Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Back on Track with Wii Fit


It's been just shy of two months since I've been logging my progress via Wii Fit, and somehow between my last entry a month ago and today, I've been playing a new game called "slacking off". Nevertheless, with the onset of E3 EXPO in California, North America's biggest gaming trade event, I thought I'd pick up the pace and try to get back on track. That's why this past weekend, I dusted off and revisited that Balance Board of mine, and made some more observations for you.

First, I'd like to reiterate that the male trainer's hair does indeed grow if you haven't played for a while. Upset with his mocking, I decide to switch to the female trainer, who's voice is much more soothing and encouraging, I discovered. Surfing through various yoga poses and strength exercises, I noticed that tons were unlocked but were still labeled "New!" because I hadn't played them yet. One of the main reasons is because I don't have an exercise mat at home, and with hardwood flooring, it isn't exactly comfortable to do push-ups or sit-ups with my feet on the Balance Board and back on the ground. Nintendo, if you're listening, a floor mat would be a great accessory for Wii-Fitters! I'll certainly be picking up a mat of some kind to hopefully encourage me to finally engage in these untapped exercises.

Before selecting an activity of choice, keen-eyed players will notice that, in the background of the main screen, the virtual Balance Board sometimes hops on the treadmill to do some running. Place the cursor over it and click, and you'll have the opportunity to take the "Ultimate Balance Test". I'll warn you: if you can't conquer the normal balance activities provided in the regular Body Tests, you might wish to save this one for another day!

A new favourite activity of mine is rhythm boxing, where you follow a trainer to block/punch in sequence. I especially like the end portion when he lets you take out the day's aggressions in a 10-second punch-fest! The final balance game, the first that requires you to actually sit cross-legged on the Balance Board, is a bit frightening: sit still and stare at a candle flickering in the dark for as long as you can while doors creak and footsteps bang in the background. Weird...

While I've been regretfully neglecting my Wii Fit, I have taken part in other, non-virtual activities, like tennis and roller blading. For the first time, I used the Activity Log feature of the game that lets you log things you do outside of the game. Select from three types of activities within the Wii Fit Credits menu: light, which includes things like bowling, cooking, stretching, or laundry (examples are obviously targeted to the stay-at-home mom); normal (walking, gardening, or golf); or hard (tennis, cycling).

I was disappointed that I couldn't actually log an activity on the exact date it was performed, but only on the day I enter the information (unless I go back into system settings and change the date each time, which I'm not about to do). So now it looks like I played tennis for an hour and rollerbladed for an hour-and-a-half on the same day when, in fact, these activites were a week apart. Hopefully date-stamping will be a feature that Nintendo adds in future. After all, the only reason I would want to log outside-of-the-game activity would be to see what I do, and when. Without being able to track by day, it almost defeats the purpose of the function. For now, serious players might just keep in mind to log on whenever they perform an activity and enter it that day to keep proper track of their progress.

Clearly Wii Fit thought I should take it easy having taken such a long hiatus from the game: I was advised after 10-15 minutes to take a break. Hopefully if I get back into the swing of things, it'll be a full hour before I'm told to grab some water and relax. Weight and BMI: still hovering around the same numbers, but I'm working on it!

Wii Fit Week Three
Wii Fit Week Two
Wii Fit Week One

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

So after running from Toys R US, Future Shop, and Best Buy I finally got my hands on a Wii Fit about 20 days ago, and I can honestly say that the balance board has now become one of my best friends. In the last 20 days I have only missed 2 days of “training “

I don’t have a matt either, and agree with you that it would be a great accessory, I have been using a blanket and it works ok.

So Far I have unlocked all of the Yoga poses, and all the balance games, I only have few strength exercises left, and 2 aerobics games.

Unfortunately my boyfriend doesn’t share the same feelings towards my new friend, he believes that determining whether someone is in shape based on their weight and height is not the way to go about it. I say he is just bitter because it said he is overweight 

Anonymous said...

So after running from Toys R US, Future Shop, and Best Buy I finally got my hands on a Wii Fit about 20 days ago, and I can honestly say that the balance board has now become one of my best friends. In the last 20 days I have only missed 2 days of “training “

I don’t have a matt either, and agree with you that it would be a great accessory, I have been using a blanket and it works ok.

So Far I have unlocked all of the Yoga poses, and all the balance games, I only have few strength exercises left, and 2 aerobics games.

Unfortunately my boyfriend doesn’t share the same feelings towards my new friend, he believes that determining whether someone is in shape based on their weight and height is not the way to go about it. I say he is just bitter because it said he is overweight 