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Wii Fit
Is Nintendo's new game fun enough to get you exercising?
May 19, 2008 | 4:12 PM PSTKombo's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.
What the Game's About
When Nintendo bundled Wii Sports with its latest console, Wii, it stumbled upon a gaming audience that few game makers knew existed or, let's be honest, cared about: people who don't normally play games. Wii Fit is, you could say, the spiritual follow-up to Wii Sports. It's not a sequel -- one is a sports game that is played with just the Wii-mote, and the other is a fitness tool that uses the new Wii Balance Board. However, there is something both titles have in common: they're both aimed at non-gamers.
Wii Fit is played almost entirely with the Wii Balance Board, a small platform that when stood on detects body weight and your center of balance. There are four different exercise categories: yoga, aerobics, strength training and balance games. By standing on the device while performing different exercises, Wii Fit is able to measure your center of balance and rate your performance. You can also take a body test each day, which the game uses to measure and provide you with day-to-day statistical data, including your weight, body mass index (BMI) and Wii Fit Age.
What's Hot
The whole premise behind Wii Fit is that it'll get you to exercise on a daily basis and have fun while doing so. Ultimately, some people are going to enjoy playing the game more than others. If you absolutely hate exercising, Wii Fit will not cure you of that hatred. Chances are you're still going to hate exercising, even if when standing on Nintendo's fitness board. However, if you're willing to stick with it, Wii Fit can make a great exercise tool. The game measures and keeps track of your progress each time you play it, making it an excellent resource for those who want to get serious about their health.
There's a good variety of exercise categories -- yoga, aerobics, strength training and balance games -- that stretch and build different muscles. No matter your fitness needs, Nintendo has something for you here. If you're serious about toning your muscles, strength training will no doubt help. If you're just interested in getting some light exercise, though, aerobics and balance games are both solid options. In the latter, you'll find a more entertaining approach to exercise -- mini-games such as skiing, snowboarding, hula hoops and more. Although these exercises are disguised, they still offer a workout, and you're likely to have fun playing them. Admittedly, I'm a bit out of shape, so the low-tension exercises in yoga and aerobics are my favorites.
The thing on most people's minds is whether or not Wii Fit is compelling and fun enough to keep you exercising each day. Thanks to the Wii Fit Credits system, which rewards you for playing, chances are you'll be willing to boot the thing up and exercise for 15-30 minutes each day. As you play the game, you'll earn Wii Fit Credits, which unlock new exercises and more difficulty options. The difficulty options aren't particularly exciting, but unlocking new exercises quickly becomes a compelling incentive (if the fact that you're becoming healthier doesn't already motivate you).
What's Not
If you're one of those people that hates exercising and thinks that Wii Fit -- because it's a video game -- will somehow magically transform you into a fitness freak, you're going to be disappointed. Wii Fit won't do that. If you're not willing to exercise, Wii Fit probably isn't going to change you. Sure, it's a video game, but video games are not inherently fun. If you don't like exercise, you won't like Wii Fit. Yeah, initially Wii Fit makes exercise a little more fun, but the novelty eventually wears off, and at the end of the day, you're exercising.
Disappointingly, although Wii Fit is supposed to help you get in shape, it could do a better job of guiding you along the way. When you first start the game, it walks you through everything, and you feel like you truly do have a virtual trainer who will be there to tell you what you need to do. However, once that initial setup ends, you're on your own. You have to come up with your own exercise routine -- a task that will be daunting for many. It would have been nice if the game recommended exercises to you based off your body test and performance during exercises, that way you have some kind of general direction. As is, the game gives you the tools you need to get the job done, but it's up to you to figure out how to go about doing that.
Last but not least, there is at least one technical problem with the way Wii Fit measures your fitness level. The game uses your BMI -- a number that is formulated based off your height and weight -- to assign you your Wii Fit Age, which represents your overall level of fitness. The problem is that your BMI is not an accurate gauge of your physical condition because it does not take into account your body's ratio of body fat to muscle. So, for example, Wii Fit does not distinguish between a person who has a lot of body fat and a person who has a lot of muscle, even if the two people weigh the same and are the same height. This is an inherent problem with using BMI to grade your fitness level, unfortunately, and thus you can't take what Wii Fit tells you about your physical condition too seriously.
Final Word
Wii Fit is a great tool for those who truly do want to exercise and become fit. I think there will be many disappointed gamers, though, who purchase the game expecting a magical solution to their fitness problems, only to find Wii Fit is not it.
Reviewing and assigning a score to Wii Fit is incredibly difficult because it is unlike most software out there. It's not so much a video game as it is a tool, which means if we were to judge it on its ability to entertain, it'd score pretty low. However, as a video game that is designed to encourage exercise and fun exercise at that, Wii Fit does a respectable job.
Whether or not you should purchase Wii Fit depends on the answer to this last question: Do you want to exercise and get in shape? If so, then this is a great tool for you. If your answer is "no," then you might want to play something else.
What the Game's About
When Nintendo bundled Wii Sports with its latest console, Wii, it stumbled upon a gaming audience that few game makers knew existed or, let's be honest, cared about: people who don't normally play games. Wii Fit is, you could say, the spiritual follow-up to Wii Sports. It's not a sequel -- one is a sports game that is played with just the Wii-mote, and the other is a fitness tool that uses the new Wii Balance Board. However, there is something both titles have in common: they're both aimed at non-gamers.
Wii Fit is played almost entirely with the Wii Balance Board, a small platform that when stood on detects body weight and your center of balance. There are four different exercise categories: yoga, aerobics, strength training and balance games. By standing on the device while performing different exercises, Wii Fit is able to measure your center of balance and rate your performance. You can also take a body test each day, which the game uses to measure and provide you with day-to-day statistical data, including your weight, body mass index (BMI) and Wii Fit Age.
What's Hot
The whole premise behind Wii Fit is that it'll get you to exercise on a daily basis and have fun while doing so. Ultimately, some people are going to enjoy playing the game more than others. If you absolutely hate exercising, Wii Fit will not cure you of that hatred. Chances are you're still going to hate exercising, even if when standing on Nintendo's fitness board. However, if you're willing to stick with it, Wii Fit can make a great exercise tool. The game measures and keeps track of your progress each time you play it, making it an excellent resource for those who want to get serious about their health.
There's a good variety of exercise categories -- yoga, aerobics, strength training and balance games -- that stretch and build different muscles. No matter your fitness needs, Nintendo has something for you here. If you're serious about toning your muscles, strength training will no doubt help. If you're just interested in getting some light exercise, though, aerobics and balance games are both solid options. In the latter, you'll find a more entertaining approach to exercise -- mini-games such as skiing, snowboarding, hula hoops and more. Although these exercises are disguised, they still offer a workout, and you're likely to have fun playing them. Admittedly, I'm a bit out of shape, so the low-tension exercises in yoga and aerobics are my favorites.
The thing on most people's minds is whether or not Wii Fit is compelling and fun enough to keep you exercising each day. Thanks to the Wii Fit Credits system, which rewards you for playing, chances are you'll be willing to boot the thing up and exercise for 15-30 minutes each day. As you play the game, you'll earn Wii Fit Credits, which unlock new exercises and more difficulty options. The difficulty options aren't particularly exciting, but unlocking new exercises quickly becomes a compelling incentive (if the fact that you're becoming healthier doesn't already motivate you).
What's Not
If you're one of those people that hates exercising and thinks that Wii Fit -- because it's a video game -- will somehow magically transform you into a fitness freak, you're going to be disappointed. Wii Fit won't do that. If you're not willing to exercise, Wii Fit probably isn't going to change you. Sure, it's a video game, but video games are not inherently fun. If you don't like exercise, you won't like Wii Fit. Yeah, initially Wii Fit makes exercise a little more fun, but the novelty eventually wears off, and at the end of the day, you're exercising.
Disappointingly, although Wii Fit is supposed to help you get in shape, it could do a better job of guiding you along the way. When you first start the game, it walks you through everything, and you feel like you truly do have a virtual trainer who will be there to tell you what you need to do. However, once that initial setup ends, you're on your own. You have to come up with your own exercise routine -- a task that will be daunting for many. It would have been nice if the game recommended exercises to you based off your body test and performance during exercises, that way you have some kind of general direction. As is, the game gives you the tools you need to get the job done, but it's up to you to figure out how to go about doing that.
Last but not least, there is at least one technical problem with the way Wii Fit measures your fitness level. The game uses your BMI -- a number that is formulated based off your height and weight -- to assign you your Wii Fit Age, which represents your overall level of fitness. The problem is that your BMI is not an accurate gauge of your physical condition because it does not take into account your body's ratio of body fat to muscle. So, for example, Wii Fit does not distinguish between a person who has a lot of body fat and a person who has a lot of muscle, even if the two people weigh the same and are the same height. This is an inherent problem with using BMI to grade your fitness level, unfortunately, and thus you can't take what Wii Fit tells you about your physical condition too seriously.
Final Word
Wii Fit is a great tool for those who truly do want to exercise and become fit. I think there will be many disappointed gamers, though, who purchase the game expecting a magical solution to their fitness problems, only to find Wii Fit is not it.
Reviewing and assigning a score to Wii Fit is incredibly difficult because it is unlike most software out there. It's not so much a video game as it is a tool, which means if we were to judge it on its ability to entertain, it'd score pretty low. However, as a video game that is designed to encourage exercise and fun exercise at that, Wii Fit does a respectable job.
Whether or not you should purchase Wii Fit depends on the answer to this last question: Do you want to exercise and get in shape? If so, then this is a great tool for you. If your answer is "no," then you might want to play something else.
December 16, 2009
