'Wii Fit' is loads of fun, but don't give up gym membership

— -- With Wii Fit for the Wii video game console, Nintendo hopes to get you off the couch and into games that are all about exercise and fitness. But, this isn't like some boring aerobics class where you can't wait to be done. You exercise by doing fun things like Hula-Hooping or ski-jumping.

Wii Fit is a combination of a special balance board controller and software. The core component is the balance board. This rectangular wireless device sits on the floor and looks like an outsized bathroom scale. When you stand on the Wii board, it can measure your weight, as well as determine slight shifts in balance as you lean forward, back and from side-to-side. Nintendo includes more than 40 minigames that use the board's measurement capabilities in the software.

The Wii Fit games fall into four categories: balance games, aerobics, strength training and yoga. At first, some of the games aren't available, but as you spend time with Wii Fit, the software keeps track of your exercising and rewards your efforts by unlocking new games. In all of the games, your animated Mii character on the TV screen mimics your movements.

Under balance games, you will find Soccer Heading, where you stand on the balance board and head the soccer balls being kicked at you. In another activity, you control a tilt platform with balls on it, where the object is to roll the balls into holes. All are intriguing, but kids will particularly like the ski slalom and the penguin slide.

For aerobics, you can Hula-Hoop, run in place (next to, but not on the board), rhythm-box and do step-aerobics (where you step on and off the board in a Dance, Dance, Revolution -type activity of matching your foot positions to those shown on the screen). You can even unlock an open step mode where you continue to walk on and off the board while watching TV on another channel. The board will keep count of your steps.

There are about a dozen different muscle-toning strength exercises, including lunges, push-ups and leg extensions. You can also learn numerous yoga positions and are critiqued on how steady you are while doing them.

Since the Wii board is also a scale, it can keep track of your weight over time. By inputting your height as well, you can determine your Body Mass Index (BMI), which is a standard measurement of body fat used by the National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization. It will chart your progress, and help you develop a plan to attain your ideal weight and BMI.

However, since BMI is an adult measurement that has been adjusted to accommodate kids using the game, the BMI presented for kids may not be accurate because they are growing so quickly. And since the BMI is shown in terms of a classification of underweight, normal, overweight or obese, you may want to bypass this aspect of the game for kids.

Like Brain Age for the Nintendo DS, this software comes up with its own crazy calibration called "Wii Fit Age," which it measures every time you use the program. To assign your "Wii Fit Age," the game keeps in mind your real age and has you perform a couple of balance tests. The concept is that as your core muscles get stronger, your balance will get better and your "Wii Fit Age" will decrease. For one of these balance tests, you must try to stand perfectly still for a short period of time while the board calibrates how much you move. In another, your body is represented on the screen by a red dot, and you are challenged to move the dot by leaning so as to bump into blue boxes that will disappear from the screen.

Wii Fit provides easy-to-understand charts and rewards that motivate you to keep using the program. And it can keep track of up to eight family members. But beyond the charts and graphs, the games in the program are fun to play. Navigating a bubble through a maze by moving your body is intriguing. Hula-Hooping without hoops is hilarious to watch and exciting to play. And with little characters called Miis joining you in everything you do, you never feel alone.

The Wii Balance Board has one drawback. It doesn't want you to jump on it. Unfortunately, in some of the activities, jumping seems like the natural thing to do. When chomping teeth are bearing down on you while balancing on a tight rope, you will want to jump over them. Pay attention to the instructions when the game tells you to crouch down and extend up with your knees to mimic jumping. Likewise in the ski-jump activity, if you jump instead of extending up from a crouched position, it will stop the activity to tell you not to jump. This sensitivity to pounding may also explain why, when you are running in this program, you don't do it on the board. You are asked to run in place on the floor with a Wii remote in your pocket to act as a pedometer.

Wii Fit delivers on its slogan "Fitness Made Fun," and it will get both kids and adults exercising. It will tone muscles, improve balance, burn calories, and yes, make you sweat. And it does all this in a light-hearted manner. It's a good program to explore if you are new to fitness or if you need fun games to motivate you to move. However, if you are a serious, hard-core athlete, while you will find these activities interesting to explore, don't give up your gym membership yet. Wii Fit is an excellent introduction to what can be done using this new Wii Balance Board.

Gudmundsen is the editor of Computing With Kids magazine (www.ComputingWithKids.com). Contact her at gnstech@gns.gannett.com.