Last year when Wii Fit Plus was originally announced it was going to include an "improved, updated balance board with better measurement metrics". This turned out not to be true, and of course I had already decided to sell my Wii Fit on Craigslist in preparation for the new game complete with new board. Fast-forward to Wii Fit Plus getting released and of course it has the same old board, AND they release it as a just-software option for like $30 if you've already got the board.
I’ve been using Personal Trainer: Walking on my DS for a couple of weeks now and I have to say I am really enjoying it. It’s kind of like a tiny version of Wii Fit – you even use Miis (either wirelessly imported from your Wii or created on the DS). The included pedometers are small and not a bother to carry around, plus uploading your day’s walking data is literally as easy as pushing a button on the pedometer. My boyfriend and I have been carrying them around and while I have been pleasantly surprised with how many steps I take on an average day (generally between 4,000 and 6,000 with a daily target of 3,000) he’s averaging more like 9,000 to 14,000! The game gives you an easy-to-read spectrum of your day’s activity, rated by how often and for how long you walked. It even assigns time of day and animal comparisons to each day’s activity – for example, an early day full of nonstop walking with little breaks makes you a Morning Horse. All in all if you’re a fan of fitness games and you want to get an idea of just how much ground you cover every day, Personal Trainer: Walking is a pretty good buy!
I’ve been reading a lot of reviews of new stuff coming out lately and it is occurring to me more and more that so many people just can’t make a distinction between games and software these days. There seems to be a huge contingent out there that is threatened or something by the success of “games” like Wii Fit, EA Active and the Personal Trainer DS series. I just don’t get why reviewers seem to harp on small elements of animation or game play mechanics in a piece of software designed not to entertain but to assist. Even worse, these games take time to get used to and trying out EA Active for like 5 minutes before declaring that the motion controls don’t work is doing a disservice to your review audience, in my opinion. Being a fan of fitness games as well as more traditional video games, I just don’t get the need to lump them together. So, if you’re considering starting something new like EA Active, don’t lean on reviews to decide whether you’ll like it for fitness or not.
One of the (many) exciting upcoming presentations Nintendo is expected to give at E3 2009 this week is the unveiling of a new, more precise Wii Fit balance board! The Wii Fit Plus will come out in Japan first of course and will feature an improved balance board accessory plus an updated game with new and more varied exercises. This is pretty cool and I am fairly sure I will spring for a new Wii Fit when this one comes out. 
I’ve been crazy busy with work lately but luckily I’ve had a chance to play EA Sports Active a few times and I am already feeling it for sure. EA Active uses the Wii’s motion controllers to map out a series of intense and effective exercises. You use the Wii remote and nunchuk as well as an included resistance band to perform strength exercises like squats, lunges and other extensions along with cardio activities like running, baseball, and in-line skating. So far I’m having a lot of fun and the easily customizable workouts make it no problem to pick up anytime and use your free time to the fullest extent. The graphics are a nice realistic step up from Wii Fit and the flow of the workout definitely gets my heart rate up. If you like Wii Fit but have always wanted something a little more geared towards real exercise, EA Active is a good bet.
I'm so excited... And I just can't hide it.... I'm about to lose control, and I think I like it! Actually, I am really excited because tomorrow marks the release of EA Sports Active, the latest Wii fitness game by Electronic Arts. While EA Active is independent of Wii Fit, it has features that can use the Fit balance board if you've already got one, which I do of course. I've seen a few TV spots for Active so far and it looks awesome - it seems to take the cardio and higher-intensity activities from Wii Fit and step them up in a big way. I'm looking forward to the kickboxing exercise as well as trying out the pretty nifty resistence bands that come with the game, allowing you to anchor the Wii controllers to your arm and leg to measure your activity during exercise. With summer coming up even gamer girls want to wear cute bikinis so EA Active is arriving right on time. To get you as psyched as I am, check out this in-depth Q&A about Active from GameSpot.
Love it. New figures show that Nintendo's Wii Fit game and balance board have outsold copies of Halo 3 in the US. I think this says good things about future trends in gaming and also most likely means more Fit-compatible games targeted at gamers and families who already own the balance board. I am also looking forward to Electronic Arts's entry into the fitness game market with EA Sports Active. Compatible with the Fit board but not requiring it, EA Active will ramp up the activities that Wii Fit started with more intense cardio targeting like running, kick-boxing and other exercises. Due out in May, I think EA Active will probably sell well alongside the Fit, assuming stores can keep it in stock!
Now that the world has been graced by the Wii Fit for over a year, many out there wonder just how good the game really can be for you. Folks seem to agree that any video game that combats couch-potato-ness is a good thing, meaning that Wii Fit's get-up-and-do-stuff system can help you get more active and do less sitting around. Which is definitely a good thing, especially with video games. Still, most also feel that the Wii Fit isn't comparable to actual physical activity like sports or real cardio exercise, which is also true. Mostly all this means is that if you are already physically fit, the Wii Fit isn't going to offer more than your gym does. Also, its metrics are a little questionable, especially the Wii Fit age determined by your activities and measurements. Whatevs, I still love it and can't recommend it highly enough. In my opinion, much like anything else in life, you get back what you put into it.
I got a Nintendo DS lite! And not just any DS but in fact the Brain Age limited edition ice blue DS lite! It actually comes with the game plus a sweet protective case and an extra matching stylus. This post could also be titled "best boyfriend ever" as the DS was an early birthday present from him and he rocks. So now I've got Mario Kart and of course Brain Age, which is really fun and turns out to basically be Wii Fit for your brain. It even seems to have the same feature of harassing you if you don't get on it every day. So far I love the low-to-high test and also the number crunching. My brain could use a kick into high gear so I think this will be a nice complement to the Fit.
I spent some time playing Shaun White: Road Trip this morning and it is in fact pretty fun! I used the Wii Fit balance board which definitely adds an element of difficulty not found in just controlling your guy with the remote. The levels are cool and fun to look at with plenty of opportunities for sick jumps, flips and grabs off of "kickers" as well as rails and stuff to grind on and speed trials as well. The interface is a little too kid-friendly for me in its cartoony-ness but it also has its funny moments in the form of goofy spam emails and totally stoned-sounding phone calls from Shaun himself. I think that the better I get at controlling with the balance board the more fun this game will be. I also am determined to try out the Xbox 360 Shaun White Snowboarding as the commercials look really good and the graphics look a few steps up from the Wii version, plus it appears to be a much deeper game with more customization and more goofy stuff to do with your characters like snowball fights. Of course in the Wii version you have moose running amok all over your courses which is pretty cool too.
If you’ve been searching fruitlessly for a Wii Fit this holiday season, rest assured that it’s not just you that can’t find one. The Fit is definitely this year’s hot Wii item to score and, like the Wii itself last year, it’s getting harder and harder to find stocked in stores as we approach the holidays. My tip for those of you looking is to check in stores early afternoon as shipments come in around noon. If you’re sick of prowling the mall however, my real recommendation would be to use the Wii Fit tracker, which is how I got mine. Act quickly and you might find that it’s easier than you thought to score a Wii Fit before your gifting holiday of choice. Good luck, it’s totally worth it!
Sales-tracking research group NPD released its list of the top ten best-selling console game titles for October last week. Nintendo continues to dominate, proving that games with accessories sell amazingly well especially before the holidays with Mario Kart, Wii Fit and Wii Play making strong appearances. The Wii also sold 803,000 consoles in October, compared to 371,000 Xbox 360 and 190,000 Ps3 systems, proving that people really love cheap options and also that the casual gamer demographic continues to expand. Here's the rest of the top ten best-selling console game titles for October 2008:
If there's one product I push more than any other to people looking for more stuff to buy for their Wii this holiday season, it's the Wii Fit. To put it into holiday context, if Nintendo is god and the Wii is little baby Jesus then the Fit is, like, the gift of dying for all of our sins that Jesus gave us thirty years later. Or something. Anyway, here's a bunch of reasons that make it totally worth buying a Wii Fit:
Electronic Arts clearly sees the niche that Nintendo's Wii Fit has come to fill in the past year, helping gamers and non-gamers alike to get more fit and pay more attention to their own health. EA is well-known for its sports franchises and lately has been reaching further into the mainstream market with its All-Play series of family-friendly sports titles, mostly geared for the Wii. Apparently EA has all sorts of ideas up its sleeve about new kinds of controllers that strap onto your person and record physical stats like your jump height or how "strong your thrusts are" (??). There are definitely more fitness oriented games being released this year thanks to the Fit's popularity; I keep being slightly intrigued by this one game I keep seeing in stores, can't remember the name of the trainer right now but it definitely involves running through tires and other such activities. I love my Wii Fit but would also like some more active options to use the Balance Board for. The Fit is great for metrics but the best workout I've devised so far comes from the Free Running for 30 minutes plus some variety of the other choices. At any rate, it seems like fitness games are a hot new market that will likely be a good mainstream profit source for game makers looking for something new.
It looks like Ubisoft is a big fan of the Wii Fit balance board! I previous mentioned their new Raving Rabbids game that will use the board, and now I'm getting psyched for Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip, which is coming out in November. I have always enjoyed snowboarding games back to Cool Boarders for the Playstation, so I may have to pick this one up. Early previews seem to say that while (like every Wii release) the graphics aren't quite as nice as the Xbox and PS3 versions but they are actually very nice for the Wii, so that's good. Looks like this game will let you use the board but also have a boardless option, which is nice since it also has two and four-player competitive modes. To do fancy jump tricks you have to use the Wii remote in addition to the board. The snowboarding in Wii Fit is pretty tough, much harder than the slalom skiing where you're facing forward, so it may add some cool challenge to this game, although it sounds like a lot of people might just end up using the Wii remote and nunchuk controls. Still cool, though!
After the last two Decembers of frustrated shoppers desperately searching for a Wii, Nintendo has announced that they will be upping the effort to meet demand this holiday season. It seems it's a slippery slope between holding out just enough to create ridiculous demand (also known as the Cartmanland strategy) and losing out on sales due to not being able to meet said demand. Still, Nintendo makes no promises that every Wii-seeker will find one: This year, Nintendo executives said there would be a “significant increase” in Wiis in stores, though they stopped short of promising that the company would be able meet demand entirely. “Will there be enough to meet demand?” Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America, said. “Ask me in January.”Sounds like Nintendo will also be releasing several cool and innovative new titles, along with the new MotionPlus wiimotes, so it should be a joyous Wii season this year. So glad I found my Wii and my Wii Fit both without having to spend more than market value. There's nothing worse than jonesing for some exclusive (expensive) product during the peak of the holiday sales season.
Now I generally hate running but I'm starting to come around thanks to being able to run in place in my living room; the Wii Fit actually does a good job of making running fun. It's one of the cutest activities you can do, what with all the Miis running around. You also see some Mii-style dogs, and the cool thing I just recently discovered is that if a dog passes by you, you can speed up and start following it instead of your Mii leader. I've managed to run several different tracks on all the distances and really love all the scenery they show you around the Wii Fit Island (see picture). My favorite so far is running through the waves on the beach, and running through the stone tunnel thing. I also enjoy the big jumps you can take if you follow the white dog on the Island Lap distance. Once again I will give the Wii Fit big props as a fantastic living room exercise activity. Totally worth tracking down, if you've got a Wii.
Since getting my Wii Fit I've been hoping that some cool games will come out that use the balance board. So of course I am pretty psyched about the new Raving Rabbids game coming out that apparently will have activities that use the balance board. I had the first Rabbids Wii title for awhile and that is one super fun game. If the fit board is used in interesting ways, this new one could be even cooler. I hope it integrates the music playing from the first - my favorite was always "Bunnies Just Wanna Have Fun" or whatever. Here's a cute trailer for the new Rabbids game:
Seriously, the Wii Fit is really great. I am still thrilled that I managed to get mine from BestBuy.com which, regardless of how crap the service in-store may be, has always served me well and got my Fit here in 2 days instead of the 5 to 10 predicted. I've been having a great time on it so far and it really seems like the kind of thing that can be maintained on a regular basis without too much effort. I looove the hula-hooping aerobics games and have also taken a liking to the skiing and snowboarding balance games, which are perfectly suited to the Fit's balance board, which I must say is pretty damn sensitive. 
It's easy to unlock new stuff to do and the yoga and strength exercises are great with the Fit's center of balance tracking system. And if, like me, you love seeing the Nintendo Miis all over the place, the Fit will not disappoint - they chuck hula hoops at you, kick soccer balls at your head, and go on jogs through the park with you. I'm curious now to try some other games that utilize the board, like We Ski. Overall, two thumbs up and a strong recommendation to anyone looking for fun living room fitness!
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