Wii Fit (Wii)
Nintendo - RVLRRFNERelease Date: No date
The Wii Fit is a combination of fitness and fun. By using Wii Fit a little every day, you, your friends, and your family can work toward personal goals of better health and fitness
Average Expert Rating
Summary of User Reviews
Number of Reviews: 26Positive Reviews: 88%
Negative Reviews: 12%
Positive Review
Reviewed by: DenisePanos on 16-Nov-08
Strengths: Great Exercise for older generation
Weaknesses: May be a challenge setting up for those who don't use technology much
Summary: The Wii Fit is a great product for the whole family especially for those concerned about not getting enough or any exercise. It makes exercise fun and gives you the incentive to continue to get more fit. It is great for parents who are concerned about their children playing video games and not getting the exercise they need.
Positive Review
Reviewed by: suziebee20 on 01-Oct-08
Strengths: The different work outs are fun and get you moving.
Weaknesses: After a while, you may get sick of the games. Scale sometimes seems a little wonky. May offend some.
Summary: Wii Fit hints at being able to lose weight while playing it but never actually comes out and makes that claim. It definetly gets people moving and for the people who live pretty sedentary lifestyles, half an hour a day may very well help them lose weight. If you're a gym every day fitness buff, this game probably won't help you much but it's still a lot of fun.-The Wii Fit balance board comes with feet to use if you play the game on carpet. We almost threw those away with the box because we pulled the board and game out and didn't realize there was more in there. You have to sync the board to your system like you would do with the Wii Remotes. When you start the game up, you create a profile and it checks your weight and center of balance. Then it does the math between your weight and height and gives you your BMI. This is where some people may be offended because it might call you "obese." It doesn't rub it into your face or yell, "OUCH" or anything, but people with sensitive feelings may want to be aware of this, especially if playing with a group of friends.-The game allows you to do the weigh in every day and will track and chart your weight gain and loss as well as your center of balance. Your goal is to keep your balance in the center of the board and not too far to the left or the right. After the weight check, you do two balance games that result in finding your Wii Fit age. The balance games are fun but there's only 5 or 6 of them so after a few weeks they seem repetative and not as enjoyable. One of them involves shifting your weight and holding it between certain markers, and another has you stand on one foot in the middle and trying not to shift side to side. -The balance board is a lot more sensitive than I thought it would be, which makes the different games more challenging, and more frustrating. While holding still may sound pretty easy when you think about it, making it happen while on the balance board is not so much. Especially during some of the yoga poses where it wants you to stand on one foot. After you get used to the sensitivity, it gets a little easier, but even after having the game for 2 months, I still over estimate how far I need to move or shift my weight. -My only complaint about the game is that you have to log in and out of your Mii profile before playing the games. The Wii Fit board has to calibrate to your weight and needs to know which Mii to add to the high score list. It's just a bit of a pain if me and my fiance are both playing and we want to challenge each others scores. If he beats mine and I want to try to beat his, I have to log him out, log myself in, step on the board so it can adjust, and then play the game. A small pain although I understand why it's necessary. -One other issue is that a few times our scale was quite a bit off. It told my fiance he had gained 18 pounds in 1 day! He tried the bathroom scale and the reading was what it should be. Retesting yielded the same results. When we turned the game off and restarted it, it fixed itself and the reading was what it should have been. The same thing happened to me. I did my weigh in to earn the daily stamp on my calendar, then I played for about an hour. After that I did the weigh in again and it said I lost 7 pounds!! Checking the bathroom scale yielded my previous weight. My guess is maybe playing on the board for a long time does something to make the scale act off.-5 Stars for Wii Fit because it's a lot of fun and gets the whole family moving. Even my 2 year old likes to stand on it and move around!
Positive Review
Reviewed by: bunty7 on 01-Sep-08
Strengths: A step in right direction
Weaknesses: The interface could have been much better
Summary: There was a lot of hype for Wii fit it did live up to it for most part. I was not expecting much out of it but was pleasantly surprised at how much fun it can be. Let me list a few points which clearly stands out 1) The board is well designed is very responsive to your movements 2) The games exercises are well categorized you unlock more stuff as you continue planning. 3) You can set a target for your weight change it keeps track of your progress 4) Some of the games are so fun that you really forget that it involves any kind of exercise Now to talk about some negatives 1) Each time you switch it on, you need to go through quite a few screens. There shall be a quick play option which can be customized 2) Not many games announced that will take advantage of the board Overall I would recommend this to anyone who owns a Wii. You are missing out on something if you never experienced this
Positive Review
Reviewed by: jdunbar54 on 26-Aug-08
Strengths: everything
Weaknesses: Using BMI
Summary: I am a Physical Therapist in a skilled nursing facility. We decided to get the Wii for working with patient's on balance, hand-eye coordination, strength training, etc. When the Wii fit came out we immediately bought it. The Wii fit has helped many of our patients improve much faster than standard exercise routines. What people don't understand is that before the Wii fit came out, the only option for a therapist wanting to measure and improve a patient's balance was a machine that retails for anywhere from $12,000 - 20,000 and all it does is show a dot on a target, no fun. This is an amazing breakthrough, and even though it may not be extremely precise, it is accurate enough and the price difference makes it worth it. The only draw back is that it calculates BMI which doesn't take into account that muscle weighs more than fat, so if you're a very muscular person it will still tell you that you're obese, but as long as you realize that, it really doesn't matter. Let's face it, you know whether you're fat or fit, you really don't need the board to tell you that, just hop on and have fun.
Negative Review
Reviewed by: scottegos2 on 24-Aug-08
Strengths: works finelooks good
Weaknesses: gets boring quicklyannoying voices
Summary: I used this only a few times before I gave up. Setting it up is ok (not easy, not hard); however, bending around trying to get balls in a whole is annoying. Plus the squeaky voice is really grating. Listening to it tell you about your BMI (a dubious metric) is also annoying. Basically, it's kind of fund the first time, but I never really wanted to go back for more. I wanted to like it, but couldn't. In the end, it will prove to have been just another fad. Save your money and join a gym, insetad.
Negative Review
Reviewed by: dmjseller on 02-Aug-08
Strengths: Interesting concept for a "game"
Weaknesses: Does not really take place of "real" exercise
Summary: This is a fun way to get up off the couch and get a bit active. Though there is no way this should be mistaken for proper exercise. I was pleasantly surprised at the accuracy of the weight measures. Nice feature is that the game keeps track of your progress. Overall, it is a fun game.
Positive Review
Reviewed by: robind30 on 30-Jul-08
Strengths: Using new technology, fun choice of games, keeps track of weight and time spent
Weaknesses: Requires you to weigh in every day, becomes repetitive,no calorie count
Summary: I absolutely love having Wii Fit. There are several different categories of exercise to choose from (my personal favorites are aerobics and balance). The variety allows me to play my favorites while my son can find things to play on his level. As you play, you start unlocking games from a variety of sections. When I pulled Wii Fit out at my last "party," every one was fighting to play it. It made for a hilarious night because there were people of all ages trying to hula hoop and trying to balance their weight on the balance games. This night convinced me that Wii Fit is more than a weight loss game; it's definitely a party game, too. I wish the game had a calorie counter (the games will tell you what level of calories you burnt - 1 through 4 stars, but will not tell you a number). I also wish they didn't require you to weigh in every day. I'd prefer if I weighed in once a week so I can get more accurate results. Weighing in once a day can be discouraging. Overall, I'm a fan of Wii Fit!!
Positive Review
Reviewed by: ellieirish on 29-Jul-08
Strengths: Fun, motivating, easy to use, allows me to set goals, engaging, effective for getting in shape.
Weaknesses: I'm addicted to it, I need an expansion pack of additional exercises.
Summary: I received my Wii Fit 65 days ago and I'm still using it daily. Each day I do a combination of aerobic, strength and yoga exercises and reward myself with one or more of the balance games. When people ask me how long I work out on it, I tell them honestly that it's at least 30 minutes and I try to stop after that amount but I'm usually having so much fun, I can't stop. I HATE exercise. I have never gone to a gym other than to splash in the pool, I hate working out, and I was in pretty awful shape. I've always been a mom who loves video games though, so this is the perfect way for me to get in shape. And the results? Using the goal-setting and tracking part of the program, I can tell you I have been working out successfully 57 out of 65 days (Hey! I went on vacation!). I have attained my personal goal weight and my posture, stamina, energy level, and muscle tone have all improved significantly. I feel better on the days I use my Wii Fit and that has motivated me to keep playing/working on it. The only negative is that I want to hear they have come up with additional software to expand the exercise difficulty and choices. I can vary my workouts by changing up the order and selection of yoga and strength moves, but I'd like some more added in now that I've opened up everything. If you're wondering whether or not to get the Wii Fit, get it. I also bought it for my sister who's entire family is now using it. Her son is no longer playing shoot-'em up games with his friend but they're over there exercising and laughing. It will exceed your expectations.
Positive Review
Reviewed by: Z_Ice_Man on 28-Jul-08
Strengths: It really works you out. My balance and flexability have already increased.
Weaknesses: You can only have 8 registered users. It is also only 1 player.
Summary: I am truly impressed with this unit. I did not expect much but when I started to lose weight, I was hooked. The balance portion has made me aware of how I stand. Now my heels do not hurt at the end of the day.
Positive Review
Reviewed by: chris2002tii on 24-Jul-08
Strengths: Fun games for entire family (4 and up -ok, 6 and up -best).Asian-style fitness routines for balance and strength.Future Wii games will support balance board.
Weaknesses: Wii Fit does not allow "taking turns"; you can bypass by setting up a "shared" Mii just for fun with mini-games.Not really designed for small children (under 6.)
Summary: My girls are 4 and 5 and have fun with my wife and I on the Wii Fit, particularly the Ski Jump and Soccer Head mini-games. The Mii's (user avatars) are neat, but they hang their heads after a poor performance in a game...can be unsettling for small children when Mom and Dad's Mii's fair better and do a celebratory dance. Wii Fit may say you're "old" if you don't have good balance and don't be sensitive if you're overweight...it won't lie to you like the mirror in the morning!I'm not a gamer, but I'm addicted to my Wii! I also recommend WiiPlay and Endless Ocean.
Positive Review
Reviewed by: SRHBlack on 21-Jul-08
Strengths: Fun. Engaging. Challenging.
Weaknesses: Has trouble accurately measuring weight.
Summary: I love this little bastard. I play with it. My kid plays with it. Of course it tells me I am fat and old...I might be old but not THAT old. Truth is I am 42 and muscular...but such a crummy gamer that the Wii Fit told me I am 58 and fat...I got over it and play it when I have the time. It is a groundbreaker in gaming as the days of twerps with big thumbs is making way for a demographic that likes to incorporate the Wii Fit as a small part of their overall fitness program. My advice to anyone interested in gaming is to get a wii, pick up some social skills, and develop a slightly thicker skin when it comes to the Wii Fit's gentle but persistent criticism!
Positive Review
Reviewed by: ENFoster on 07-Jul-08
Strengths: Variety of exercise, ability to score your performance and the body test is very helpful.
Weaknesses: Does not move to more challenging moves and repetitions quickly enough; moves too slowly when you are familiar with the exercises.
Summary: Even though I am enjoying Wii Fit, I would like to be able to enter the number of repititions I desire. Also, I would like to be able to string together multiple yoga moves or strength training moves to make more of an exercise "routine".
Positive Review
Reviewed by: mkernan on 07-Jul-08
Strengths: Gets you up and moving, tracking your progress with friends or family is fun, the games are shallow and short but fun for a while
Weaknesses: It's still not as good of a workout as real-world exercise, no workout routines, just individual exercises. a 'playlist' sort of feature would have been nice
Summary: Wii Fit is a very interesting "game". The balance board peripheral is simple, yet ingenious. It measures weight and balance and the Wii Fit game calculates BMI based on the weight measured and your age. It is fun to do the daily body test and see if you're progressing in the right direction. Most of the exercises are a genuine workout if done properly (which is easy with the help of the onscreen trainers). It would have been nice if you could built a routine by stringing exercises together, but instead you must navigate through the menus and pick each exercise you want to do. This is slightly annoying since some of the yoga poses and exercises only take a minute to perform. So, while Wii Fit does have its ups and downs, overall its a great product and makes working out fun, even if its not *that* great of a workout. You'll still need to do real-world exercises and control your diet, but every bit helps.
Positive Review
Reviewed by: julia_wetzel on 03-Jul-08
Strengths: Fun for the whole family
Weaknesses: Some games need to be unlocked
Summary: Our teenagers love it. It's a great way to get some exercise while playing a game. The skiing games are a blast! I would recommend getting a battery charger with it.
Positive Review
Reviewed by: Simsim73 on 24-Jun-08
Strengths: innovative, fun
Weaknesses: measuring seems to be not really accurate
Summary: First of all: it is a great innovation regarding the interaction between player and console. The measuring seems to be at random... one time your Wii Fit age is 25 and some hours later your age increases to 44. The same can be observed with the weight: an amazing decrease of your BMI is measured but your bathroom scale tells you the bitter truth. There are also many ways to fool the system. Yes, the balance board recognizes if you stand on the board and even if you stand on it with one leg only. But it does not recognize if you are doing the exercises, it just measures your balance. Summary - great idea, brings fun - but I don't understand the hype...
