Almost a year ago I attended a Wii Fit meet and greet in downtown Toronto. It was pretty casual, mostly a bunch media types making small talk while looking over each other’s respective shoulders at a Nintendo rep arranging a small, white step in front of a large, flat television.
As is he norm with anyone, or anything associated with Nintendo, curiosity ruled the roost. And when the rep was finished posturing with what we would later learn was actually known as a balance board, the small talk ceased and the balance-driven good times began.
(Insert one year of anticipation).
A year later, and after spending more than 10 minutes alone with the balance board, I realize that Wii Fit is somewhat of a misnomer. Unlike the famed BowFlex, you will not get rock hard abs from the activities presented under the hood of the balance board. Instead, the Wii Fit will give you — and anyone who happens to ask “What is that?” – rock hard absolute good times.
Add in the fact that unlike the Bowflex, the balance board is not an eyesore in your living room and using it on a regular basis will not put your fingertips at risk. The balance board sits, very innocuously, in front of your TV, or under your coffee table, or under your couch until you drag it out. From there, it is time to experience the initial embarrassment of allowing an animated Wii balance board to determine your Body Mass Index (BMI) before letting you know if you are fit, not so fit, or in need of a reinforced-steel balance board.
Then, after you accept that the balance board has no reason to lie, the Wii Fit-ness program presents to you 48 activities (most need to be unlocked through a participation piggy bank) divided among four general areas: yoga, aerobics, strength training, and balance games.
After you quietly say, No, no, no and yes!” to the general areas, the essence of the Wii Fit is ready to roll: Balance games.
Soccer is great, skiing is good, the unlockable tightrope walking is hard, but ski jumping may require a prescription to kick the addiction. After trying to better a combined score of 333 feet (my personal best), you realize that you are actually engaging in a form of aerobic activity. Sheer bravado – and that pesky Nintendo brand of curiosity — will then lead you give the yoga, strength training and aerobics a whirl.
Despite all three being banned words in my life, the presentation of each in Wii Fit make each tolerable. The ingenuity of turning these aerobic challenges all into minigames keeps you working on them to earn better scores and ratings – all the while burning calories.
The obvious downfall of the yoga, strength training and aerobics is that it is not an option to string a bunch of the mini-games or poses into an extended workout, which makes breaking a sweat almost impossible. But when you having fun, it can be excused; and like I said, the ‘Fit’ portion of the title is a bit of a misnomer.
More to read: Check out the review on MTV.com where a bona fide fitness trainer tests the merit of the system as a viable weight loss program.
So after a week with the balance board and its cheeky animated motivator (who will berate you for missing a day), my jeans still fit the same and I am not ready to scale Mt. Everest. But the $90 I made on eBay from my retro Bowflex easily covers the price of buying something I will actually use.
(reviewed by Ryan Johnston. thanks to APEX Public Relations Inc. for the loaner)