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Published by: Nintendo
Developed by: Nintendo
Genre: Sports
Players: 1
Rated: E (Everyone)
Release Date: May 19, 2008
Screenshots: Link
Amazon: Buy Now!
Written By: Daniel Sims

One of the first things WiiFit showed me when I started a new file in it was an example of the difference between someone standing up straight and someone standing with most of their weight shifted on one side � exactly what I was doing. Since then, simply how I�m standing has never been far from my mind. That�s how much WiiFit has penetrated my consciousness.

WiiFit from the outset seems to go for two things: making fitness novices more aware of their body which due to the technology behind it works astonishingly well, and keeping players compelled enough to actually maintain an exercise regimen - something it does well enough, but due to a slightly lean design structure, leaves the game less engrossing than it could�ve been.

The first and most impressive thing about WiiFit is that as an interface, the board that it�s packed with works and works well. When standing on it, the board relentlessly measures the tiniest shifts in weight that are normally unnoticeable elsewhere. As simple as the pad is, WiiFit�s minigames and exercises as well as the pad�s accuracy also show off a wide variety of uses for it.

WiiFit offers games and exercises in four categories: yoga, strength, aerobics, and games with a little more than a dozen or so items in each. The strength exercises and aerobics are pretty standard stuff like running in place, hula-hoops, push-ups, and jackknives. Yoga poses include stuff as simple as deep breathing and bending sideways as well as some pretty difficult fare like forming your body in a triangle in some kind of elite-level touch-your-toes.

Most of the exercises and games are based on maintaining and controlling one�s balance which each game measures in a different way that always works well and is nearly impossible to cheat. During strength exercises and yoga poses the game can tell pretty well how you�re doing and try to give you advice on how you should be moving or standing. Some of the strength exercises and most of the yoga poses are also legitimately challenging. The final yoga pose in particular proves to be both very challenging and refreshing.

Similar to Brain Age, which WiiFit formats itself after, I would usually do either okay or terribly at yoga poses and exercises at first but could see myself getting marginally better each day. The stuff here probably won�t get you sweating as quickly as say, ten minutes of DDR on heavy mode, but it wasn�t uncommon for me to feel my muscles burning for the rest of the day after playing WiiFit. The balance games though are where WiiFit gives you the real test in body control.

All of the minigames are very simple but take some real time in order to master. There�s stuff like shifting your weight to defend a soccer goal or play one of those ball maze puzzles. The games I found myself coming back to though were the ski salom, snowboard salom, and ski jump. All of them require some pretty extreme balance control as well as strategy in timing your movements. Although these games are motion-based and are operated through your whole body instead of your hands, they still feel more like challenging games than excercises. The ski jump in particular is something that I�ve put a lot of time into mastering.

That�s the thing though, eventually as I played more and more, I gravitated towards doing the same things every day, as the game simply didn�t offer enough structure to encourage me to explore all of it.

When I first booted up WiiFit I was asked to set a goal for myself in weight for a period like two weeks or a month. From there though all I was given was a BMI, an ideal weight for my height, and a chart, and with that I was simply sent off to try to achieve that goal with little clue as to how each item in the game or in my daily life would affect my movements toward that goal. After two weeks I�m not even sure if I set the right kind of goal for myself. From there the only real mechanic rewarding consistent play is the unlocking of new items.

Every completed game or exercise in WiiFit gets you points depending on how many minutes you spent on each one which in turn unlocks more items and higher difficulties for each item. On its own it works, but once everything�s unlocked there�s not much left outside of the daily grind.

Bottom Line

As a control interface and as a conduit for getting people started on exercise who know nothing about fitness, WiiFit and the balance board work. It offers a good variety of games and exercises to engage in, all of which function and many of which end up feeling either fun, refreshing, or both. The progression through WiiFit though is what makes the whole thing feel a little light, making it hard to stay completely engaged in it for very long.

8/10

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