Pong and Beyond

4th game played so far

Genre: Fitness
Platform: Wii
Year of Release: 2007
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo

Before the advent of Wii Fit there were very few games out there (minus Dance Dance Revolution) that could offer both a gaming experience and a way to lose weight.

By doing this they were able to create a new image of casual gamers who are healthy and yet still like to wander through Hyrule in search of currency.

Our Playthrough

I am always on the Wii Fit, in fact the weight loss documented in my other blog is partially due to exercising on it a few times every week. So since I knew this game back to front it was up to me to show Jeroen the true Balance Board experience.

This meant hula-hooping, yoga, muscle exercises and basically any excuse to find a way to make him look silly. Truly it was a great time to be me.

Yeah. I’ll admit, it wasn’t as dreadful as it may seem. Some of the exercises were fun, and all in all I could start to feel an effect.

Let’s be fair on this first – I’m a skinny guy. I’m the skinny geek who’s blown away in a good storm. For this reason, calorie burning isn’t a concern of mine – in fact, right now I’d be better off gaining weight instead. At the same time, I used to get regular exercise – cycling to work and back, totalling about an hour – that I’ve been lacking since I moved. For that reason, getting some more exercise is a good thing, and this was a surprisingly nice way to do so.

Our Thoughts

Wii Fit… basically your game that you subjected me to. And a game I subjected myself to 30 minutes a day, five days a week during the summer. I know. And the results show.

So how did you find it? It’s not bad. I wouldn’t go for the whole half hour each day – I try to keep up some exercise in other ways (such as a lunchtime walk), but 10-15 minutes for some exercise might be a good idea from now on.

What I love about it is that depending on how serious you are about your work-out it can either be gentle or fairly intense. It’s the customisability that makes it the best fitness game created. Wii Fit Plus really built on that by adding new options to create a work-out plan rather than having to select a new exercise after completing the old one.

Yeah. Some of the games are really just fun. That penguin one is a blast. And it’s probably the only fitness game worthy of inclusion. The steps game reminded me a bit of the dancing I once did (as part of acting classes!) This was about the level I reached.

The jogging reminds me of the warm-ups I hated during games, but more colourful and with dogs to chase. If anything, that’d be the yoga exercises for me.

Still, I think we can say that this is the game most likely to make you sweat while playing it, from the pure exercise, and that alone is notable here. And if you own a Wii, this is probably the best alternative to going to a gym that you can get.

I maintain that it’s the best £70 I ever spent in my quest for a reduced waistline. With it’s help I’ve achieved just that. So thank you Wii Fit.

Final Thoughts

When it comes down to this Wii Fit is great at what it is: a fitness game. I can not imagine many people coming home from a day of work and saying “I’ll crack out the old Wii Fit” as a means to relax.

But it never pretends to be anything else than what it is which is why it is so great and is well deserving of a place on the list.