Heralded as the death of gaming by paranoid game nerds everywhere, Wii Fit is, in a sense, the spiritual successor to Wii Sports: it’s Nintendo’s latest anyone-can-play title, an exercise game complete with a brilliant new “controller,” the Wii Balance Board, which will wow casual gamers and continue making the Wii near impossible to find. With an $89.99 price tag, it ain’t cheap, but I’m happy to say that this is a pretty amazing product, well worth the price, even if it’s not perfect. (Exercise and controller impressions after the jump.)

Getting Started
Setup is incredibly easy. Insert four AA batteries (included with the game) into the Balance Board, press the sync button on the Wii and Balance Board, and off we go.

The interface within the game is typical Nintendo: cute, charming, nonthreatening, and decidedly Japanese-flavored. First thing you do is select a Mii from the stable of Miis (avatars) you’ve already created. The game asks you your age and height, and then you step on the Board for an official weigh-in. The game will then calculate your BMI (Body Mass Index) — telling you if you’re Underweight, Normal, Overweight, or Obese, and alter your Mii accordingly. Thankfully, I scored in the Normal category, though my BMI was still a little bit high.

Next, the game tests your balance with a series of quick tests — leaning one way or another to balance on-screen objects — which is harder than you’d think. Turns out my balance is pretty atrocious, and I was given a Wii Age of 34 (I’m 27!).

Finally, the game asks you to set a goal — how much weight do you want to gain or lose, and in how much time? I set a goal of losing 4 pounds in 2 weeks, and the game was quick to tell me that losing weight too fast is unhealthy, and it recommended giving myself more time, so I adjusted the schedule, and started exercising.

Exercises and Games
After setup is complete, you can choose from the game’s four types of exercises: Strength Training, Aerobics, Yoga, and Balance Games. Thus far, I’ve tried several of the strength exercises, balance games and cardio, and yes, they actually seem to work, and moreover, make exercising fun.

One of the strength exercises is a set of killer pushups, where you you follow the instructions of a virtual trainer: place your hands on the Balance Board, push up, then take one hand off the Board, stretch behind you, then come back to Board, and push up again. Let me say, I try and get to the gym 2-3 times a week, usually just for lifting weights, and this had me out of breath and exhausted after one set. All the while, the trainer encourages you, counts for you, and makes the whole thing easier to get through. Lunges (keep one foot on the Board, one foot behind you) crunches (keep feet on the Board, lift them off to crunch, then return them to the Board so it knows you’re doing them), and more exercises are equally taxing and rewarding.

Surprisingly, I’ve mostly enjoyed the Aerobics, in particular the dance-step workouts and my arch-enemy, running. The best thing is that all the Miis you’ve created pop up in the background of these exercises, so when you’re doing the step workout (music plays while onscreen instructions tell you when to step on and off the Board), every Mii you’ve created is doing them with you. Running is seriously awesome though. This does not make use of the Balance Board; rather, you put the Wiimote in your pocket, which turns it into a pedometer, and you run in place watching your Mii run in a park with a guide in front of you who sets the pace. All the Miis you’ve created pop up here too — so, one second I had Andrew waving at me from a hill on the side of the running path, and the next second Michael Jackson (scary, 2000s alien-looking MJ) was passing me on the right, while ELO’s Jeff Lynne ran past me in the opposite direction. It all had me laughing out loud and actually enjoying running.

The Balance Games aren’t as intensive as the other workouts, but they are fun and actually do offer a little bit of exercise. Skiing, for example, has you shifting your weight on the Board to guide your Mii down a slope and around flagpoles. You wouldn’t know it, but it works your balance skills and your abs. Same with the hoola-hoop game. Fun stuff that has you coming back again and again.

After you complete each exercise, the game gives you credits in the form of how many minutes you’ve exercised. The more minutes you exercise, the more exercises and games you unlock. Critics have complained about having to unlock new exercises, but I think it’s actually a pretty good motivator to keep trying new exercises and to work out for longer periods of time.

It should also be noted that the game tracks your progress and weight in an easy to read graph, allowing you to see your improvement over time.

Overall
So, what everyone usually asks of Wii Fit is, “Does it work?” The answer depends entirely on what you want out of it, and what your current level of exercise is. If you currently don’t really exercise at all, then it will unequivocally help you to lose weight. I’m relatively active, and it had me sweating, out of breath, and sore the next day. It’s not going to replace the gym though, and if you’re in great shape and go to the gym 4 times a week or go running 5 days a week, then it might not make much of a difference for you. Then again, the game is called Wii Fit, not Wii Marathon Runner or Wii Huge Fucking Biceps, and if your goal is just to get more in shape, Wii Fit can do it. Most importantly, though, if you want exercising to be fun, it really, really works.

My biggest gripe with the game is that, once you set a goal, it does not recommend or create a workout regimen. You’re pretty much on your own, and for people who don’t know that much about fitness, that could be problematic. Where should you start? What exercises should you do, based on your goals, age, etc.? How long should you work out? It seems strange that Nintendo left such an obvious feature out.

Overall though, this is a fantastic game/product. The Balance Board is the most exciting “controller” since the Wiimote, easy, and an impressive piece of tech wizardry. Diehards can rest easy; the game will be huge, but Wii Fit is actually a fun video game, through and through. Why not get some exercise in-between marathon sessions of GTA IV? Now, you don’t even have to leave the house; all you have to do is get off the couch.

Video Games