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Wii Fit = Pure Genius Dumbed Down!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: May 28, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I am an at home exerciser and looking for something to spice up my workouts, so when I saw the Wii Fit I couldn't wait to try it out and I do love it. The game itself is pure genius. The way the Wii can access your weight and BMI, greet you according to time of day, give you tips etc. And of course the way you can interact with the game. You make a little Mii (one that resembles you or someone you would like to look like for example) and you exercise along with it. At the same time your family members can make Mii's and will show up to cheer for you as you work out!

The Wii fit game software includes Aerobics, Yoga, Strength Training, Balance and Favorites. You begin with a body test that accesses BMI and balance and then choose the exercises you want to do. A Wii Fit board sends signals to your Wii to give you feedback as to how you are performing each exercise.

The whole concept and the way it works is pure Genius. It's fun, easy to understand and motivating as you try to best your prior score on activities. For the price of a round of golf at a good golf course or a couple nights at the movies you have a lot of easy to access fitness fun without leaving your home.

I do say the product is dumbed down though because it definitely has limitations. After each exercise you have to wait for a score to pop up or wait through a screen shot of a sad or happy looking Mii (depending on how well you did the exercise) so there is a lack of continuity. The Wii Fit also does not prescribe a fitness plan so if you wanted you could bounce soccer balls off your head (one of the balance exercises) for 30 minutes and say you did your workout. Another drawback are the personal trainers. The game "Yourself Fitness" which was released a few years ago has an animated trainer who is much more intricate and real than the Wii trainers so the technology is there, not sure why Wii didn't use it. And there are other little things, Wii included a step exercise so why not give a choice of music? Wii has an island lap, why not give a few additional scenic laps. It is also pretty easy to unlock new exercises, making it harder would keep people motivated longer.

Overall though, I have exercised for the past 7 days and not missed so that says something. Will Fit is a great start and I hope the company comes out with many more games for it in the future.

~ Lee Mellott

Great for adults, but negative comments for kids

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: June 17, 2008
Author: Amazon User

We are still using our wii fit a month later, all four of us use it. I agree with the other reviewers for the most part, but it drives me batty that this thing doesn't have different settings for kids. My kids do NOT need to hear negative comments (it chides you if you haven't weighed in every day, and sometimes taunts you if you don't have perfect balance). My kids are very fit but on the skinny side (genetics, they eat like horses), and I very much dislike them being told they are "underweight" (and I personally hate that my mii is a bit pudgy, which everyone else can see as different from their miis). I am only a bit overweight but I do not like the constant judgment of this thing.

I have a child with vestibular challenges (and gross motor issues) and I also dislike him being asked "do you stumble when you walk?" or whatever it says. It's hard enough to deal with those issues and I fear he'll tire of it and not use it, and we got it specifically for him so he could work on balance.

Anyway, despite that, it has some fun things and we are benefitting from it. If you use it on a carpet the weigh-in can really vary, I have a friend who also has this and they've said the same thing.

I don't suppose there's hope for an update where you turn off the comments for kids, is there?

Solid, fun across age ranges, some quirks

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 13 / 16
Date: May 23, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I had this game in my hot little hands 5/21/08. I am reviewing after 3 hours game play (personal) plus observing 1 preschooler, 1 4th grader, 1 male adult play.

Rundown: The game is centered around several fitness "areas" - yoga, strength, balance, and aerobics. The titles do not necessarily fit in all cases. Initially, there are around 4-5 unlocked activities per fitness area. You unlock more activities and/or increased durations/difficulty as you spend TIME completing tasks. This is an important point because it is not necessary to master tasks to unlock these activities - simply spend 10 minutes playing (anything - even deep breathing - and you get them unlocked). You can set individual profiles for different Miis and lock those profiles (for privacy, I suppose). However, your unlocked activities are set only to your profile, which means currently only I get to play the new "floating down the river in the bubble" game. Ha! This can be frustrating for younger players who have bedtimes and low patience levels.

Efficacy: The focus on all of the activities is balance - this is not going to get you in shape (unless you do the jogging game and strength exercises - then maybe). The board can be fallible - for instance I got 4/5 stars for completing the "push-up/plank" exercise - which royally kicked my bottom - however I was doing pitifully (not even really doing the push-up). So, don't expect the game to really be able to tell you when you are doing poorly. That's where you have to motivate yourself - and you get what you put into it. I did have sore thighs this morning, likely do to the skiing game. So, that could be a sign that with prolonged use, maybe I will increase my stamina for doing squats. I am in relatively okay shape - and this game did have me sweating quite a bit. Again - you get what you put into it (duh!) - so if you do nothing but balance games, you probably won't do much.

Realism: The yoga poses and exercises are very good. There are surprisingly many. I have unlocked only a fraction of them. Some are VERY hard. I had knee surgery last August, and honestly some of the exercises are very, very similar to my PT exercises, but more engaging. So, this is a BIG plus. I ski - the skiing game is really pretty good, but I find the board wants me to be more on my toes than I really would be. However, I feel that I am moving very realistically. I can't hula hoop IRL, so no comments there other than I look ridiculous playing that game. All in all, I am impressed with the stretches (yoga) and the exercises in the strength training. I am pretty short and am having some difficulty with the push ups off the raised balance board. The board may not be wide enough for someone with wide shoulders either.

The balance board: It senses my movements very well. The weight it gives is fairly accurate for myself and 2 kids - the clothing adjustment is odd (really - 4 pounds for clothes? Seems high). However, I used this with my son, who I thought may be sensitive to being called overweight. He actually took this really well, and wanted to set a goal for himself. It underweighed my husband who is at the high end of the weight limit. Just a word of caution, your Mii's waistline might umm... expand quite a bit after you are weighed. My husband's is now quite jolly, and puts its hands on its belly. That could bother some people with thin skin. The board has difficulty with children. It calculates "fit age" based on your "balance" - which translates to 1) how well you can hold still, 2) how well distributed your weight it when you stand still, and 3) how good at shifting your balance you are. Well, neither of my kids could stand still - so they are both older than me! Clearly, that's silly. It does have trouble detecting my daughter's movements (about 33 lbs). This is a problem for games like hula hoop.

The balance board cannot be jumped on. This is hard for my kids with games like "ski jump" - which really is "ski bending your knees and then stand up straight to simulate jumping" I know - not as catchy. If you do jump, Wii slaps you on the wrist by turning the screen white, reminding you, and the activity is over.

Only one balance board per wii is a real drag. There is no fast-user switching here, and it is cumbersome to switch players during game play. Wii could have done this better.

Future promise: We Ski will be amazing with the balance board (so I think). However, we wish Surf's Up! would be redesigned for the board. In any event, the board is a lot of fun and will prevent you from sitting on your bottom.

Final thoughts: This is going to help me with my knee issues quite a bit. I'm a PT slacker and have really given up a lot of sports over this. So, for other ortho-patients who slack on their exercises, this might be the trick. Our game disc is giving us problems, where it won't start up most of the time and freezes on start up. I have heard this happening with Smash bros b/c it was dual-layered. While I hope this is isolated to me, it is something to be aware of. Nintendo wants me to send them my disc, which they will send back in 11-14 working days (I'm holding off until after the long weekend). If this happens to you before supply is normalized, you are pretty much stuck sending it to Nintendo.

[...]

All About Motion

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 31 / 54
Date: May 19, 2008
Author: Amazon User

When Nintendo came out with the Wii a few years ago, it gave gamers a whole new appreciation in the way we actually play video games. With games like Super Mario Galaxy, Wii Sports and Super Smash Brothers Brawl, gamers of all ages have shown a great interest in the new ways we play video games. But, Nintendo has taken that motion gameplay worldwide with a whole new level with Wii Fit. Unveiled at E3 in 2007, it really showed a new method of the way we can use our bodies to flex and stretch in new shapes and forms to balance ourselves into a better fit life, and a whole number of great activities that are really more than meets the eyes, and might.

Wii Fit for the Nintendo Wii is one of the most exciting titles to come out for the system this year. The gameplay is more about the motion and abaility to test you shape and movement of your body. You will work with a virtual trainer either male or female, who will help you guide your body to the better future you desire. There are activities that range well from simple aerobics and exercises like Yoga, push ups and Pilates, all the way to more aggessive activies like jogging in place through a run through the park. But, the minigames that you unlock along the way really bring out more of the challenge with the sensitive motion of the Wii balance board. The minigames range from line dancing step aerobics, all the way to balancing on a tightrope walk on a high wire, all the way to simple exercises like table tilt which is actually much easier to master by tilting your body to get the ball in the hole, without causing it to fall down.

As I found out, trying the Wii Balance Board out at the Nintendo World Store on May 8th in New York City, the balance board is very sensitive to all your movements, so its takes percise accuracy and timing to master through some of the activites in each of the games like the Ski Jump and the Downhill Ski course. If you move too fast, you might lose points whther blocking a soccer goal or balancing to the top. The graphics look great and appeal very well with the gameplay, as well as the music to the game which is simple and elequent to the gameplay. Sadly, there are a few disadvantages to the game. The first is that the Wii board is extremely sensitive, so much that you can't even have your shoes on when playing the games, and could damage the Wii Balance Board. A second disadvantage is that the battery life for the balance board takes so much energy, that you'd have to constantly recharge the battery in the balance board.

While Wii Fit does have a few errors, it is definitely proof that Nintendo really has made a whole new way on how we play video games. Wii Fit is very challenging for all gamers young and old and works pretty good addition to your Wii video game library. While I honestly wish the game could've cost a little bit less, the game it really worth the weight.

Graphics: B+

Sound: B

Control: C+

Fun & Enjoyment: B

Overall: B 1/2-

OMG I love this thing!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: May 26, 2008
Author: Amazon User

My husband bought me the Wii and the Wii Fit (we did not previously have a Wii). I'm 63 and have arthritis and a bad ankle and walking outdoors is difficult for me. The Wii starts you out slowly but as you get better at the games (and they are games - they're fun) you earn points that open up more advanced levels of the game you're playing, as well as other activities for you to try. In things that I could actually do when I was young, such as skiing and running, I advanced quickly. Still kind of have my balance. I wondered how you could run on the balance board but you don't use it for that activity, so you can wear shoes - a must for "running" through Wii Park for me. (We're talking brisk marching in place, for beginners.) For anything where you use the balance board you have to be barefoot. It "can't find" me if I wear socks or even my ankle brace, but I can get away with an arch bandage. Do get the silicone cover to keep your balance board clean. I also added the "leg" (foot) extenders that come with it for use on thick carpet. My carpet isn't thick but you don't want the bottom of the balance board to touch the floor when you stand on it. Did I mention I weigh 250 lbs? It couldn't weigh me accurately til I added the leg extenders. The limit is 300 lbs. The Wii Fit is so motivating for me that I see that number growing smaller by the day. As I said I love this thing!

A lot of fun but treat it with care

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: June 04, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I purchased the Wii Fit because I wanted to become more active. In this, the Wii Fit excels. The cornerstone is the Wii Fit balance board. This board looks and acts like a scale. In fact, it has several sensors, so it can sense how you are distributing your weight on the board.

This is the core of how Wii Fit works. When you start Wii Fit, you must pick a Mii to represent you. Once you have done this, you need to enter your birthday. Then, if you want to keep your weight and records private, you may enter a password.

After this, you may choose a weight loss goal for yourself---how many pounds and how many weeks or months to achieve it. Every 2 weeks you may change this goal.

After choosing a goal, you can perform the Test. The test will measure your weight and your balance (how centered you are between your left and right feet, and how centered your weight is over your feet).

After taking the Test (you may record the results once each day), you will get a Wii Fit age. The closer you are to your ideal weight, and the better you perform on the balance and agility tests, the lower the Wii Fit age will be.

After this, you may perform some Training. In Training, there are several categories---Yoga, Strength Training, Aerobics, Balance Games (Favorites keeps the 10 most frequent activities). The more time you spend doing these mini-games, the more things you will unlock.

I find the mini-games to be a lot of fun. Many of them will help improve your balance and body awareness, directly or indirectly (because that is what the board is measuring). However, unless you are careful, you can easily overdo it and hurt yourself badly. For example, doing the push-ups incorrectly can dislocate your shoulder.

In addition, do NOT rely on the Wii Fit for a precise weight measurement. When sitting on a medium depth pile carpet, the Wii Fit measured my weight as about 20 pounds lighter than I am. I've also seen my "weight" go up or down by 2 pounds when my regular scale shows a difference of less than a pound.

Beyond that, the games may require you to take poses that aren't comfortable for your body (the board is fairly small).

Just like with Big Brain Academy (Wii Degree), don't take the Wii Fit's results too seriously. The game may say you are Overweight or Obese. If anything, take that as a challenge to be a bit more active.

If you want a video game that is a lot of fun, and can get you more active, by all means get a Wii Fit. I enjoy it. However, the Wii Fit cannot replace a good physical trainer. Let your body tell you what feels right.

Slow and steady is the best way to start any physical activity.

Start BMI=45, 28 days later, BMI=40. Yeah it's obese, but less than before.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: July 15, 2008
Author: Amazon User

OK so the Wii Fit has a weight limit of 330 lbs. When I first got it, I couldn't use it because I weighed in at slightly more than 330. I have R/A, Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue syndrome. I'm a mess. I have been steadily gaining weight in spite of a fairly regimented diet and feeling like there was no way out, along came the Wii Fit. I can't handle ANY kind of impact exercise so I thought maybe this would work for me, and my goodness it does.

The exercises are not easy - well a few are - but for someone as stiff and fat as I am, they are all a challenge. I started with just 10 minutes a day and now I am up to 35 minutes. I have lost 10 lbs in 28 days (and for me, that's great! I don't lose weight easily.) I know I am building muscle and even more important, flexibility. I am careful with my joints and if they show signs of extraordinary irritation, I change the program to accommodate it.

I don't expect to lose tons of weight fast, nor do I want to (well, I'd LOVE to, but I also know I would gain it back even faster if I lost it too quickly.) Once I got my weight down to the 330 limit I started working and now I am below 320. I have less than 100 lbs to go now (I'm a big guy to begin with.)

So, even if you have arthritis like I do, or some other medical condition that otherwise might prevent you from "Gym type" exercises, the Wii Fit might be for you! (Probably should consult your physician first to be sure.) Just DO IT!

Fantastic....a great buy.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: May 21, 2008
Author: Amazon User

We received our Wii Fit last night, May 20th, and we had a Fit night. It is a lot of fun; even my 3 year old had a blast with it. When I got to work today, I had an e-mail from my wife, saying she stayed up till 3:00 playing it and beat a few of my high scores that I put up before I went to bed....so I'd have to say she is loving it as well. This is great for the whole family. From the Yoga - which I've never done in my life, to the strength training which I am feeling this morning - specifically in my legs, to the aerobics and games, it is a blast. I think it is worth it.

My only complaint is the whole BMI thing. It doesn't make since to me how it calculates BMI with height and weight. People are built differently - especially women and men. So to calculate it the same just doesn't make since. Most people talk about how skinny I am being 5'-8" - 160lbs, but those numbers mean that I am at the top of the normal spectrum, just below over weight. Yet if you saw me, being athletically built - my chest is much larger than my abs/stomach (muscle weighs for than fat) - but this is not considered in the BMI...so I'd take the BMI number scale it uses with a grain of salt. You know where you think you need to be physically and how you want to tone your body, so you can set goals with those personal goals in mind and determine if you want to consider the BMI or not.

Despite the whole BMI thing which really isn't that big of a deal - the game is fantastic and worth the buy. Nintendo hit another homerun with this addition to its already run-away success for the Wii.

Gaming from Couch Potato to Buffed Tomato - Wii Fit

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: July 01, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The other night, after indulging in some greasy lower-Manhattan takeout, I received my Wii Fit from Amazon. I put the box near the television, took some Rolaids, and resigned to test-drive Nintendo's new fitness machine in the morning.

The next morning I warmed myself up for a high-tech exercise experience by playing some of Marvel's Ultimate Alliance and some Paper Mario on the Wii's Virtual Console. After a few of hours warming up my fingers, I was ready for the Wii Fit.

The game is simple enough to setup; the installation of some batteries and an uneventful synch up of the Wii Fit Balance Board with the Wii console are about it.

My first session with the Wii started with entering the date, my age, getting weighed, and an initial body balance test. Wii Fit used those data to calculate my Wii Fit age, an embarrassing 47, about 12 years ahead of my actual age. I immediately repeated the body test and scored an ego boosting age of 31. Much relieved, I listened as the Wii helped me set fitness goals. It told me I should shoot for a body mass index of 21 instead of my 24 (i.e., lose some weight).

Based on my Wii fit experience so far, the technology's strength lies in two areas. First is its variety. There's a large variety of strength, balance, aerobic, and stretching (yoga) exercises, with additional exercises unlocked after completing basic sessions. The more you use Wii Fit, the larger the selection of exercises.

Wii Fit's second strength comes in its coordination of the balance board and the Wii's position sensing tech. The system does a good job of tracking where the user is and integrating that into game play.

I like Wii Fit's aerobic exercises the best. In the meat-world, I enjoy running, so it wasn't really a surprise that I liked Wii Fit's running exercises. It gives me the opportunity to run with a dog, something my real dog shrugs off all requests for (She usually responds to my requests to run with a "you're joking right?" look.). If you have other Mii's on your Wii, you'll occasionally see them run by you. There`s also a never-ending supply of people waving at you and cheering you on during runs. Before Wii Fit, I'd never would have guessed running in place could be anything but boring and awkward.

Again, the Wii's positioning system seems well suited to keeping track of my running-in-place gate. The running exercises start with short intervals and work up to a free run mode. Be sure to wear sneakers while Wii Fit running. Running in place can be hard on the forefeet.

On the down side of the aerobic games, Wii Step seems to be a bit on the slow side. It's like a lazy Dance Dance Revolution. It's not that Wii Step is boring, it offers some insanely catchy, but unvaried, music and the advanced version of the game is fairly challenging. The problem is that Wii Step didn't offer much of a workout. In the accompanying video, when I look at my watch, I wasn't checking the time, I was checking my heart rate. My average heart rate during Wii Step clocked in at around 110bpm, about my heart rate during moderate walking. Still, the ability of the balance board to detect my position was a real high point of Wii Step. Also, I swear I saw Greg Allman in the audience watching the virtual step class.

I also haven't been able to get the hang of the aerobic boxing class. Wii Fit consistently misses my left, or I have a terrible left. I can't tell which. On the plus side, the boxing exercises push my heart rate higher than the step classes do. The boxing sessions also have the interesting initial shock of suddenly appearing shirtless with an overly butch shirtless man.

The strength and yoga exercises are not as fun-oriented as the balance and cardio exercises, but are focused and straightforward with good instruction from very non-Nintendo appearing fitness trainers. I'd never attempted any yoga until Wii Fit and was able to follow the exercises and feel like I was accomplishing some real stretching. The pushups with side-planks also offer a decent body-weight workout.

Wii Fit's balance games have offered me the most challenges. They're fun too. You get to play as a fishing penguin on an ice-float; see your Mii's transformed into rolling balls; play a boy in the bubble floating on a river; and do some skiing. A note on the skiing: the slalom steering is exactly the opposite of what you do during actual skiing (In the game, leaning to the left makes you go left.). That took some getting used to.
According to my exercise watch, I've been burning between 300-450 calories per 45-55 minute session. That's less than what I'd burn at the gym, but more than what I'd burn playing Zelda, Super Mario Galaxy, or even Resident Evil IV.

I'm enjoying Wii Fit and I can feel some muscle soreness in my hips from the strength and yoga exercises I did yesterday. I think that's the point of Wii Fit. It offers palatable exercise in the privacy and convenience of my home. I'm more likely to play Wii Fit after a long day at work than I am to pack up my equipment and run to the gym.

The only other note I'll make is that after four days of play, at about forty-five minutes per session, I've already had to replace the Wii Balance Board's four AA's. Having rechargeable on dock is advisable.

Great first step toward fitness

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: May 21, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Wii Fit is the next logical step after people across the country developed weight loss plans around playing tennis, boxing and bowling on Wii Sports. This "game" borrows the exercise/conditioning elements of Wii Sports and builds them into a full exercise program. Although none of the 40 exercises in Wii Fit offer the enjoyment of playing tennis against a friend, the plethora of options in this package breaks the monotony of people who tried playing tennis alone everyday for 30 minutes, followed by 15 minutes of boxing, etc.

The groundbreaking technology behind Wii Fit is the balance board. It accurately measures every subtle movement and momentum nuance as you step and shift. It independently analyzes the input from your left and right foot, compiling the data to tell you if you are performing the activities correctly. You overall health score is determined not just by how much you weigh, but by how quick, balanced and precise you are able to move.

The second real jewel of Wii Fit is the daily check-in, where your weight, BMI and balance are all calculated and tracked. I believe the exercises with Wii Fit should be done in conjunction with more legit activities (jogging/walking, playing basketball, swimming, etc) for best results, but the check-in option rivals and betters anything you could gain by going to weekly visits to Weight Watchers or other exercise plan providers. Having your weight and fitness age on display each day is a great motivator.

Wii Fit isn't a perfect workout tool by any means. But it is a really innovative program that features a robust list of exercise "games" and creates an environment in which working out is less daunting. I also believe it will springboard people into more legit forms of exercise. If you really want to lose weight, starting out with Wii Fit is a great first step. Even as your fitness increases and the exercises contained become less challenging, you'll still continue to use the BMI calculator to track your progress. That alone is almost worth the price, but for most of us, reaching that stage would be months if not years away.

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