'Wii Fit' review

I actually did use “Wii Fit Plus” for almost 30 days, but I originally wasn't going to talk about it. It's not a real exercise program, right?

Wrong. It is advertised as one and encourages you to use it daily to keep your weight under control. And each time I looked at my weight graph, I saw those first weeks where absolutely nothing was happening, or worse, I was gaining weight in the strangest yo-yo pattern. I finally decided people deserved to know, and a review was needed. I did not do a full 30 days, because it was clearly not working and sticking with it for a few more days would have been pointless.

“Wii Fit” was such a horrendous failure and yet I know when the Wii first came out, “Wii Fit” was a huge seller. It gave people hope that video games could help them lose weight. And while I do think video games can help, I think “Wii Fit” is a poor contender. It's not even suited for someone just getting started and trying to get in the rhythm of exercising. The lack of results of any kind would make anyone in such a position stop trying pretty quickly. Had I been less motivated, I know I would have given up after seeing my weight jump upward despite daily exercise.

Weight loss

None. I'm not even exaggerating. Just take a look at the very, very sad graph below.

What does “Wii Fit” do right?

Measuring yoga moves, and the amount of pressure being put on a foot on the balance board, is actually quite helpful for learning how you're supposed to be distributing your body weight, and learning to hold that distribution for a short period of time without fidgeting.

I also enjoyed the challenges once they were unlocked. 'Competing' against the trainer to see who could do more push-ups or jack knifes, for example, was both fun and ensured I could do however many of a certain exercise I wanted to do without the loading screen slowing me down.

What does “Wii Fit” do wrong?

There is far too much time between exercises. “EA Sports Active” had this same issue, but “Wii Fit”is even worse, especially since the exercises are incredibly short – often less than 30 seconds apiece. Not only does it go slowly when loading in the exercise, but each strength or stretch exercise has the trainer talk to you before you get started.

The more active games that will get your heart pumping – such as advanced step – do not have longer programs and are too short to really get your heart going for a long enough period. There is Free Step (which can be 10, 20 or 30 minutes long), but because it just has you stepping on and off the board very, very slowly (and will chastise you for going 'too fast'), it doesn't compete with the rhythm and varied steps that the shorter Advanced Step game uses.