Wii Fit Game with Balance Board

The Wii Fit "game" for the Wii is far more than a game! It comes with a balance board and lets you practice yoga, strength training, aerobics and other fitness games with your very own Personal Trainer.First, how it works. There is a white plastic balance board you stand on, which is in essence a multi-part scale. It can tell exactly where you are standing on the board, and where your weight is. If you lean forward, it senses the weight shift. If you stand on one foot and wobble around, it can sense that wobble. *Precisely*.So for example, in the yoga area one of the exercises is "tree pose". This is the classic yoga pose you see with one foot against the other leg and the hands up in the air. You stand that way for about a minute. The Wii knows exactly how steady you are, and shows you a red dot dancing around the screen to show your fluctuations. Of course, if you are really good at this, it shows that dot calmly at rest.Being a scale, the system tracks your weight loss (or gain) each time you use it, and because you put in your age and height, it tracks your BMI as well. The charts show you how you progress each day, and what your daily exercises levels are, broken down by the various categories.You can choose a male or female trainer, and the trainer demonstrates the moves visually on the screen while you watch. So for push-ups, the trainer is on the screen, doing them properly, giving you advice on form and what to do. They tell you exactly what muscles you will be working out. They provide front-and-back views so you can get a better sense of what you're doing, and give audio messages as well so you know when to change position.There is really a lot of variety here. There are games like hula hoop and walk-the-tightrope to give you some fun. There are different levels of some games you can unlock. You can "go for a run" where you have the Wii controller in your pocket and run (not on the board) in place, while an interesting scenery scrolls past on the TV. The speed the scenery moves is based on your own running speed, so you can go faster or more slowly. You can even run with a friend!You are told NOT to jump on the board and in fact the game will restart a given level if you do, to help make that clear. The board is a scale, as mentioned, and they do their best to have you treat it relatively gently.You really can work up a sweat if you do harder activities, but there is a LOT in here for the out of shape to start slowly.Now all of this begin said, there are several downsides to this game that they really should have added in.First, they have lots of little short games - and no way to connect them together! You have to track down activity 1. Go through it. Then go back out to the menus and track down activity 2. It can take literally a minute to go between one thing and the other, with lots of button clicking. They should have let you string together "my fitness set" to do this more easily. They do have a "favorites" menu that lets you see the 10 things you do the most, but it's not the same.Next, they don't recommend anything at all based on your weight / BMI. You are completely on your own to know what to do. You can tell it "I want to lose 20 pounds in 6 months". Fine. It doesn't give you any help or guidance at all. No "hey you lost 20 calories" or "only 10 minutes to go!" You have to make your own plans. Normally this is what a trainer does for you - so their virtual trainer is pretty useless.Which goes into another thing a real trainer would help you with - the order of activities. Muscle groups work in combination with each other and you should warm up, then do a combination of activities, then cool down. The Wii Fit has no information at all about this type of planning. You could randomly choose things to do that all work out your legs for example and never touch your lower back. You could cause strain on your body by leaping into the higher activities without doing a warm up lower activity. This would have been SO simple for them to build into the system, but they did not.The scale unit tops out at 330 pounds. I work with many obese people and there are MANY people out there over 330 pounds who this system would have been ideal for. They can't use it. I know someone who was 270 pounds who used this and the system kept giving them errors. I know they can't have an infinite weight scale, but something a little higher end would have been very encouraging.To me these things are all "really should put into Version 2" issues. I will still give WiiFit 5 stars for being a groundbreaking entry into the video gaming world - something that can really change lives and help people become more healthy. There are all sorts of other "would be great" enhancement ideas - for example, if you hooked up a video camera, you could see how YOUR downward facing dog looked, to see if it matched the "trainer" on the screen. That could be hugely helpful for people.WiiFit is definitely a great software package - I wouldn't call it a game - and I highly recommend that everybody get their hands on one if they can. It's a system that appeals to all ages, is healthy for all ages, and is a lot of fun too.

I hate exercising. I have never enjoyed spending an hour of my day sweating. Just never was fun to me. I greatly admire those who enjoy it, but for me, I have about 100 different things I'd rather be doing, and cleaning my bathroom is one of them. So needless to say, I like things that will encourage me to actually workout without reminding me of the 100 other things I could be accomplishing.I can't comment on the long term use of Wii fit, though the prospect does look good. However, at this time, I can say that it's not something that I dread doing in the morning. There are features I like, a few I don't and a few that would be nice if they were added. I'll start with the likes.1) Time goes quickly. Once the higher levels for each exercise is unlocked, it doesn't feel like I'm spending 45 minutes exercising.2) I like the gradual unlocking of exercises. I'm an ADD personality. I get bored easily and like to discover new things and the more I get to find, the happier I am.3) It really is a work out. I can tell when I'm done that I've worked out. Muscles are tired and I'm winded.4) The instructions are easy to follow and the exercises explained in a way that's easily understood.5) I love the little clock that lets keeps up with how long you've actually been exercising. There's a good amount of down time switching exercises that adds up. The clock is most helpful to keep track of how much time you're actually exercising.6) Keeps track of progress for me.7) My kids love it! Ages 4, 6, and 9 have all played with it. They have a great time doing the different exercises and games. The run in the park is one of their favorites, especially when they do it with one of us. Since it does require some following of directions, I do have to read the screens and help the youngest two. All three of my kids are under weight (must be nice), so I didn't have the problem with them being called obese. I can see where that might be discouraging for some children, especially when your Mii get's a little chubby.Now for the dislikes.1) I don't always feel like the strength exercises give enough time to perform each move. While the trainer is saying to go slowly, I'm have to speed up to finish before the next rep starts.2) The automatic changing of the angles on the step exercise can be very confusing. When the Mii's are facing you doing steps in the opposite direction, it's difficult to keep going the right direction3) It's hard to get a good flow and rhythm with a break between each exercise, especially when early on, they usually last between 1-3 minutes.4) It's easy to convince the board you're a lot better than you are. For example, I've yet to correctly complete the pushup/side plank exercise, yet I've scored 100 each time. I'm not trying to cheat, I simply am not in good enough shape to complete the exercises properly. It doesn't know that though.5) The program doesn't seem to be able to take your struggles from one exercise and apply it to another. For example, I'll have strong abs (what a joke!) on one, but the next exercise I might struggle and be encouraged to train everyday to strengthen my ab muscles. Not a big deal, but makes for a great laugh at time. Mainly, it demonstrates how little Wii fit actually knows.6) I'd like to be able to make long term goals. I'm not very motivated by a short term goal. My husband tells me I'm not like most people in this respect. Short term goals have the opposite effect for me than they do for others. Once I reach a goal, I quit working. It's accomplished and I'm done. I need long term goals so that I keep working. Since I need to loose more than 22lb, having that as the goal is not good for me. I'd like to be able to set my ultimate goal and work towards that.Additions that would be nice.1) I very much like the weight tracking portion of the program. However, it would be nice if there was a place to add in a daily calorie, fat, or carbohydrate consumption. Maybe a goal as well as actual. That'd give you a nice way to keep up with intake as well. After all, getting and staying fit is more than just exercise.2) Some way to string exercises together. While 10 minutes of hula hoop can be tiring, it would be nice to immediately follow it up with other exercises that can make a nice 30 minute aerobic workout. There's too much cool down, and I don't feel like my heart rate stays up as it should.3) On the combo exercises, it would be nice if once you complete one, it gives you the option to go immediately to the other suggested exercises. Especially, since often times it's combining a yoga with a strength which is on a different screen.4) An interface that minimizes the amount of moving through menus, stepping on the board, off the board, etc. The interface really doesn't flow well.5) A few more exercises, especially aerobic ones.6) An `other' option for why weight might have increased. They don't list all the possible reasons, nor do I expect them to. However, there are reasons other than inappropriate eating habits for going up one day instead of staying steady or going down.I've been very pleased so far. Given that I'm not one to enjoy exercise, I haven't found it to be nearly the struggle I thought it might be. The greatest obstacle up to this point, has been `borrowing' it from my children.