Wii Fitter I shall be! (Wii Fit (Wii))

Member Name: samgriff

Product:	Wii Fit (Wii)
Date:	01/07/08 (594 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great fun and exercise

Disadvantages: Criticism

After seeing my sister's Wii and Wii Fit I decided that as a console loving girl such as myself I really should treat myself to one. So exactly one week ago today I ordered a Wii and Wii fit from Game station and on Thursday a package came to my house with my name on and a bran spanking new console for me. So now my Wii sits perfectly besides my PS3 and has taken up a couple of hours away from that machine.

First off getting the Wii Fit is a hard task at the present as no retailer seems to have it in stock. Indeed I asked about a million Game employees when it would be in stock and no-one had any idea. My advice for anyone wanting to get this game is to head to a website called www.wii-consoles.co.uk as this checks websites for stock availability and it is how I got mine.

What's in the box?
Upon first opening the box which is quite large and has a nice picture of the Wii fit on the front, you come across a bit a packaging and inside is a white board approximately half a metre long. It doesn't look at all special and you wouldn't think it could do much, but oh how you would be wrong! This white board is actually the essence of the Wii Fit and is called a balance board. Along with this you get a manual which I haven't read, some batteries which make it work and the Wii Fit disc which you pop into your Wii console. The balance board works by the sensors within it that can communicate with the sensor bar from the console.

What's it all about, Wii Fit!?
Well the first impression of the Wii Fit is: whoopee! No more gym and hard work on the treadmill, unfortunately this just isn't true. The Wii fit is good but is in no way shape or form an excuse not to have proper exercise. However what the Wii fit can do is give a fun and friendly way of doing some light exercises that can get you into the mood of doing some proper work. Once you pop the game into the Wii console it is incredibly easy to get started, all you have to do is create a save data which basically means choosing a Wii Mii to represent yourself within the game. To power up the balance board is simple, insert some batteries which are provided and the game will tell you when to come off and step onto the balance board, easy as anything! Also it is recommended to play this game bare foot as wearing socks can make you slip and would be a bit dangerous.

Body Test
The body test on the Wii Fit is one of the first things that you should do to start off the game and I try and do this every day even if I don't do any training. It is incredibly easy to use the balance board, basically just step up onto it and away you go. It doesn't feel weird at all, quite natural actual although when you are doing some of the exercises it feels strange that you aren't really moving much but it can respond to even the slightest of movements. Sorry I'm getting off topic, back to the body test! So once you have chosen your Mii you input your details such as your height and your date of birth. Then it asks you to relax your shoulders and stand on the balance board. A very high voice then says measuring and you Centre of Gravity has been taken. All this states is your posture and if you lean a bit more on one side of your body than the other. After doing this is comes up with your BMI (body mass index) and your weight. This is an effective tool in its own if anyone just wants to measure themselves now and again.

The next part of the body test is to determine your Wii Fit age which can be quite humiliating if you come out as years older than you truly are. There are quite a few tests which it can do now including standing perfectly still and walking paces. However the first time you do it is a test of your ability to shift your weight from one side of the body to the other. This is done by showing to bars of blue, one for left and the other for right. A block comes up on both bars which you need to move your weight in order to distribute the right amount of block on either side for a few seconds. I can't explain this properly as you really need to play it to understand it properly. However all this is fine and dandy but I'm sure you really want to know about the main part of the game which is the exercises! Well don't worry, here they come!
Exercises
The Wii Fit firsts asks you to choose your instructor, male or female. My advice is choosing the female as the male always shouts as me! The game comprises of four main exercises: yoga, muscle workouts, aerobic and balance. I will explain these more fully ahead. Once you have chosen which exercise you want to do the trainer first explains what they want you to do and then lets you try it; however there is an option just to skip that. What I also love about these exercises is that you can unlock different levels such as doing more reps and longer distances in different things.

Yoga
Yoga is a pretty fun way of playing with the Wii Fit and I enjoy it tremendously as I have always wanted to try Yoga. Basically there are about twenty different yoga poses which are all different and vary in how difficult they are. They can come in very basic forms such as breathing which demonstrates how long you should breathe in and out for and how it affects your posture. Then there are a few difficult ones such as King of the Dance which is quite fun to do except I keep falling over trying it! The one thing I can say about these is that they are actually relaxing and you really can feel parts of your body working while you are stretching. I love doing about twenty minutes of pure yoga as I do feel quite energised after it.

Muscle Workouts
These compliment the yoga workouts brilliantly as doing them you can truly feel your muscles stretching and working. After playing on these exercises for awhile you can start to feel a sweat coming on which is something I have never got from playing a console game before! They are quite similar to yoga in that they require you to use different parts of your body and complete reps however they are a little different as they require a little bit more energy and are therefore a bit more tiring. They come in the form of doing rowing squats which can help tighten your thighs, push ups which did get me a tired and lunges. There are again about twenty with different variance in toughness yet they are all fun to do.

Aerobic
These are fun and probably what I spend most of my time doing as they are just amusing and good for you. The hula hoop exercise is just brilliant as it is so fun to do and you look like such as idiot doing it but is actual good for you. It takes about a minute of swivelling your hips in big circle motions to complete this but I have to tell you, I felt the burn in this one! There is also the step game which is on the same path as the dancing mat but not quite so energetic. There is also a simple jogging game which has you off the balance board and simply jogging on the spot for a few minutes. However this one gets a little harder when you unlock the island jog which takes awhile and has you quite breathless. These exercises are probably the most important of the game in terms of getting fitter as they focus on getting your heart rate up and therefore giving you a bit of a workout.

Balance
These games are fun to partake in also as you really do look a bit of an idiot doing them however they are hilarious to do! My favourite is doing the football where you have to move your body in order to hit the balls coming at you on the screen. It sounds easy to do but when they start coming fast with different items that you have to miss it can become a little difficult. There is a ski-salom one where you have to turn the balance board on its side and play that way. The simplest exercise in this group is one where you simply have to sit on the balance board and stare at the screen. It's meant to be some form of posture helper and balance co-ordinator.

All of these exercises are extremely fun to do and can certainly make you laugh while doing them. I was once doing the hula hoop one at my sisters when a man walked past the window and looked at me quite quizzically, I don't think he'd heard of the Wii fit before! Some exercises are not really helping with fitness but are just fun to do. The trainer that you pick to do the yoga and muscle workouts are quite funny as they can encourage you to do better which I love. The woman says I have a perfect posture and you know what, I think I believe her!

The amount of time you spend on these exercises is monitored by the use of a Fit piggy which keeps a tab on how many minutes you spend on it each day. I love it when you spend a total time of thirty minutes and the Fit piggy does a little dance to celebrate, hilarious! I also like that you can set a goal on this game such as to lose 5 pounds and give yourself a deadline for it. When you complete the body test every day it keeps a record so that you can view a graph of your efforts. I also like that it keeps a record of how long you have spent on the different forms of exercise. The other useful aspect of this is that if you don't want anyone to know your weight or progress you can password set your account. So anyone who is a little nervous or embarrassed about their weight doesn't have to be when playing this game.

Price and availability
The Wii Fit comes with a price tag of £69.99 which is its RRP. However some stores are selling it as bundles with the Wii console and sometimes on its own but at a higher price. This is most definitely because of its stock shortages all over the world. If you are able to get one that you will be one of the lucky ones. I will mention again the website www.wii-consoles.co.uk as this is a very effective tool in finding Wii Fits

Overall Opinion
Well if you haven't guessed, I am a true fan of the Wii Fit and think it is one of the most innovative games to come out for quite a few years. To actually get a game people can use and not feel so guilty about it just amazing. The price is completely fair for the product that you receive and the amount of fun and time you can spend on this game. The only negative of this is that I can see some people feeling this is a replacement for real exercise which is a big mistake. Please don't just play on this, actually go for a walk or play some tennis! However for just some fun and a way of getting a bit of exercise it is amazing and completely worth buying. Hold on just thought of another negative of this, I promise this review will be over soon! I am quite a small person and consider myself quite slender, however the Wii Fit did actually criticise me last night for putting on one pound. I'm fine with this a just laughed at it but I can truly imagine some people with eating disorders getting completely obsessed and upset by this. So please don't let anyone play on this that is a bit sensitive about their weight.

Overall just buy this game if you have the Wii, or even buy the console because of this game which is pretty much why I did. The price, fun value and exercise you can get for this game makes it one of the best and well loved console and game in the UK and by me! The best part of this game is that it is truly a game for anyone. Kids, parents, moody teens will all love this game and want to play on it. The only people that can't play on the Wii Fit are those over 23 stone as that is the balance board's weight limit!
Please tell me if I have forgotten any information which is important or if there is any general information you would like to know. x

Summary: A great game for everyone