Where Can I Buy a Wii

Rating

If you’re like me, you got the Wii Fit, used it a few times, and put it in the closet once the novelty wore off.

The best thing to happen to the Wii Fit was a little something called EA Sports Active. It was released by Electronic Arts a few months ago, and they raised the bar for what a fitness title should look like. The influence of EA Sports Active on Nintendo’s Wii Fit Plus is very apparent, and the Nintendo folks did a great job of taking Wii Fit to the next level.

The first thing to note is that Wii Fit Plus is not a “sequel” to the original Wii Fit, but rather it contains all the content of the original Wii Fit and adds a number of improvements. In other words, if you don’t have Wii Fit already, you can skip it, buy Wii Fit Plus with the Balance Board. If you already have Wii Fit, you can buy the Wii Fit Plus game only.

For those with the old Wii Fit, the conversion of your old profile data to the new is quick and seamless. It just takes a couple seconds and voila, all of your old weight data and workout data is available in Wii Fit Plus.

The first improvement, clearly influenced by EA Sports Active, is that instead of choosing individual strength and yoga exercises ad-hoc, you can choose from a number of pre-configured workout routines. “My Wii Fit Plus” is a virtual locker room, where your animated balance board (as chipper and encouraging as ever) walks you through the process of choosing a workout routine based on any number of specific goals, ranging from better health to improving specific parts of your body.

The activities are still broken out by category: Yoga, Strength Training, Aerobics, and Balance Games. All of these are identical to the old Wii Fit, except that there there are a 6 new Yoga and Strength training exercises which add some more variety and challenge to those categories.

But here’s the part of the review I’m sure you’ve been waiting for. The biggest improvement in Wii Fit Plus is the addition of 15 “Training Plus” activities.

Perfect 10 (Workout intensity: 2 of 5, Fun 4 of 5): A game that tests your math skills as much as your flexibility. Numbers will appear on giant mushroom, and you bump your hips to hit the numbers that add (or subtract) to 10 or 15 or 20. You won’t be losing huge amounts of weight from this one, but it’s a great way to test your mind and body coordination and this is one you’ll play over and over again to try to beat your high score.

Island Cycling (Workout intensity: 4 of 5, Fun 4 of 5): This is a game that uses the Balance Board (you step on the board with your left and right foot to simulate bicycle pedalling) and the Wiimote (which you use to steer). The game itself looks a lot like the cycling game on Wii Sports Resort, except you move your feet instead of your hands. Unlike that game, this game isn’t timed; rather, you need to cycle around a large island collecting flags. The island is beautifully designed with amazing details. This is definitely one you can spend a lot of time on and not even realize you were exercising.

Rhythm Kung-Fu (Workout intensity: 3 of 5, Fun 5 of 5): This is the first game that put a huge smile on my face. Using your Wiimote, the Nunchuk, and the Balance Board, you have to strike different “kung fu” poses in rhythm to delightfully cheesy kung-fu movie music. It’s essentially a game of “Simon Says”, where you mimic the moves of a groups of Miis standing behind you (and if you have family or friend Miis on your system, you’ll see some familiar faces).

Driving Range (Workout intensity: 1 of 5, Fun 4 of 5): Sure, golf has been done in Wii Sports, in Wii Sports Resort, and in games like Tiger Woods PGA Tour. Wii Fit Plus brings something a little different to the table, though. You position the Balance Board vertically, and swing your Wii-mote like a golf club. There’s a “swing analyzer” which is surprisingly good not just for casual video game golfers but also for real golfers to analyze their form. It measures the straightness of your swing, your weight distribution, and gives a pretty good indication of how far your drive will go.

Segway Circuit (Workout intensity: 3 of 5, Fun 4 of 5): In a clever co-branding deal, Nintendo teamed up with the folks at Segway for this game. In it, you ride a Segway around the island trying to pop balloons that are being put up around the island by pesky moles. Like a real Segway, you lean forward to move forward and you lean back to go back, steering with the Wii-mote.

Bird’s-Eye Bull’s-Eye, a.k.a. Flying Chicken (Workout intensity: 5 of 5, Fun 5 of 5): This is the one you probably heard about, and it (along with Obstacle Course) is the winner. Your Mii dons a chicken outfit and has to fly from target to target. How do you fly? By flapping your arms. You can either flap your arms with your hands extended, or do a “chicken dance” type movement by bending your elbows. Either way, the Balance Board will amazingly detect how strongly, quickly, or slowly you’re flapping. Like a real bird, you flap faster to get better control, and you flap slower to soar great distances. You control where you’re moving by leaning on the Balance Board.

Snowball Fight (Workout intensity: 2 of 5, Fun 5 of 5): This one is just plain fun. You use the Wii-mote to shoot snowballs at an invading army of Miis (again, if you have custom Miis stored on your system you’ll see some familiar faces), and duck left and right to hide behind a barricade to avoid getting hit yourself with snowballs.

Obstacle Course (Workout intensity: 5 of 5, Fun 5 of 5): This is the game I was most looking forward too, and I was not disappointed. You run in place on the Balance Board to make your character move forward and you straighten your knees to make him jump. In the process, you’ll be navigating around huge swinging wrecking balls, moving sidewalks, and falling logs.

Tilt City (Workout intensity: 1 of 5, Fun 3 of 5): I admit, I’m not so crazy about these “tilt” games, maybe because I’m just not very coordinated. This is a game where you need to tilt the Wii-mote and shift your weight on the balance board in a coordinated fashion to steer colored balls into the right container.

Rhythm Parade (Workout intensity: 4 of 5, Fun 5 of 5): This was another one to put a huge smile on my face. You’re basically a drum major, marching in place to the sound of a beat. Like rhythm games like Helix and Samba Di Amigo, you move your Wii-mote and Nunchuk to match on-screen cues. The better you match, the bigger your marching band becomes (and again, you’ll see familiar faces join in the band if you have custom Miis).

Big Top Juggling (Workout intensity: 3 of 5, Fun 4 of 5): No, this one won’t really teach you how to juggle, but once you’re done you’ll have the same satisfaction as if you did know how. It’s a game where you have to stay balanced on a giant ball (using your feet on the Balance Board), while at the same time keeping 1, 2, or 3 balls in the the air by flicking your Wii-mote and Nunchuk.

Skateboard Arena (Workout intensity: 4 of 5, Fun 4 of 5): This seems like a pretty fair representation of riding a skateboard. You position the Balance Board vertically and stand on it like a skateboard. You can build speed by pushing off your back foot. You steer by moving your body back and forth, and you can jump by straightening your knees. You go through a series of exercises just like a real skateboarder, from jumping on ramps to riding on rails to doing tricks on half-pipes.

Table Tilt Plus (Workout intensity: 1 of 5, Fun 3 of 5): This one is a lot like those labyrinth games where you’re trying to steer a ball around holes (in this case, you’re trying to get balls into holes).

Balance Bubble Plus (Workout intensity: 1 of 5, Fun 2 of 5): Same sentiments as I wrote above. This is an improved version of the old Wii Fit Balance game where you’re floating in a bubble trying to navigate your way through a maze.

Basic Run Plus (Workout intensity: 5 of 5, Fun 3 of 5): This is a variation of the jogging game in the Aerobic games section of Wii Fit Plus. Like that game, you control this one by running in place on the Balance Board, and you’re treated to a lot of great scenery and new paths to explore on Wii Fit Island. An added feature is that at the end of the game, you’ll be quizzed on things you saw, which is added to your final score, which surprisingly makes the run a lot more interesting, as you make sure to carefully observe every little detail as you’re running.

Other improvements:

1) The use of METs and report of calories burned. What does METs stand for? METs (which stands for Metabolic EquivalenTs) is a standard way to measure energy expenditure. One annoyance with the old Wii Fit was that whether you did an exercise that used no energy like a stretching exercise or one that expended vast amounts of energy like Super Hula Hoop, your progress was marked by the time spent or “Fit Credits” that didn’t mean anything in the real world. With Wii Fit Plus, METs are used in conjunction with your body weight and the time spent to calculate the number of calories burned. There’s even a neat little function in My Wii Fit Plus where you can see the number of calories you’ve burned in terms of food (you can even choose the type and amount of food you want to burn off and set it as a goal).

2) Balance Board improvements. With the old Wii Fit, each time you started a new routine, you’d need to wait for the Balance Board to calibrate. I suppose this was intended in the case where multiple people would be sharing the Balance Board, but it got annoying very fast. Wii Fit Plus is a bit more intelligent, in that it’ll sense whether the weight has changed and give the option to recalibrate only if it has. I’ve experienced a number of “false positives” in which it thought my weight changed when it didn’t, but that’s just a minor annoyance compared to the old way. I was actually a bit puzzled as to why the Wii MotionPlus wasn’t used in this game, but with the improvements to the Balance Board they really weren’t necessary.

3) The ability to measure a child or pet. This is a gimmick, of course, but a totally fun one if you have the aforementioned child or pet to measure.

Overall, Wii Fit Plus is a winner. To Nintendo’s credit, they weren’t content just to rest on their laurels, but they came up with improvements that truly breathed new life into the Wii Fit.

Rating

Like another reviewer, I couldn’t wait for shipping so I picked this up at a local store. I had long made up my mind that for the price, I was definitely getting this title even if it started to receive mixed reviews.

For those that currently have the Wii Fit, Nintendo has kept most of the same old familiar menus and music (and yes, the words of encouragement that are helpful the first time, but repetitive and annoying after that – no change there).

However, they’ve added lots of cool things. This is not a comprehensive list, but just my initial review and thoughts on a few of them. There are 15 new balance games and they are just plain fun. A few of my early favorites:

- Rhythm Parade. I almost skipped over this one because of the title but it’s a fun little musically themed 3 minute (at the beginner level) activity that has you marching and “drumming” with your Wiimote and nunchuk. I quickly warmed up and the minutes were over before I knew it. I enjoy this more than the Hula Hoop activity and it makes you move the entire time.

- Island Cycling. Looks like the environment from the Run modules, but you’re on a bike this time. You use the Wiimote sideways to steer (a la MarioKart) and walk on the board to simulate pedaling. The faster you walk, the faster you bike.

- The Training interface. For the first time, you can customize your workout. You pick from Yoga or Strength exercises (no Balance, though) and customize your workout. Wii Fit Plus will tally up the minutes and you can save the routine. If you click on the animated Balance Board he’ll ask you how much time you have and put together a routine for you. You can also pick one of the routines for a specific target area, e.g. entire figure, posture, etc. These are all brief (6-9 minutes) but interesting and beneficial.

- Pet and child weight support. Got a pudgy child or pet? In my case, I have a fat chihuahua (really!) and am actively trying to slim him down. Since I’m looking to exercise and trim a few pounds myself, this works out. I can now weigh myself AND him and keep a running time line of our respective losses. This all sounds silly, but will be well used by me. It motivates me to weigh him as much as I weigh myself and make sure he is trending down, not up. I would imagine Nintendo did some research here and realized that this would be a valuable feature.

- Quick stats option. When you’re doing a body test, you can simply do a BMI and weight quickly without all the fluff using the Quick stats option. This is good for people who like to weigh-in before work, but do their workout sometime later in the day.

- Calories for food. This is a bit over the top, but it’s cute. The game asks you to pick a target calorie loss per day in terms of a food item (in my case, it’s a 190 calorie vanilla ice cream cone). All throughout the workout, you tick down the calories toward your “goal”.

All in all, it’s a solid game. You can’t beat it for the price. It’s a marked upgrade and will entirely replace the current Wii Fit disc. All of the original games, yoga, and strength moves are included on this disc.

Enjoy!

Rating

The number one best thing about this addition in my book is the free play option on the Bike ride. If, like me, you have followed every dog in order to make your Wii run less boring, here is your chance to explore the island at your own pace and speed and go most of the places you have wanted to see, all while pursuing a 30 minute workout that is as stressful as you wish to make it. Though it subtracts from your time, you can even relax by the water for a few! To open the free ride just get reasonably good at the Beginner ride. Earning three stars and four or five twos opened the free ride for me.

I haven’t played all the games, but the chicken flying game in which you flap your arms to hit a target is great fun, especially with a few friends and libations. I also liked the skateboard and like someone else said, the Drum Major routine is fun. I was surprised that I liked it because I never liked the step sequences in the original or some of the boxing routines that involved stepping, but the marching routine was great fun.

I do agree that the person who was disappointed in the “training area”. If your main attraction was to creating a workout using all of your favorite activities, don’t get the game. As noted in the other review the choices are very limited and I doubt I will use that feature even though I looked forward to it initially. However, for what it does provide at a cost of under $20, it is well worth the price of admission..

Rating

I am only going to talk about the new games in this review.

Wii Fit Plus has 15 new games. All the new games are unlocked when you start. When you do well on some games, the + is unlocked to let you select a higher difficultly level. (Some games do not have a higher difficulty level.)

You can now easily switch between players with the Switch button. Note some things still go by the person who originally went into the games. For example, if the person who originally went into the games had an expert mode unlocked, the new player would be able to access this mode even if he could not from his own profile.

I am giving Wii Fit Plus 4 stars because even though the games are great, there are some problems with registering movement. (Note that my Wii is not connected to the internet so there may be updates I don’t have.)

Overall, the games contain a good mix of aerobics and balance.

Here are my thoughts on each new game…

Perfect 10 Balance. You must use your hips to select numbers that add up to 10. Sometimes seems to be too sensitive or not sensitive enough. (Tip: The mushrooms light up when you hit them. If you select one by mistake, just hit it again.)

Island Cycling Aerobics. You walk on the board to simulate pedaling a bike. You can ride wherever you want, but the object is to pick up the required number of flags and go to the finish line. (Tip: If you get tired and want to quit, press the B button to save your time.)

Rhythm Kung-Fu Aerobics. Do Kung Fu moves in time with the music. On the easiest level, you must do up to 3 moves in a row. A reviewer stated that it does not register properly. This is true, but some of the problem is just that it is confusing on how it registers your movements. In a 3 move set, you can get Perfect or OK for each individual move. It can be hard to tell which move you did right.

Driving Range Both. Practice your golf swing. I say it is both balance and aerobics because to get a good score you have to be properly balanced when you do your swing. Swinging your arms is aerobics. (Tip: Sometimes you don’t have to wait for a ball to land to take your next swing. Also, sometimes it repeatedly tells me to point the remote down when I am already doing that. I find I have to get off and back on the board to continue.)

Segway Circuit Balance. Lean forward or back to drive your Segway. Find the beach balls and pop them. (Tip: The animals will help you.)

Bird’s-Eye Bull’s-Eye Both. You must flap your arms like a bird to land on targets. I say it is both balance and aerobics because you affect where you go by how you are leaning when you flap your arms. (Tip: If you get lost, follow the seagull.)

Snowball Fight Balance. Lean to the left or right to come out from behind your barricade. Point the Wiimote and press A to throw your snowball. (Tip: If you continue to lean, you can throw as many snowballs as you want from that side.)

Obstacle Course Aerobics. Reminds me of those TV shows where they have the contestant try to do a course and huge ball knocks them into the water. (Tip: If your time is running out, just stay where you are. If it runs out and you just got put back to the beginning, you won’t get points for getting almost to the end.)

Tilt City Balance. You must tilt the remote left or right and lean left or right on the board to make balls go into tubes. (Tip: If you have a ball on the wrong platform, don’t let it fall in the tube. It will eventually pop. This way, you can keep your bonus points going for a while longer.)

Rhythm Parade Aerobics. March in time to the music, and move your arms at the right time to hit icons on the screen. On my system, the whistle that you are supposed to march in time with does not match the beat of the drum. This makes it confusing. (Tip: When there are two icons on the left and right, move your left and right hands at the same time to hit them both.)

Big Top Juggling Balance. You must juggle balls while staying in the center of the circus ring. If you go too far to the side, you will drop the balls. (Tip: If you start doing well, they will throw a bomb at you!)

Skateboard Arena Balance. Do various tricks by either lifting your heels or straightening your legs. I have a problem getting it to keep up the speed. Not sure if it is me or the game. (Tip: If you do a trick where two bars are close together, you can get a point for the second bar when you come back down.)

Table Tilt Plus Balance. Like the original only there are now items on the boards that do various things such as shoot your ball in the air. (Tip: Now instead of getting time added at the end, you get 6 seconds every time you get a ball in a hole.)

Balance Bubble Plus Balance. Much much harder than the original. For example, there are 90 degree turns. (Tip: stay to the right in the dark area.)

Basic Run Plus Aerobics. Much expanded version of the original. You are asked questions at the end about what you saw on your journey. (Tip: Follow different cats for different courses.)