consolecreatures.com Presents – Nintendo Wii Fit Review

The pattern is familiar. Nintendo drops a new product and it sells out instantly; its eBay-only availability quickly adding to its mainstream caché. This time, however, moms and dads across North America aren’t bidding on a holiday present for little Billy; they’re bidding on a present for themselves. Should you start sniping, wait for a restock, or hold off altogether? Console Creatures investigates whether Nintendo’s latest non-game actually delivers on its promises of health and happiness…

PROS
The first thing you’ll notice when you lay your hands on a Wii Fit package (if you’ve been lucky enough to find one) is its considerable weight. Unsurprisingly, most of that heft is accounted for by the Wii balance board – the wireless hardware pack-in that is also responsible for the product’s $99 price tag. Fortunately, it turns out that the balance board is a terrific piece of kit.
Having been both enlarged and reinforced since the device’s Japanese debut, the board now supports up to 330lbs, in light of North Americans’ greater propensity to be ‘big boned’ compared to their Japanese counterparts. In addition to its sturdiness, you’ll discover that the board is also remarkably sophisticated, and is able to detect even minute fluctuations in the user’s weight, posture, and centre of balance. The quality of the balance board is such that even gamers who aren’t particularly interested in lunges or leg-lifts should consider purchasing Wii Fit if only for the peripheral’s clear potential. The board is already compatible with Namco’s WeSki, and the forthcoming Skate It from EA, and, the announcement of a “Ten-EightWii” Snowboarding title from Nintendo is a seeming no-brainer.
Of course, for most, the fitness software will be the main attraction of the Wii Fit package. One of the largest challenges of any fitness regime is maintaining the self-discipline to see it through. In this regard, Wii Fit’s interactivity is key. The software is far more compelling than traditional video-based exercise programs because of the feedback it offers. Wii Fit not only shows users how to perform 40 included activities (comprised of yoga, strength training, aerobics and balance games), but assesses performance, tracks progress, and allows up to 8 users to set specific goals within their own Mii-based profiles. Should a user begin to master a specific activity, Wii Fit will scale its challenge accordingly, offering a greater number of reps or imposing a more demanding time limit. Wii Fit also employs classic videogame progression to keep things fresh, regularly unlocking new activities as users play.
These features are made possible by the superb relationship between the software and the balance board. Thanks to the board’s sensitivity, the software is largely accurate in its assessments of user performance, and can seldom be tricked or cheated. While Wii Fit is no substitute for a dedicated personal trainer, in terms of cost, practicality, and ease of use, it is a surprisingly reasonable alternative.

CONS
If you’re hoping that Wii Fit will do you for you what mushrooms do for Mario, you’ll need to adjust your expectations. It likely goes without saying that a few days with Wii Fit is not going to leave you cut, ripped, or with anything like a Bowflex body. As such, hardcore fitness fans should stick to more demanding routines.
Speaking of which, it is a definite disappointment that multi-activity routines are altogether absent from Wii Fit. Rather than the game generating a scheduled sequence of activities, users are always required to select for themselves the activities that they perform one-at-a-time. Occasionally the game will suggest pairs of complimentary activities to perform together, but the lack of pre-arranged (or even user-customizable) multi-activity play lists can only be regarded as an oversight by Nintendo.
Serious gym junkies should also be aware that Wii Fit’s reliance on Body Mass Index (BMI) may cause unreliable fitness readings for users with particularly muscular physiques. Wii Fit has already generated some controversy for labelling a muscular 10-year-old girl “overweight”, and, in general, BMI is a metric best suited for fully-developed adults with moderate fitness goals.
Finally, because some of Wii Fit’s activities require quite expansive play environments, those with smaller living spaces may have to get used to two “bonus” exercises before and after they fire up their Wiis: the couch rotation and the coffee table twist.

HERE’S THE DEAL
When Nintendo unveiled the Wii at E3 2005, the potential for a fitness application was obvious. To its credit, the company has taken the time to do things right, developing yet another revolutionary peripheral and putting it to great use. While users should not expect to achieve extreme results, Wii Fit strikes a uniquely rewarding balance between fitness and fun. 8/10

Julian Carrington for www.consolecreatures.com