Wii Fit

[Tale]

I am fascinated by the potential of mass market motion-sensing input devices - I look forward to an MMOG where the only way to level up is to perform my character's combat actions :)

Wii Fit is not that, but it was inevitable I would buy one. I purchased at a row of seven checkout counters in a department store, and all seven had a customer buying a Wii Fit, with comments like "these things are walking out the door".

It's purely an exercise device that tells me to do exercises, plus a few exercise "games". It weighs me and says I am currently overweight and offers a program, immediately ranging from simple poses to insane one-handed push-ups with twists, without drawing much of a line between them. There is a carrot-and-stick element where you earn rewards for doing more exercises, so catass tendencies could be the making of you (or the death).

There's a "step" class with Guitar Hero/Dance Dance Revolution on-screen cues to follow. There are yoga poses. There are muscle exercises. There are balance and posture routines. The more you do them, the more exercises you unlock.

The balance board seems nicely manufactured to take some punishment. On-screen they keep telling you not to jump on it, then give you exercises related to jumping, so you do end up jumping on it.

The lamest thing so far is the jogging. Doesn't involve the balance board - it tells you to put the Wii Remote in your back pocket and jog on the spot. I didn't have a back pocket and putting a vibrating controller down my pants didn't seem like a mass market solution, so I waved the controller around to see what happened, and my character ran the whole course that way.

I'm cheating at Wii Fit already.

[CmdrSlack]

Isn't there some kind of skate/snow/surf boarding game?  It seems like the balance board would be a natural fit for that kind of thing.

[Tale]

So far I have access to two skiing games - ski jump and ski slalom. They are very good uses of the balance board, but quite different.

The slalom game involves leaning one way or the other to ski left or right - much like actual skiing, it's pretty sensitive. It took me a while to get used to this kind of interface for a videogame and I didn't know the course, so I was all over the place at first, but eventually did a flawless run (no flags missed). But it's against the clock, so I now have to become more efficient. I thought it was a bit harsh when I did the long "Advanced" course missing only one flag, and it rated me 1/5 stars because my time wasn't l33t enough.

The ski jump game is also similar to the reality - you squat down on your balance board to rush downhill, then push up dramatically as you hit the jump (this is where you are told never to actually jump, but what else is going to happen when you mimic a ski jump?). You've then got to maintain balance on the board, to glide far forward in mid-air like a real ski jumper. In a handful of jumps I managed one that was rated 4/5 stars, but mostly it's been 1-2 stars. I did better when I made like a real ski jumper, streamlined my arms behind me and leant forward onto my toes.

[CmdrSlack]

Wow, if I could be bothered to spend the time tracking down a Wii, that sounds like a great addition to my simple "use the freeweights I've had since junior high" core strengthening workout.

It'd certainly force me to be more accountable for sticking to a schedule if it comes with progress trackers, etc.

[Tale]

It does track your progress on a calendar and graphs. Bear in mind it's a Nintendo product though - we're talking overly-cute animated characters, not detailed professional analysis. Same in the games, it's not a skiing simulator it's a Nintendo balance game. The basics are solid though - it keeps track of your weight, your BMI, your centre of gravity and balance.

And it's not afraid to make you feel bad: if your performance sucks, it will say you have problems. If you're overweight, your Mii (avatar) bulges with fat. There have been moments where I've started laughing and lost focus, failing the exercises and being told in no uncertain terms that I'm no good.

I always do 25 push-ups before my daily bike ride, and I couldn't even do one Wii Fit push-up on the first go - it required using the edges of the balance board, which meant a much narrower span than my arms would usually form for push-ups (I'm broad-shouldered), which makes it harder to stay up. Then it said to take one arm off the board and raise myself on the other, and I collapsed laughing. I'm about to try again and see if I was doing it wrong :)

I read an entertaining write-up on Kotaku from someone who used it daily for a month: It's Shocking, We're Pissed, Wii Fit Sorta Works

Edit - I guess the world must prepare for more of this kind of stuff on YouTube.

[Tebonas]

What brings people to making those videos? What goes on in their minds exactly?

That being said, the wii fit would be something i'd like if I didn't already have an Xbox 360. Two consoles are certainly too much for one person (most of present company excluded).

[Special J]

"Standing in one place has never been more fun."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iYBmAVuBns

Gag too old?

I know there probably more to it than what's in that demo video, but how does any of that look even remotely fun?  But yeah, they'll sell a ton probably.

[cmlancas]

And here's why Kotaku sucks:

"But, to what extend does it work?"
"This writing job involves a great deal of sitting. And since I work at home, there's not much impetus for me to leave the house."
"Then I got married, decided to quit smoking two packs a day and get very, very fat."
You mean, extent? And you don't know how to link two sentences with a conjunction? Tense poses a problem for you?

Fucking monkeys with keyboards, goddammit.

It baffles me that he gets paid to write. More like he gets paid to butcher the Engrish language. Motherfucker.

[Xanthippe]

Is this out?

I preordered from Game Crazy. Game Crazy said it's not out yet.

[voodoolily]

Wow, this would be really fun to run to while on a treadmill! Oh, wait...

[schild]

Wii Fit only works because it's a minimum amount of exercise with some decent stretching before hand for an entire group of assholes that get zero exercise.

You'd have to be a retarded monkey if you think it's magic.

What brings people to making those videos? What goes on in their minds exactly?

You know why fat kids get fat if it's not a glandular issue? Mothers love them too much.

[Azazel]

Is this out?

I preordered from Game Crazy. Game Crazy said it's not out yet.

They're full of shit, I imagine, since Tale has one and they're readily available elsewhere here in Aust. You guys get stuff before we do or at the same time at worst...

[schild]

It's street dates in America for the 21st.

[Azazel]

[Tale]

Release dates listed on Wikipedia page:

JP December 1, 2007
EU April 25, 2008
AUS May 8, 2008
NA May 19, 2008

I only found out North America didn't have it yet when I posted this thread!

[Tebonas]

You know why fat kids get fat if it's not a glandular issue? Mothers love them too much.

Really? I always loved eating things because they taste good. Seems I did it wrong.

[schild]

You know why fat kids get fat if it's not a glandular issue? Mothers love them too much.

Really? I always loved eating things because they taste good. Seems I did it wrong.

Of course people love eating shit because it tastes good. And a good mother tells you to stop stuffing your fat ass.

[Tebonas]

A good mother tells you to stop wasting time in front of the computer and go play outside. And a good kid certainly would listen. 

[NiX]

A good mother tells you to stop wasting time in front of the computer and go play outside. And a good kid certainly would listen. 

I spent my highschool days in front of a computer for the most part. I still played hockey and managed to never break 130Lbs. A good mother knows when to stop feeding their kid crap.

[caladein]

Why of course Timmy, you can use anecdotes to prove everything on the Internet!

[Miasma]

This got a write up in the New York Times.

[voodoolily]

A Scot talked about it on NPR this morning. He's like the Minister of PE or sommat. Got his heart rate up to 156 playing some hoola hoop game. He's not sure if it would be un-fun if you had to do it alone (instead of with a bunch of fun-having people around you, as in a demo).

[Azazel]

Bought this tonight, for the wife's birthday. And because the motorcycle boots she chose cost a lot less than I'd budgeted for.

I'll update after it gets out of the box and played around with.