The Wii fit board I purchased when in conjunction with the Wii. It offered a whole new gaming experience, instead of having a controller, it literally puts you in the game, and you can use a whole range of yourself to play along - e.g. your legs and arms - it's not at all about using your fingers with small buttons!

The balance board works with the Wii fit games (and now the new fit plus), not with the standard games you can purchase. The Wii reads what motions you do, e.g. lift up your leg in stretching - and then acts in out on screen. A favourite of mine is the 'skiing' games, where you bend your knees to go faster and slower to go round the course. It helps with balance too - you can walk a tightrope using your arms to help keep you straight. Very modern, up to date and completely innovative.

It's not all play, play, play with this board though. Whereas that is important it is about the fitness as well, and it is very talented board too and it follows your individual progress. It recommends you play it every day or at least a few times a week, but I play it about 3 times, but over busy times it's more like twice a month! But that's fine, it still tracks your progress with no problems.

The best thing about the Wii fit and board is that you set your own goals - so for example for how long you want to lose weight/gain weight or whether you want to continue at what you weigh now. It has a very user friendly screen, perfect for you to select up and down and get the date you want to reach it by. This can be done around your BMI as well, so it actually recommends you what to do if you are unsure. It then uses to some fantastic technology and displays graphs of how to achieve your set goals, and displays your daily progress. It also works with your Wii fit age - so if are 20 years older it helps you too bring your age to what you really are! These graphs can be put against other peoples such as family, so it can be a competition too!

The more time you spend on games on the balance board, e.g. Yoga, running etc, you gain credits which unlock further challenges. Such as hula hooping!

Main activities --> To first find out your Wii age, and balance capabilities there are many set activities such as:
Centre or balance - you are asked to stand perfectly still on the board in the middle, so the board can pick up your movements, and therefore how balanced you are.
BMI --> This is a fantastic addition, and the technology can tell you accurately I believe what your Body Mass Index is, and then what category that falls into like normal, over and under.

Classes taught on this program are:
Yoga, which is there to help you improve your balance.
Strength training, which aims to build up muscle and tone gently
Balance games, which refer to the 'hula hooping', walking the tightrope ect, all fun and interesting ways to keep you entertained whilst keeping you fit.
Aerobics, you don't need the board for this, but it requires the controller to be placed in your pocket for most of these sessions to record your speed and how well you can run for example in 3 minutes.

For these you have your own 'training mentor' a person you choose to teach you new stretches and positions. However, with some certain stretches you do need a lot of space in your room, so it is recommend not to be used in a small space. The size of the board is 3.5kg. The dimensions of the board are 511mm (20.1in) wide by 316mm (12.4in) long by 53.2mm (2.1 in) thick, so keep this is mind when storing it too!

The battery life of the balance board is quite good, lasting for around 10 weeks in my opinion if used a couple of hours a few times a week. It uses 4 AA batteries, and there is a sensor button so that it connects to the sensor therefore tracking your motions well.

The overall condition of my Balance board is still very very good, you can tell this is a quality product. I have had it for around a year and 4 months now, and it is still like new. But I do keep it in the box to protect it.

The cost of the balance board varies. You can buy it in a bundle so collectively £210 onwards, or separately for around £80. But second hand is worth looking into, especially if you are looking for it for some fun and to play on the games.

I think this product is fantastic, it offers a dedicated training, working and fitness guide, meaning that opportunities for exercise in your home and monitoring weight becomes more accessible. Also, just with the power of new games like ski jumping that you can really get involved in, it a brilliant idea.

Lovely gadget.