reviews 1 Comment

Wii Fit: A Clarification

After discussing our respective Wii Fit experiences with an old college buddy (specifically, an RCC employee, for those RCC alumni playing at home), I decided that the Wii Balance Board can’t be that flawed. So, I installed the Balance Sensor Extenders that I had assumed would be unnecessary for as short of carpet as we have.

Voila! My weight registered today as… well, as my correct weight, shall we say, and my BMI was the 29-and-change I had expected it to be. Unfortunately, it means that my Mii got way fatter, since Wii Fit extrapolates from your BMI and adjusts the corpulence of your Mii accordingly.

So, I take back my assertion that the Balance Board is not a good scale, and instead replace that assertion with the completely valid concept of RTFM.

I tried a couple of new exercises in Wii Fit today, while I was waiting for my dinner to get done: one new yoga pose (sun salutation — again, simplified in a big way), one strength (torso twist), and a few balance games (soccer ball headers, ski slalom, and ski jump). Apparently, I just skipped the balance games last night entirely, in favor of the aerobics. The balance games are by far the most fun for me at this point, as far as actual gameplay is concerned, and I did myself and my readership a disservice by deeming the game meh-worthy before playing said balance games.

I will, therefore, give Wii Fit a tentative rating of a B. I may change my mind after I play it a while longer.

health & fitness 1 Comment

Wii Fit

My first impression: OMG, I’ve spent $90 on a piece of crap that I’ll never use. Go me!

I warmed up to it after a while, though, really. It just didn’t hit me as totally awesome right off the bat like Wii Bowling did, or like Dance Dance Revolution did years and years ago.

Things that made me a little doubtful from the get-go:

  1. The Balance Board is NOT an accurate scale. It shows me as being at my ultimate goal weight, some 30 pounds less than I am now.
  2. I took the initial Body Test twice (once before dinner, and once after), and it gave me two VERY different Wii Fit Ages. The first time, it said I had the fitness level of a 34-year-old; the second, 27. I’m actually 32. How can I be so unfit and then so healthy in the same day?
  3. The first activity listed is Yoga. While I understand why — stretching is important before exercise, and yoga is all over that — doing deep breathing, half-moon pose, warrior pose (a simplified version), and tree pose is not exactly party time.

What saved it for me was the aerobics. The Hula Hoop® is actually quite a workout (especially when you open up SUPER Hula Hoop®). Step aerobics are done much like DDR — step off behind or to the side, and back on, in time with Miis on-screen and simple, easy-to-understand footprint graphics. Running is actually fun, too, which I hadn’t expected, since you’re just putting the wiimote in your pocket and jogging in place (not on the balance board), basically changing the speed of your footfalls to keep up with the Mii in front of you.

I tend to think of the Wii as a party-game console, as many gamers do. This *could* be used as a party game, I suppose, if you hang with people who like to point and laugh at their friends trying to twirl a virtual hula hoop. Some of the balance games could be mighty fun, too… especially if you’re drunk.

Will I actually use this for fitness? I’d better, since I paid almost $100 for it. Seriously, though, some of the games and activities are engaging enough, while still being quite the workout. (I was breaking a good sweat after 10 minutes of Wii Fit aerobics.) It’ll be more fun than throwing in a 45-minute workout DVD, and I can decide when I’ve had enough without feeling guilty for ducking out early on Billy Blanks.

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Flickr’d!

First Morning in Hawaii | Nikon D50

The photos we took in Hawaii are now posted in a set on Flickr. If you go through the slideshow, it’ll take you about 25 minutes, assuming you don’t pause the slideshow and don’t skip through.

Next on the agenda: scanning the two photos we bought — one before the Orientation Breakfast (OMG cheesy!) and one before Germaine’s Luau (not really cheesy at all). Also, I plan to post some short videos (“moving pictures”) to Flickr, as I think some video we took will adhere nicely to that concept. I’m also going to edit together the 100 minutes of video we took into something a little more watchable.

For those of you who have asked if we’re planning a party to show off our pictures, here’s your Save The Date notice: June 21st, the first day of summer. Start scouring the local Goodwill for your aloha attire!