Wii Fit: Putting the Exercise Program to the Test

Wii Fit

WII FIT
(Nintendo, Wii, Everyone)
Thanks to its gesture-based interface and a roster of gyration-inducing games, the Nintendo Wii has always offered the added benefit of a low-impact workout. Now there’s Wii Fit, a $90 software-and-hardware bundle, the noble purpose of which is to get gamers to shed those unwanted pounds. The crucial component in the package is the Wii Balance Board, a hefty white-plastic slab that’s roughly the size of two bathroom scales and connects wirelessly to your Wii console. With its clean, minimalist design — it only has one (side-mounted) button — the board looks almost too nice to step on. Once you do, it can detect your weight and its internal accelerometers are sensitive enough to register the slightest shifts in your balance.

While it’s tantalizing to think about future games that will take advantage of this innovative interface (surfing, American Gladiators tie-ins, magic carpet rides, and sobriety tests immediately spring to mind), Nintendo was a bit more pragmatic with what they put onto the Wii Fit disc. Less a videogame than an interactive fitness coach, it begins with an initial weigh-in. It determines your weight, center of balance (important for good posture), and body mass index. Your BMI — which will come as a horror to 90 percent of you — is relayed via a graph and an annoyingly perky synthesized voice. (You’ll also be given an opportunity to set a weight goal, tracked via on-screen calendar.) After a couple of brief balance tests, Fit will also tell you what your “Wii Fit Age” is, but it’s a pretty bogus figure. The problem with the Wii Fit Age calculation — besides the suspenseful, stressful drum roll that leads up to the massive number flashing on the screen — is that some spurious methodology results in wild fluctuations. It could be plus-20 over your actual age one day and minus-10 on the next depending on which tests you perform. Our advice: don’t sweat over your Wii Fit Age.

NEXT: Working up a sweat