How Nintendo got me officially Wii Fit | Digital Home | TechRadar UK
How Nintendo got me officially Wii Fit
Staying at home has never been so healthy
Thursday at 10:42 BST | Tell us what you think [ 0 comments ]
Playing games is good for you. No, really
Zoom
After a few months of using Nintendo's Wii Fit, my BMI has now dropped into the golden 'Ideal' zone. It's all thanks to a stay-at-home fitness regime that encompasses some easy yoga, jogging, virtual boxing and Wii Sports tennis. I can even watch TV while doing a 20-minute step aerobic workout â?????? it's just like being at the gym, but without the monthly subscription.
Nintendo's Wii Fit is an oddity. Albeit a wildly successful one. I live outside the city, so I could actually 'go outside' and run around the block. Or I could play real tennis. With real people. Nintendo games legend Shigeru Miyamoto agrees. Wii Fit is still a videogame after all:
"Spending too long, staying in and playing any video game is not good," he said. "I always tell my children to get out on a sunny day and I, myself, went jogging in Central Park yesterday. But I do my stretching on Wii Fit. They work together."
Working out with Wii Fit
You could argue that Wii Fit is just a natural evolution of fitness videos. In the UK, the ??£70 cost of the Nintendo Balance Board will buy you DVD workouts from the likes of Nell McAndrew, Davina McCall and Darcy Bussell. And you'd still have money left over for a generous supply of SlimFast shakes.
But in the modern digital home, Wii Fit has its advantages. With a Wii Fit regime you can exercise at your own pace, choosing your own set of workouts and activities. There's an endless supply of virtual characters to play against and they're always up for a game. Encouragement is always available too, whether it's the virtual cheering from the onscreen Miis or the urge to beat one of your recent Wii Fit high scores.
And on days when it's raining, exercising doesn't have to be miserable. You might feel a little stupid running on the spot as you jog through Wii Fit's 20-minute Island Lap, but at least you're running. Wii Fit's biggest strength is that it's interactive. Davina and Nell don't know if you've actually been exercising with them. Wii Fit does.
Nintendo is winning the console war
Wii Fit highlights why the Nintendo Wii has been so successful against the PS3 and Xbox 360. Nintendo's console is reinventing the way we play games.
Solidly built, the Balance Board is a strange combination of bathroom scales and foot-operated d-pad. Yet it feels far more professional and responsive than the old PS2 dance mats that came before it. While the games (or in this case, the exercises in disguise) are interactive, upgradeable and far more varied.
Lots of people seem to agree. Wii Fit recently jumped back up to the top of the gaming charts, while gyms in the US have been quick to spot its faddish fitness potential (and charge idiots to use it).
What can Nintendo do to follow it up? Another disc of exercises and balance games is a given, while some sort of Wii Fit treadmill would be an obvious future upgrade...
By Dean Evans
How Nintendo got me officially Wii Fit
Staying at home has never been so healthy
Thursday at 10:42 BST | Tell us what you think [ 0 comments ]
Playing games is good for you. No, really
Zoom
After a few months of using Nintendo's Wii Fit, my BMI has now dropped into the golden 'Ideal' zone. It's all thanks to a stay-at-home fitness regime that encompasses some easy yoga, jogging, virtual boxing and Wii Sports tennis. I can even watch TV while doing a 20-minute step aerobic workout â?????? it's just like being at the gym, but without the monthly subscription.
Nintendo's Wii Fit is an oddity. Albeit a wildly successful one. I live outside the city, so I could actually 'go outside' and run around the block. Or I could play real tennis. With real people. Nintendo games legend Shigeru Miyamoto agrees. Wii Fit is still a videogame after all:
"Spending too long, staying in and playing any video game is not good," he said. "I always tell my children to get out on a sunny day and I, myself, went jogging in Central Park yesterday. But I do my stretching on Wii Fit. They work together."
Working out with Wii Fit
You could argue that Wii Fit is just a natural evolution of fitness videos. In the UK, the ??£70 cost of the Nintendo Balance Board will buy you DVD workouts from the likes of Nell McAndrew, Davina McCall and Darcy Bussell. And you'd still have money left over for a generous supply of SlimFast shakes.
But in the modern digital home, Wii Fit has its advantages. With a Wii Fit regime you can exercise at your own pace, choosing your own set of workouts and activities. There's an endless supply of virtual characters to play against and they're always up for a game. Encouragement is always available too, whether it's the virtual cheering from the onscreen Miis or the urge to beat one of your recent Wii Fit high scores.
And on days when it's raining, exercising doesn't have to be miserable. You might feel a little stupid running on the spot as you jog through Wii Fit's 20-minute Island Lap, but at least you're running. Wii Fit's biggest strength is that it's interactive. Davina and Nell don't know if you've actually been exercising with them. Wii Fit does.
Nintendo is winning the console war
Wii Fit highlights why the Nintendo Wii has been so successful against the PS3 and Xbox 360. Nintendo's console is reinventing the way we play games.
Solidly built, the Balance Board is a strange combination of bathroom scales and foot-operated d-pad. Yet it feels far more professional and responsive than the old PS2 dance mats that came before it. While the games (or in this case, the exercises in disguise) are interactive, upgradeable and far more varied.
Lots of people seem to agree. Wii Fit recently jumped back up to the top of the gaming charts, while gyms in the US have been quick to spot its faddish fitness potential (and charge idiots to use it).
What can Nintendo do to follow it up? Another disc of exercises and balance games is a given, while some sort of Wii Fit treadmill would be an obvious future upgrade...
By Dean Evans
