Games One Day Into Wii Fit
posted by on May 13 at 16:10 PM
Hours after Wii Fit arrived at my house, I was ready to rechristen the device it comes with. “The Wii Balance Board?!” I yelled at a bar while drinking with friends last night. “More like the Wii Breakup Device.”
Hopes were high for Wii Fit when I got it yesterday, and my first session with this gaming/workout fusion was positive. The Wii Balance Board is Nintendo’s second-ever family fitness device, the first being the Power Pad in the ’80s. Similar ideas for both—stand on it and move to control a game. But while the Power Pad was only used to play awful “running” games, the Wii Board measures input with four weight sensors, one in each corner; an on-screen dot shows how centered your weight is. Wii Fit, then, is a balance-obsessed grab-bag of workouts (yoga, lunges, leg lifts) and games (skiing, walking a tightrope, guiding an intertube).
When my girlfriend got home later, I asked that she try it, since much of the game is based on sharing it with friends and family. You can view each other’s workout progress over the ongoing weeks for motivation. But here’s the thing—every praise-filled write-up I’ve seen so far about Wii Fit has been done by lonely losers. When you bring something like Wii Fit to your partner’s living room, it doesn’t matter if it’s a dolled-up video game or a set of dumbbells with a “Happy Valentine’s Day” tag attached. You’re walking into the fiery, brown eye of Satan’s asshole. She was already tired from a long day of standing for hours at work, and she was immediately turned off by having to stand on the board for long periods, having too low a ceiling in our house for a few of the yoga moves, and slipping when trying the step-exercises mode. She quickly threw up the white flag and sat down. Then I was dumb enough to say that I was disappointed that she gave up after only a few minutes. Yes, I’m holding my hand in the air. My foul.
I’ve seen this in other relationships as well—not so much issues with body and appearance but pressure. The couple I drank with last night agreed. She wants to be totally alone when working out with a DVD instructor. He doesn’t like lifting weights when people can see that he’s not lifting much. Not sure if it’s a Western thing, but I guess couples assume they’re supposed to shut up and stay in their corners when it comes to working out or getting fit, so I have to wonder—is Wii Fit right for the demographic that Nintendo pimps in its promo shots?
There is no way this couple didn’t get into a fight about Wii Fit at some point. I refuse to believe their smiles.
But after having it out with the GF last night, and owning up to the fact that I didn’t have a right to be “disappointed” at all, I woke up to her doing a full, 40-minute Wii Fit workout. Might’ve been because I’d asked for her to chip in for my games review; might’ve been her own urge to give the thing one more shot. Either way, her opinion had brightened. Fun, easy-to-use, could see herself sticking to it for the next few weeks. Importantly for her, the workout was low-impact enough for her issues with an aching heel.
My vote’s up in the air. In some ways, it’s a glorified workout DVD, as most of the game’s workouts require nothing more than a step board (if even that). If you’re motivated enough and looking for a solid, private, living room workout, you can probably spend $90 in better ways, especially since some of the in-game workout tips are bare-bones compared to workout DVDs. But motivation is the key here. The game automatically tracks your progress. It sets time-lapsed weight-loss goals. For many of the modes, particularly yoga, the balance board offers feedback (staying centered, putting enough weight down) that you’d otherwise blow cash on a trainer for. The balance games supplant the overall workout without feeling like work. The on-screen trainer isn’t perfect, but he/she gives decent, real-time advice (along with plenty of non-condescending encouragement). And Wii Fit rewards your effort by unlocking more modes and games as you go along (measured in minutes, nice touch).
But so far, I’m into it, I’m sore, and I’m paying attention to balance and posture for pretty much the first time in my life. This morning, the GF even hung out when she was done and gave tips about yoga when I screwed that part up. Afterward, I could talk to her about Wii Fit without flinching. Maybe this Breakup Device is broken.
Finally, a "good" excuse to NOT have a Wii.
I do agree that it might be a cultural division. The Japanese seem to be all about using social pressure on each other. Americans fucking explode when it is applied to them.
Can you play something like DDR on it?
Um, dude, the problem is exactly as you stated:
Why would you not be paying attention to her state of being and forcing this on her in the first place?
And @2 - the Japanese explode too, but they hold it in until they REALLY EXPLODE!!!!!!!
Well I can't wait to get mine. But I am hoping there's a way to hide your stats because I'm sure everyone who comes over will want to try it and I don't particularly want them seeing all my numbers.
Interesting writeup
Sam, I really hope you do a follow-up on this in a month or two. I think the big question for this product will be how long you really feel motivated to stick with it after the original novelty wears off.
it's a western thing -- talking while in a state of conflict is viewed as unhealthy and abnormal in the west, hugely uncomfortable, while talking while in a state of conflict is viewed as healthy and normal in the east, and it would be hugely uncomfortable to not do so.
@4: Good question. The big reason I was interested in her joining my Wii Fit test was to see how successfully, if at all, Wii Fit can fit into a busy-ass workweek. That's a huge percentage of who Nintendo's aiming for here. I didn't really go into that because that's honestly to be seen--will we both be able to keep up a daily regimen?
I'm a dumbass, but I try not to be a cruel taskmaster...
1) How high/low are your ceilings?
2) I can't play a marble balance game via dvd.
3) I think some people are expecting wii fit to be full of hard workout exercises. They don't realize that a lot of it involves "calmer" eastern balance type of activities. I think some of the subtleness will be annoying for some people.
4) You didn't mention that future games will be making use of the board. It's not just for wii fit.
5) Please take and share video of your GF doing the hula hoop activity. Thanks.
@3: Not officially, and I don't think it'd work very well based on the way you have to step in DDR.
@5: You're in luck--you can protect your stats/progress/WEIGHT with a password. Up to eight people can track their progress on a single Wii as well.
@7: Agreed. Expect that sort of update in a few weeks.
@10-
Sam's ceilings are about 4 feet high. His place looks like fucking Hobbiton.
Can you Friend people via Wii24 and find out if they're keeping fit?
I'm so glad this thing is finally out. I was a tester at Nintendo when this thing was in the department, and after "playing" it for 8 hours a day, 2.5 months straight I still wanted it. I think that says something about how effective it is. I lost about 2" off my waist, and my favorite thing to do was the hula hoop. Really effective. I'm not with Nintendo anymore, but I still want it.
Quick question - does it actually give you a good workout? I'm a pretty athletic person and my hubby and I are totally looking forward to Wii Fit, but aren't sure if it will be comparable to going to a gym. Thoughts?
this freaks me the fuck out. I don't know why, but it makes me want to throw my computer out a window. go take a goddamn jog!
@15- It's not really comparable to going to a gym for weight training, but if you're gonna watch 30 mins. of tv, you might as well do the steps or jog in place as opposed to sitting on the couch. It gives a low to moderate aerobic workout, but you're not gonna build great muscles. The yoga did make me more flexible, but only because I had gone so many years without stretching. If you're already into yoga/pilates, this will just supplement it. But once all those DVD workout gurus get an idea of how to program a more strenuous regime, it might be worth it to more than just beginners.
@15, yeah, don't expect it to be a complete gym workout.
for a better idea of what it can and can't do, read some of the reviews of here:
http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/wii/wiifit
it's not filled with lots of heart-pumping exercises, it's more learn towards balance exercises.
so people already into fitness may scoff at it. but there are many many people whose life will change by being a little more active.
The Wii is really all you care about. How did you get this job? Oh yeah.
As a model/actor--those two people in the promo are just hired because of their appearance to show what their desired demographic looks like. They were not even planning the game I would guess.
Did you mean supplement?
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