WiiFit Review

I had been anxiously awaiting the release of wii Fit, the new exergame for the Nintendo wii that has recently been getting shitloads of publicity. In part, I’ve been very interested in the productive aspects of the game (because I always think that “productive” and “play” together is somehow problematic), and also in its use of rhetoric to get players to come back day after day.

My interest in the later is, in part, because I’ve recently become fascinated in the “train every day” style games such as Brain Age, My Word Coach, and Flash Focus. What seems particularly compelling about these games is the tactics of guilt and derision that they use to get players to continue playing. These games almost always have a masculine figure that proclaims that the player is not quite smart enough, not a good communicator, or has crappy vision. And, of course, by visiting the game every day you are guaranteed to become smarter, better-versed, and (apparently) have X-Ray vision. Or something. They also often use guilt to get players to return. For example if you don’t visit Brain Age for a while, the game guide (a bopping Japanese head!) remarks how long it has been since he has last you, and chastizes you. These are all compelling tactics–and again, pretty much the antithesis of what I know of as the definition of play (although very much similar to visiting my Jewish grandmother).

So, I was curious where WiiFit would fall into this continuum of guilt and derision.

Not surprisingly, the derision part was played down in the exergame–the game was very gentle when telling me that I had the body of a 52-Year-Old. Also, rather than the usual masculine figure, the game is guided by the gender-neutral balance board (the contraption used to self monitor and exercise in the game). Thus, there is a slightly softer and less harsh tone to WiiFit than the other “train every day” games. I guess it’s more politically correct to tell someone that they are stupid, than that they are fat. (As a side note, I have not yet had it long enough to fall delinquent with the game play, so I am still unsure of its guilt tactics.)

But on to the game itself!

As I imagine has been discussed in the slew of other reviews that have come out in the past week, the game is set up by having the player do an initial assessment (again, consistent with other “train every day” games), and the player is allowed to use their already constructed mii (their avatar for the Nintendo Wii system) as their on-screen representation. Once the initial test has been taken, the player has four categories of exercise that they are allowed to select from: Yoga, Strength Training, Aerobic, and Balance Games. As with other “train every day” games, the more you play, the more exercises you unlock. My feeling was that there is not quite enough good (and interesting) different kinds of aerobic games to start with (though the hula hoop is a killer!). Also, the balance games seemed more decidedly geared for kids than for grown-ups. (Though I suppose this is fine, because I don’t imagine too many kids dipping into the Yoga!)

One thing that also really surprised me was that the game (while fitness oriented) was equally balance oriented, and is very concerned with the player finding their center of balance–more so than perhaps blatant work-outs. I suspect that hardcore exercise people would hate the game. But novices that often don’t feel like going to the gym (like myself) or families trying to get kids to exercise more might find the game very useful.

As a side note, I also would like to remark that the first two days I played the game with the balance board backwards (it thought my right foot was left, etc). This was saavily pointed out to me while I frustratingly noted that, “everything always moves in the opposite direction” from where I aimed. Turned out I just had to turn around the balance board. So, who knows, maybe I don’t have a 52-year-old body after all!

Related:

WiiFit.Com