Now there's something for your body to do while you're Brain Training.
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| Source // Nintendo |
For the longest time now, I've owned a Nintendo Wii balance board and have done nothing with it. I don't get drawn to the Wii for my entertainment. Never have been. But then this 1001 list tends to point out what you've missed out on quite a bit, and in an attempt to broaden my knowledge of video gaming for reasons I don't quite know for sure, I've gotten hold of a balance board, enough AA batteries to power it, and a copy of Wii Fit.
What am I doing?
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| Source // Nintendo |
Fun Times
We all know, probably, about Brain Training for the Nintendo DS. My Aunt had a DS with Brain Training. I didn't even have that until starting this quest. Nintendo was appealing to so many generations with games like Brain Training to keep our ageing minds nice and sharp with the DS that it was practically a no brainer that they'd do the same for our ageing bodies on the Nintendo Wii.
Enter Wii Fit, the gamification of basic exercise. Your handheld device will keep your noggin ticking over, this mighty slab of plastic and weight sensors will keep your body chugging along in a range of activities, from yoga to Riverdance via skiing. We'll get to that.
The first thing that needs to be done is to calibrate everything and to find out how fat I really am. Once all the science is said and done, Wii Fit reports that I have a body that is 29 years old. My body, for those keeping track, was 32 years old at the time of testing. Either I'm fit, or within the error margins for this balance board. Either way, I'll take that, thank you very much.
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| Source // Nintendo |
After that, well, that's up to you. You can pick a hideously pale robotic trainer to show you the ropes, or follow along with a bunch of Mii's performing all kinds of physical activity, from the simple to the taxing.
I tested out a little bit of this of that, beginning with some Yoga poses to test my balance. According to the stats, my left leg is better than my right. Could that be because I have a history of dislocating my right knee? I'm more inclined to chalk it up to simply being better on the left leg that day, at that particular time the balance board sensors were being read, but whatever. It's a guide to nudge you in the right direction.
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| Source // Nintendo |
If you want something a little more energetic than Yoga, there are lots of activities that make use of your balance, like hula hooping here or the football session that I tried. It's actually a heading session, what with there being nothing to kick, but it gives you an idea of how the balance board works.
Incoming footballs will fly to your left and right, and you need to shift your weight to control your on-screen Mii into the right place at the right time to connect with the ball. The more you hit - and the more boots and other non-football items you avoid - the better your score.
My first run was terrible. It was only on my second attempt that I found out that pushing into the board, kind of like it was a dance mat instead of a balance board, lead to better results. I'm not so much playing football anymore, but playing the system, the system being how the balance board works.
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| Source // Nintendo |
Frustrations
To test this theory out, I went into a downhill slalom event. I didn't do much slaloming. Surprised I stayed upright, to be honest. I was let down by my actions, yes, but also by what every Nintendo Wii title that relied to some degree on motion sensing was let down by: the sensors.
Sometimes they just don't pick up what you think they should. Sometimes they pick up too much entirely. Sometimes you just don't know what the game wants you to do to register a success - but at least you're getting a work out while trying, right?
Final Word
The idea of Wii Fit is to return day after day and chip away at a goal you've set yourself. It knows your BMI, more or less, and is packed with graphs to help you lose the pounds, and even allows you to set a target weight and time limit to get rid of the excess, and even told me to not be ridiculous, pick a more reasonable, achievable target.
It's got the smarts and a simple presentation that doesn't get in the way of helping you get a little fitter but perhaps doesn't have the draw for repeated sessions unless you yourself have the motivation to play day in, day out.
It's admirable that Nintendo is trying to address the issue of obesity and the like, no arguments there, but Wii Fit is perhaps a little too bland and basic. It's too much like exercise and not enough like a game. To play it regularly is to know that you're trying to get fit and/or lose weight and are taking steps towards that goal when you might argue that hiding all those benefits behind more of a game might be a better choice, if you know what I mean.
Wii Fit isn't as perfect as a personal trainer and actual gym equipment, but if you don't have access to any of that or are shut indoors in front of the TV a lot (hello, 2020...), then maybe just a simple nudge is what you need. It's not going to compel anyone to get ripped, but it is a tool that might get you started, and you might learn a little bit about yourself in the process.
Fun Facts
It's bad enough that people getting fit and healthy keep banging on about it, but Shigeru Miyamoto had to go further and point Nintendo towards the creation of a balance board and accompanying game, didn't he?
Wii Fit, developed by Nintendo EAD Group No. 5, first released in 2007.
Version played: Nintendo Wii, 2008.