For decades, videogames have been lambasted by mothers who blame stationary “thumb aerobics” for turning their children into pudgy, lethargic couch potatoes. Kids who “gamed” were unjustly classified as “non-athletic,” while mothers who dared not get caught spying a videogame enjoyed a double standard regardless of their own personal physical fitness.
Turnabout is fair play, thanks to Nintendo’s new Wii Fit and Balance Board peripheral. Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto has cleverly designed the electronic dynamic duo to inform those same mothers that they’re the ones who are overweight and, ironically, need to play this videogame to get back into shape. Once these moms get into Wii Fit, their kids will wonder whether mom will ever cough up control of the TV again, due to their obsession with the exercise video and glorified weight scale that masquerade as a videogame.
Wii Fit’s premise is strikingly similar to how an exercise video pushes its viewer to reach a goal, but Wii Fit adds interaction and personalization to the experience. Using a combination of the Wii Balance Board to determine weight and “players” manually entering their height, Wii Fit calculates a player’s Body Mass Index (BMI) and assigns the player into one of four categories ranging from healthy to obese. My BMI was calculated at 25.99, putting me into the slightly overweight category, which is laughable given my slender frame. There will be many complaints from kids and adults alike claiming Wii Fit labeled them “fat” when their weight could come from solid muscle.
The goal of Wii Fit is to lower BMI over a customized length of time by playing a number of workout “games” designed to improve balance and posture — and burn calories — all while having fun. It’s hard 
to have fun when Wii Fit assigns a high BMI or calculates your Wii Fit age a baker’s dozen more than your actual age, even if you performed reasonably well on the balance tests used to determine the age. It’s as if Nintendo wants you, or more specifically moms, to feel old and fat so there’s incentive to return for additional “workouts” on a regular basis.
The telltale sign Wii Fit was built with moms in mind is the abundant number of Yoga and stretching/strength exercises most men wouldn’t be caught dead performing, even in their homes. I watched my wife spend multiple hours going through the yoga workouts so she could accumulate enough minutes exercising to unlock new exercises. She complained about where to put the Wii Remote while doing yoga, since you have to use it to navigate the menus, and that’s certainly a valid concern. Meanwhile, I did each Yoga workout once and promptly shifted to wondering how much I could raise my BMI in a 24-hour period. Gamers want to have fun, after all, and being graded on staying still while performing yoga isn’t the most engaging videogame opportunity around.
Men are more likely to gravitate into the balance games that are just that, “games.” Heading a soccer ball, skiing down a slope and rolling balls into holes offer zero fitness value, but these are the lone links Wii Fit has to traditional gaming. As expected, my wife had zero interest in the balance games, while they were the only ones I wanted to return to and master.
Whether Wii Fit will actually help people get into shape over the long haul remains to be seen. Most of the challenges are geared toward being aware of your body’s strengths and weaknesses as revealed by balance and flexibility tests. Running in place by holding the Wii Remote in your hand or in your pocket will burn the most calories, but you really don’t need Wii Fit or a Balance Board to do that, right?
Men will find Wii Fit and the Balance Board has a high “wife acceptance factor,” and it may even get their wives and girlfriends interested in videogames (this one, anyway). But it’s the countless moms who will make Wii Fit and the Balance Board as difficult to find in stores for months to come as the Wii console itself has been. If sales are the determining factor to a game’s success, then Wii Fit and the Balance Board will be one of the most successful “videogames” released this year — much to the chagrin of true “gamers.”
- Score: 8
