Wootini's Weekly Wii Fit Update
Sorry, but I don't have my usual photo-filled recap of Nintendo's latest launch, because instead of holding the Wii Fit launch on Sunday like they usually do, they decided for some unfathomable reason to do it on Monday from 8am to 5pm in Central Park. So those of us with day jobs not located around the park were ass out as they say. But as soon as work ended, I swung by the Nintendo World Store and picked up my copy of Wii Fit. Thank goodness I'd pre-ordered it, because they were all sold out.
My plan, as you can guess from the title above, is to do a weekly update tracking my progress with the game, to see how effective it is, and whether or not it can sustain its sense of fun for a long time. So wish me luck, and make the jump to hear some of my initial impressions of the game!
The first thing I did was unpack the board and insert the batteries. We'll see how long they last, and whether or not I end up buying the rechargeable battery pack. I was surprised at how thin the board was, but it's actually quite heavy. My Wii forced me to do a system update before I could start the game, and then for whatever reason, the clock was off so I had to exit and fix that first. I'm a little creeped out by the anthromorphic Balance Board (who sometimes also sounds a little too much like GLaDOS for my liking), but after going through all the initial setup, I was able to choose the male trainer, who is almost cute... for a CGI dude that doesn't move his lips.
Unfortunately, as I had expected, my BMI put me in the "overweight" category. I hit 27.27, with a weight of 184 lbs. And that's after rounding up my height to 5' 9". However, on the plus side, my WiiFit age was 31, which is 6 years younger than my actual age. So that's good. Then it asks you to set a goal for yourself, and it suggested I might want to try to lower my BMI. I couldn't agree more, and set the somewhat realistic sounding goal of losing 15 pounds in two months. I had initially set it for one month, but it warned me that weight loss was a little too fast to be healthy. It's helpful that the anthropomorphized Balance Board knows more about fitness than I do.
Then I sampled some of the activities. First, I did the four yoga poses that are initially available. Deep breathing was cake, although I found that my balance kind of sucks. Gotta work on my posture. I didn't really have too much trouble until the "tree" pose. I couldn't keep my foot on my inner thigh. It kept slipping. So that was embarrassing. But yoga is what I'm most intrigued by here, so I'm probably going to spend a lot of time unlocking new poses here first.
Next I tried a couple strength training exercises. First was some lunges that were easy enough, but I actually struggled with the push-ups and planks. I had no idea my upper body strength had grown so feeble over the years. So sad. I moved on to some aerobic activities. First, I tried the hula hoops, which was almost fun and easy enough to keep going, although I did struggle tilting to the side to catch the ones the other Miis were throwing at you. (The game uses other Miis in your plaza, so Satan was one of my helpers — thanks, Peteypuke!) After this, I stuffed the Wiimote in my pocket and tried some jogging. Kept it short this time around, but this could become another favorite. The scenery is just a generic tropical island, but it's great fun to see the Miis from your plaza cheering you on or running alongside you.
Finally, I tried a couple of the balance games. First up was the skiing, which was harder than I had expected it to be. It's easy to lean too far and overdo it. But once I get the hang of it, I could get to enjoy this. After that, I gave the soccer game a go. This really requires good balance, and I was pretty awful at shifting my weight from left to right, hitting the soccer balls and avoiding the cleats and... panda bear heads? Huh?
So there you have my first experience with Wii Fit. I'm not in the best of shape, and I know it. But since I don't have time in my day to spend an hour or two at the gym (or the money to afford a decent one), I thought I'd give Nintendo's latest creation a go and see what it can do for me. I'll tell you what, sitting here writing this up, I can feel it in my shoulders, back and thighs. No pain, no gain, right? I'll keep you updated every Monday, both to do a kind of ongoing review of the game, and also because knowing I have to share my workouts with you all, I'm less likely to cheap out! Wish me luck!
Wootini
Posted to Hot Stuff, Video Games on 19 May 2008
· Comments (8)
Other stuff like this: impressions, nintendo, update, wii, wii fit, wootini
woot! I can't wait to try it out. My Amazon order comes in on Friday. Keep us updated on your progress.
That's cool!
(Damn he's cute)
I'm picking up my Wii Fit on Wednesday, unfortunately I'm pretty sure I'll be more than overweight; If it calls me morbidly obese, I'm tossing it on craigslist.
On a more shallow note, Wootini's a sweet looking piece of meat candy.
i cant wait to fight all the soccer moms in line at target on Wednesday...the things i do for my mother.
and damn woot youre looking pretty fine.
Be sure to add more cute pictures in your weekly progress upgrade!
You don't look like you need to lose anything, handsome! ;)
I've been using Wiifit about a week now.
I started lifting weights and doing cardio at the gym about two months ago to tone my upper body. I'm no Chuck Norris but I do have a reasonable idea about exercise.
It has to be said that the cardio activities in Wiifit are simply atrocious. You simply don't get the opportunity to raise your heart rate enough to be of much benefit. The jogging minigame actually tells you to slow down when you accelerate beyond a glacial pace.
Having not experienced Yoga before I found that section simply incredible. It’s amazing how much your breathing affects your posture during what you think is a simple isometric stretch. The instant feedback during and after you perform a pose really helps you pinpoint areas of imbalance and as a result I find I am more conscious of my posture throughout the day and how fluid my balance is.
I have no idea how the Balance board was able to sense it but twice it warned me not to hold my breath (else my blood pressure would rise) and that is exactly what I was doing at the time.
The snowboarding and skiing games, though intuitive, feel incredibly sensitive and difficult at first. The process of learning to use the balance board peripheral is the cognitive equivalent of learning to use the N64 analog stick to platform in Super Mario 64’s 3 dimensions for the first time. I imagine, like real snowboarding, it will become easier with time. And when it does I’d love to see a new snowboarding game, somewhat like the natural landscape “backcountry” courses in SSX3, that toned down the multitude of ridiculous “uber” tricks and heavily pinball-machine-influenced courses for a simple pared-back snowboarding aesthetic. I want it to capture the simple joys of exploration and of perfecting the optimal line through a run more than the stark unrealism of grinding a rail through a car door in order to line up a triple superman through a x10 trick multiplier.
Maybe the wii remote d-pad could control forwardflips, backflips and 180’s but when the b button is held down the a button and d-pad could be used for up to six different grabs. Alternatively delete the character off screen entirely and make a first-person snowboarder for a really surreal experience.
"(The game uses other Miis in your plaza, so Satan was one of my helpers — thanks, Peteypuke!) "
I laughed there, thats pretty funny. As for WiiFit itself, I do want to give it a try, it sounds good.