My preorder of the Wii Fit device and game was a little late, so I ended up having to wait for the second shipment. It came to our local GameStop today. We went and picked it up while doing groceries for the week. I brought it home, set it up, and tried it out.
First of all, I must say I agree with most of the critics out there right now. I’d love for it to have a feature where you can set up routines to do instead of having to pick each activity one at a time. Also, it’d be nice if it not only showed you how to do the exercises, but would give you a questionnaire and then create a routine based on your answers. That’d make it perfect for me. But now that the bad stuff is out of the way, here’s the good:
Short version: The games are fun and the board works.
I was worried that the board would not be able to hold me even at my current weight. I was happy to see that the weight limit (which is not printed on the box) is 330 pounds. I’m under that by 45 pounds. So I think I’m good. The balance aspect of the balance board is perfect. It’s very good at telling if you’re doing the exercises right. This is, of course, as long as you’re actually doing the exercises and not trying to cheat your way out of it.
As for the games themselves, no, they wouldn’t win Game of the Year awards, but they are enjoyable. Some of my favorite games are the tightrope walking and the skiing. However, I haven’t opened every game, so that may change. The exercises are done with a virtual trainer, and they can be boring (as I’m easily bored), but they are scored just like the games are. Since my daughter, wife, and I are all very competitive, this should keep us interested even during the boring exercises as we try to beat each other’s scores. Oh, and there’s always the added beauty of being able to job through the woods in your living room. Nobody there, except family of course, to laugh at you.
I’ll write more about it next weekend during the Saturday Update, but I got it after the Update was already posted today so wanted to let you know what I thought. I won’t be fit enough to look good in men’s swimwear any time soon, but I think the Wii Fit is just the solution I needed to becoming easily bored with exercise.
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By Lady Rose on May 25, 2008 |
I may just have to get it sounds like our family would enjoy it and would at least get me up off the couch a little any way
By Israel on May 25, 2008 |
would you say that a 3yr old could play the games? I would like my daughter to participate if I purchase it.
Israels last blog post..Health Toons Unleashed: The Lemon Diet Works
By Gary R. Hess on May 25, 2008 |
My girlfriend convinced me to buy it the day it was released. I was lucky, most of the places were sold out by the time we got there.
I’ve logged around an hour and a half on it, so I’ve unlocked a few games. The running is by far the best for me. I had no idea that running in place would be a workout the way it is.
If you play the short distance twice, you get the long distance. Then if you play the long distance twice you unlock the island. On the island you basically set how long you want to run (which I haven’t even tried yet. The long distance is good for me for now).
The pushups are pretty cool. They aren’t just pushups btw, they add a little more ab exercise into it when you push up (cross your legs then reach one arm into the air, hold it, then go back down).
The yoga is pretty cool as well. The ‘half moon’ seems to work out the abs more than it seems it would. The breathing exercise helps out as well.
After just a few days of using the Wii Fit supposedly my balance/posture has improved according to the weigh in. Pretty cool, IMO.
My only beef is where we can set up routines and some of the exercises aren’t explained very well. One example of this is the rowing squat. It says to stay within the blue area… but you are only suppose to be in the blue area on the way down, the rest of the time you should be in the center.
Most of the exercises out of the box seem to be for completely out of shape individuals. But, once you play each exercise more, harder exercises get unlocked. (Instead of 6 pushup cross leg things, you can do 10, etc. Instead of short distance, long distance, your choice of distance. Hoola hooping gets longer/makes you change directions/etc.)
Overall it is a good exercise, at least for in the beginning. After a month or two I can see myself wanting to move beyond the game, but it is a great starter tool.
Gary R. Hesss last blog post..Reducing Duplicate Content
By Drew on May 25, 2008 |
I am glad to hear that the games get challenging. I was on the road when our wii fit came in and I only got t log 18 minutes on it. I beat my wife’s high scores on everything except for the ski jump. Since we are competitive with games this will be great for us. Has anyone tried We Ski? That is another game to use with the wii fit, sold separately.
By Heather on May 26, 2008 |
I love my WiiFit, too! It is very fun, and time flies. I’m having no problem racking up 20+ minutes per session, and I love seeing my progress on the automatically-updated graph. yaay!
Heathers last blog post..Three days with Wii Fit: GeekMom’s review
By Saphrym on May 27, 2008 |
@Israel - 3 years old might be pushing it. My daughter is 8. There are a few games she might be able to do. You’d have to help her a lot with the reading and such.
As for the Wii Fit, I’m still loving it. I bore easily and so far, I’m not bored. I even watched TV yesterday while doing the Step aerobics. It “dings” out the rhythm for you on the Wiimote speakers so you can do something else instead of watching the Wii screen.
By Chris on May 27, 2008 |
Keep us updated! I think I finally have my wife on the verge of pulling the trigger on one. It does sound like the biggest motivator behind it is the competitive aspect. Good luck to you!
Chriss last blog post..Twitter Addict
By Stacy on Jun 25, 2008 |
3 year olds are going to have a hard time with this. My 3, almost 4 year old son, doesn’t get the games. I just let him snow ski down the lift without worrying about going through the flags. He can do a few of the balance games but he’s a small kid and he’s not worried about his score yet.
We love the Wii Fit. I like that it tracks your time on it and tracks your progress. I think it is a great tool to get coach potatoes started exercising.
By Saphrym on Jun 28, 2008 |
Yeah. A 3 year old would have a hard time. But I also love our Wii!