Now when my mother of 50 told me that they want to buy the Wii Fit game I suddenly thought two things: “Great, that saves me $160 if you buy it” and “You’ve been watching me and my sisters playing games for years on a range of consoles, why would you suddenly want to join in now?”  It suddenly dawned on me, the average gamer, that Nintendo had successfully attracted a whole new type (and age range) of gamers.  

          Wii Fit is a new innovative fitness activity that allows the user to exercise through a series of balance, aerobic, yoga and muscle building mini-games which improve your fitness level and balance.  These exercises can be undertaken either using the balance board, holding a remote or just imitating instructions shown on the TV screen.

          The balance board is a great piece of equipment, although there are some sensitivity issues.  For example, it can mistake the player for jumping on the board when they haven’t but hey, it’s only a machine and it’s prone to make mistakes because humans built it.  Other than that small criticism (and the fact that it weighs as much as a small child!), the Balance board is a sturdy and quite reliable piece of machinery that all ages have found extremely easy to use.  

          Being a fitness game, Wii Fit is not directly targeted at any particular sex or age range. Everyone can take part and enjoy keeping fit.

          The £80 invested in this game is definitely a great alternative for those who don’t like the gym, can’t afford the gym or don’t have much time for the gym (basically, it’s a gym alternative).  Providing a range of activities from jogging, yoga, step aerobics, a range of balance games and many many more you’ll never get bored if you’re a dedicated fitness fiend.  

          Do not let any of the aerobic exercises fool you especially jogging.  Within the two minutes of jogging I was extremely tired.  However, this mini-game is one of my favorites as it does push you and builds up a sweat.  During the jogging mini-game a Mii will lead you around a designated course for a specific number of minutes, depending on your game level.  If you run fast enough, you can overtake the Mii and you’ll be assigned another lead to follow.  Though, if you run too fast you’ll fall straight on your backside!

          A demoralizing aspect of Wii Fit is you can cheat on some of the games which defeats the whole point of keeping fit, but then again why would you want to cheat if it’s keeping you fit.

          Wii Fit uses your Mii to represent you whilst you play.  After doing a series of tests, the game calculates your BMI and weight and your Mii balloons out to represent your size in the real world.  Don’t get disheartened at the appearance of your Mii, it’s just to visually show your good progression whenever you do a fitness test.  Only one Wii Fit Age can be recorded daily (so make sure you do it to the best of your ability), but the mini-games can be played as many times as you like.  The Wii Fit Age is calculated by giving you a few activities to take part in.  Your progress and Wii Fit Age is calculated from the results of these games.

          Take note that is still only a game, so although the Mii of yourself on the TV screen looks a little more plump than you think they should do, you’re probably right.  Although I’m sure a lot of time went into trying to calculate a person’s BMI correctly when using the Balance board it doesn’t take into account a person’s muscle weight.  So you may be a perfectly healthy person but because the BMI doesn’t take into account all the factors when calculating, you may appear a bit more plump than usual.  Don’t take the Wii Fit Age seriously though, be happy about the way your body looks before you try this game and you’ll have loads of fun.

          Although the novelty of playing the game everyday lasted for over two weeks, I found that I still couldn’t bring my lazy self to play everyday after that.  I have to admit that now only once a week I switch on my Wii with the intention of getting fit :(.  My favorite games (so far):  Ski Jump, Super Hula Hoop, Step Aerobics and Jogging

          Nevertheless, this game is another great success for Nintendo and deserves all the praise that is thrown its way.  And what does mother of 50 think about this game…she plays it more often than I do!