Nintendo's Wii Fit has the potential to become the breakthrough product in the oft-ignored exercise-game genre. The technology and execution weren't ready 20 years ago when Nintendo tried to popularize the Power Pad for the original NES, but it looks like Nintendo has figured things out with Wii Fit.
The package includes the Wii Fit software and a Wii Fit balance-board peripheral. The balance board is remarkably sturdy and can hold up to 330 lbs. The board has several internal pressure sensors that can sense your weight and determine how it's distributed across four quadrants on the board. It works best on a smooth surface such as a hardwood floor or thin carpet, but it comes with optional feet that make the board usable on thicker carpets. The board is wireless and requires four AA batteries to operate.
Wii Fit is as much a fitness application as it is a game. The software has several amusing activities that work very well as minigames, but one of the game's most important features is its ability to record and track each individual's physical fitness level, much like how the Brain Age games on the Nintendo DS record and track your cognitive fitness level.
When you first start Wii Fit, you're asked to create a profile that the game will use to track your progress. You then set your goal weight and deadline date to give yourself an objective to work toward. The game will use your height and weight information to calculate your BMI, or body mass index. Optimal BMI scores range from 18.5 to 25; 25 through 30 counts as overweight; and any score over 30 is officially classified as obese. Don't be shocked if you see a score above 25, given that most Americans are overweight these days.
Keep in mind that the BMI number is only a rough estimate of your fitness level based on your height and weight. The BMI doesn't take into account body composition, which can skew the score upward for muscular individuals. Athletes that have a higher proportion of heavy muscle mass will often have high BMI scores even if they're in great shape.
Wii Fit will keep a record of your "Wii Fit Age" in addition to tracking your weight and BMI. The Wii Fit age test is a basic balance test that requires you to shift and hold your weight on different areas of the board within a certain amount of time. Complete the test quickly to achieve a lower Wii Fit age. The game saves only one Wii Fit age assessment per day, which encourages you to come back each day to update your progress.
Once you get your daily age test out of the way, you're free to explore the activities area, where you can play a few balance games, try out some aerobics, or have a virtual personal trainer guide you through yoga and strength-training exercises. The game will tell you how you scored at the end of each activity and show you where you placed in the top-scores leaderboard. Not all activities are available when you first start the game, but you can unlock them by earning credits from spending time with all of the available activities. The amount of time you spend on each activity, usually one or two minutes, goes into your Fit Bank. New activities automatically unlock as you accumulate more minutes.
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