could run through sequentially, thus you end up flipping back and fore between exersizes.

So should I buy it?

Well that really depend on you! The game is repetitive, and can become boring - but if you ever go to a gym, you'll find this also to be repetitive and boring. Essentially you have to figure if you are buying the game to have fun or to get fit.

If you're buying to have fun, then you'll probably waste your money as the game will get boring very quickly. However, if you are buying it to get fit and are serious about getting fit then it is worth it - although I would suggest you supplement the 'training' with other activities such as walking, palates etc. It seems to be a good way of exercising when you have no other options. So far I have lost about 5lbs in a couple of days so it seems to be working for me!