The Number One "Gotta Have" for your Wii

Is Nintendo's Wii Fit the Furby of 2008/2009?  With this ultra popular add on to an already hard to find game console, I'm sure that many folks are wondering if it is worth the hassle to go out and find one at any cost.

I bought the Wii Fit about two weeks before Christmas after confirming availability at a local (not the local, but the third furthest local) Wal Mart.  Hearing they had 9, they had 4 when I got there and 2 when I left.  The Fit was literally flying off the shelf!

So what is it about this game/accessory?  What is making it so popular?

Let's start with the host device - the Nintendo Wii.  The Wii has been out for just over two years, and acquiring the console has been difficult due to supplier shortages, hoarding, etc since about the beginning.  The Wii is popular because unlike it's rivals (ie: PS3 and XBox 360), it is interactive.  It not only senses a bunch of button inputs, but can sense motion and relative movement through the included (and required) Wiimote.

It's that interactivity, along with the gentle Japanese-esqe music and charming graphics that makes the Wii fun.

The trademark interactivity combines the only two [major] items in the box to form a very interesting, useful, and functional fitness program.  Those two items are: The Wii Fitness Board and the Game.

The Wii Fitness Board is essentially a very souped up bathroom scale.  It has multiple sensors to measure weight both in aggregate (your total weight) as well as your weight from side to side and front to back.  It can actually tell if you are putting too much weight on one foot or if you're putting too much weight on your heels or toes.  Posture is the underlying benchmark in the Wii Fit activities.  The Wii Fitness Board comes with batteries (4 x AA) and four additional little foot pads if you're going to be on a medium-density carpet.  The board itself is so ingenious that several additional games are in the works to take advantage of its totally unique interface.

But let's get to the meat of the bundle - the program, Wii Fit.  Wii Fit is a collection of several activites divided into four categories.  We'll get to that in a moment.  When you start up the program, you need to bring along a Mii that you have created on the Wii to represent you.  You will go through a pretty simple body test that will essentially calculate your "Wii Fit Age" through some weight measurements, your balance, and your actual age and gender.  Here's where Wii Fit isn't so nice.  My "Mii" character was already the largest that I could make it on the Wii Console.  When I was done with the analysis, it declared me to be obsese, 5 years over my actual age, and then the nasty - it actually fattened up my little Mii!  How rude!  :)  Several Miis can be brought into Wii Fit and their progress maintained separately.  A PIN can be used to keep your own data private.

The activities are divided into four categories: Yoga, Strength, Aerobic, and Balance Games.

Yoga and Strength allows you to mirror exercises of your selected trainer (either male or female).  Yoga exercises are designed to improve muscle tone and balance.  As you spend time on the exercises, more complex moves are revealed.  Strength training helps to strengthen muscles.  As you spend time on these exercises, you can increase the number of reps and also unlock additional exercises.

I like to call these "Silly Little Exercises": Silly, because all you do is bend and twist, Little because each task is only 1 to 2 minutes, and Exercise, because somehow you'll break a sweat!

The Aerobic and Balance activities are some of the more "fun" games. 

Aerobic activities include Hula Hooping, Step Dancing, and jogging.  Hula hooping is a lot of fun and requires you to gyrate those hips and then lean to catch hoops tossed at you.  Step Dancing is what I call "Dance Dance Revolution for Fat People".  You go through a series of step up and step down in sync with other Miis in front of an audience of hundreds of clapping and adoring Miis encouraging you.  Again, as you spend more time on this, more activities will be revealed.

Balance activities are just as fun.  You can head-butt soccer balls (watch out for shoes and helmets!), slalom, ski-jump and tight rope walk.  Unfortunately, the Balance activities are more fun than functional (in my humble opinion).

Finally, you can install the Wii Fit channel so monitor your progress on the Wii home page without having to load up the CD.

Despite the terrific interface, fun selection of activities and progress monitoring, there are some shortcomings.  First, to switch Miis, you have to back all the way out.  In other words, if you and a buddy want to both slalom, you'll be backing out all the way to the main screen, switching Miis and going back to the activity.  With the exception of two person jogging, there are no partner-based activities.  It's all solo.  There is also no internet connectivity (though I don't know what that could be used for, it would be interesting to log into a database of other Miis that are out there for moral support).  Finally, you have to come up with your own work out regiment.  I think a very minimal amount of programming could have created a 30-minute workout with little downtime between activities and tayored towards your weaknesses. 

So back to the beginning.  Is it worth it?  It won't make my 270 lb 6' frame a 32" waist by Spring Break, but it will help maintain my muscle tone and strength.  It will also encourage me to work out every day (which I have so far).  The shortcomings are real, but look at the pricetag.  It's only $90 which is about the cost of "Class A" game and a really good bathroom scale.

I encourage you to grab one if you find one.  But please do us all a favor in curbing hoarding and scalping - don't buy ridiculous bundles that include a lot of cost with absolutely NO value.  That is, unless of course you REALLY need to spend $100 for a neoprene mat, socks with bumps a belly bag and a visor just 'cause they're Wii Fit green.  Bundle prices are made to greatly increase revenue for a hot-ticket item, preying on people's gotta-have-it-now-itis.  Don't worry.  Be vigilant and you can get one for real close to retail.