Wii Fit

Out with the jive. In with the love. David Field gets fit Wii-style.

Out with the jive. In with the love. David Field gets fit Wii-style.

Last night I got to play with the Wii Fit. And it’s a lot more fun than I assumed it would be.

For a decent understanding of the game, you should think of Wii Sports-style mini-games played by standing on a set of tilt sensitive scales. This is called a balance board -- it’s wider than you’d expect, and has large rectangular indentations where your feet should be. Apparently it works by using cogs in each corner to measure the distribution of force across the board.

While using the word may very carefully, Nintendo executives described how bad body balance may lead to bad posture, and how core balance and your centre of gravity may be enhanced by the Wii Fit.

Then a gorgeous young dancer demonstrated the workout features of Wii Fit. While she was doing yoga exercises, the Wii played back a pre-recorded “While you are exercising, imagine your ideal body!” sound byte. Her body mass index (BMI) was then calculated, and she was just kissing the line of normal, but still slightly underweight.

Shii's Fit

She finished by playing a hula-hoop game.

Shortly after the demonstration, there was a hands-on session. To deepen the irony, I had a cigarette first, and then walked inside to have a go on the Wii Fit. And I actually enjoyed it a whole lot.

One game gets you to lean from side to side, controlling a goalie. Get in the way of the soccer balls to score points, get in the way of flying boots to lose them. You’ll lose points if you’re in the way of the occasional flying Panda head, too. Yep: flying Panda head. I didn’t find out if there’s a virtual whaling mini game.

You remember those labyrinth games where you’d use two knobs on the side of a wooden box to guide a marble through a maze of holes? There’s a similar mini-game on Wii Fit where you have to toggle a platform back and forth and sink a marble into a hole. As levels advance, you get more balls to sink and more complex shapes to navigate.

Each Wii had both a Wiimote and balance board connected, and both of the controllers had their first blue LED lit. Although there were no techies on site to ask, it implies that the Wiimote and balance board are linked to a single controller input. This opens up possibilities for other games that could use the balance board. A few off the top of my head:

-> First Person Shoters where you play the game with the Wiimote and Nunchuck, and lean from side to side to lean around corners

-> Snowboarding and skateboarding

-> DDR

Although I didn’t get any video of me doubtlessly looking monumentally stupid, the guys from Cybershack did. If Lee puts the video up on Youtube, I’ll update this story so you can all have a laugh at my expense and see the thing in action.

Wii Fit will be available on the 8th of May for $149.