Video:Wii Fit and Balance Board Review

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Transcript:Wii Fit and Balance Board Review

Hi, I’m Shane Murphy, your video game Guru for About.com.

Today we’ll go over the major features of Nintendo’s hugely successful Wii Balance Board and the games that support it.

What Is the Wii Balance Board?

Nintendo’s Balance Board is essentially a highly sophisticated, multi-sensor scale combined with a traditional exercising stepboard. Don’t let its graceful appearance fool you though; it’s surprisingly sturdy and can hold up to 330 lbs.

Wii Fit Exercises

Nintendo’s flagship title is of course Wii Fit, and the later addition Wii Fit Plus. Both games offer a pretty wide variety of exercises meant to improve balance and muscle tone. These exercise-games are broken down into four categories: Strength Training, Aerobics, Yoga, and Balance Games.

Getting a Wii Workout

After selecting your Wii, inputting your height, age, and being weighed, the game offers you your Wii Fit age. Don’t be surprised when it comes up with a number far above your actual age.

This should be your first indication that there are real limits to the health insights and training that Wii Fit can offer you. For instance, you shouldn’t take the game’s Body-Mass-Index reading too seriously, since it can’t really distinguish fat from muscle. In general, Wii Fit and its sequel should not be thought of as a replacement for exercise, but as a compliment to and performance tracker for a thorough fitness plan.

Wii Balance Exercises

While Wii Fit may not offer options for an intensive cardiovascular or aerobic workout, those exercises meant to, say, hone your balance are pretty effective. Whether you’re performing complicated yoga positions or one of the simple but engaging balance games, you’ll find the board to be remarkably sensitive. Some of these balance games can be fun in their own right too.

It’s always possible to cheat most exercises, but if you try treat each workout game seriously and candidly attempt each motion, Wii Fit can be a healthy addition to your fitness regime.

Wii Fit Plus Updrage

For only 20 dollars, Wii Fit Plus adds a few impressive upgrades to the original, including the ability to now design your own custom workout routine based on your selection of your favorite exercises. New challenges include a side lunge and leg reach, more balance games, and new yoga positions.

It will even estimate the number of calories you’re burning and then show the equivalent in food that you just worked off. This can be a mixed blessing though…be prepared to see that your entire workout only burned off that cup of milk you had with breakfast.

Other Wii Games Using the Balance Board

You can use your balance board for other Fitness games for the Wii, including games sponsored by Jillian Michaels and Gold’s Gym.

For those of you who aren’t interested in getting exercise in front of your TV, there are a dozen or so games that incorporate novel uses of the balance board into their normal gameplay. Games like Skate it, Shaun White Snowboarding, and We Skii make obvious use of the balance board to simulate their respective sports.

Or, you can use the balance board to dodge punches in Punch Out for the Wii.

The balance board can be used to help you play drums in Wii Music

In Rayman’s Raving Rabid’s TV Party, the balance board is used to control your character in a number of different mini-games

If you’re not into exercise simulations, you may find that support for the balance board is a little thin right now. Even so, there’s no denying its quality design and the potential it holds for innovative new forms of game play.

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(Music Credit: "The Picture Is Not Complete" by D-Sailors)