Wii Fit

[prog]

classicaljunkie and I got Wii Fit as an early Xmas prezzie. It's nice! I recommend it if you have a Wii but lack a solid exercise regimen. I'm skeptical about the game's longevity, but it is teaching me some new, worthwhile stuff. If nothing else, it's like a super-interactive exercise video, with feedback.

It's a bit too interactive at times, though. It needs a mode where it leads you through a workout of several linked exercises, rather than letting you choose exercises one-by-one until you feel like stopping. Not only do I not always want to choose, but the break of a minute or two for menu navigation and (unskippable) high-score-list admiration feels artificial.

Sometimes it does suggest a good follow-on exercise after you complete something, but instead of offering you a "Hey great let's do that" button, it leaves it to you to find where in the menu-maze that second exercise is, and start it up yourself. How could they miss this?

It'd also be nice if you could navigate the menus using only the foot device, a la DDR, rather than having to pick up and put down the Wii Remote all the time, often just to press the A button. Really, would puttting an extra A button in toe's reach on the board have been that hard? (It already sports a toe-friendly power buttton.)

And, too bad about the BMI, which everyone (even my doctor) seems to agree isn't a very useful metric, at least in terms of presenting a normal/overweight/obese range that hardly applies to all humans. But we knew about this deal ahead of time, so we're not taking it too seriously. We laugh as the Wii performs its initial judgement on new players, which is invariably HELLO YOU ARE ENORMOUS followed by ploomp ballooning up the player's on-screen Mii, who is like "WTF". whatever

Comments

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

I think I'm the poster boy for the stupidity of BMI. I'm in significantly better shape now than I was a year ago but my weight hasn't changed at all. It actually dropped when I stopped exercising because I had the flu.

Doctors always boggle at the fact that I'm officially overweight after they look at the chart. I don't look overweight. To tell the truth, I do have more of a gut than I used to, but right now I'm replacing fat with muscle instead of losing weight.

Then there's the related stupidity that our culture considers watching one's diet as an exclusively female activity.

[chocorisu.livejournal.com]

Biggest disappointment for me was that there's not enough GAME in there as motivation. Why can't I explore the island in the jogging mini-game, for example?

Also disappointed there isn't an automatic workout mode where it'll pick a nice randomized selection of exercises with a good warm up, some strength exercises then stretching and cool down.

And they could be making a ton of money with downloadable content like new jogging routes, new islands, ski slopes... jeeeeez, Nintendo. I am amazed there isn't a Wii Fit 2 yet either. I'd be pumping 'em out a couple a year!

right on Chocorsu!

[(Anonymous)]

I'm all about a Wii Fit 2 already! Good call. The first is still good though and a hot seller this season still.

This is a video I just posted yesterday about my own Wii Fit obsession. Thought you might like.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DYN7hP-swo

"Why every guy should buy their girlfriend a Wii Fit...then film her playing it in nothing but her underwear...then post it to YouTube...then Wicked C. knows who's girlfriend to steal."