(no subject)
The 2008 season of Fanime is over. Thankfully. I will write about it more tomorrow. Today, Wii Fit.
I've owned a Wii since last May, opened it in March. I preordered Wii Fit in April, it arrived last week, and I opened it last night.
Apparently, I'm not a very speedy person when it comes to video games.
I preordered it after reading about the 4colorrebellion dude's results with his Japanese Wii Fit. After eight weeks, he looks better and feels better, with photographic evidence. I figure that it counts for something.
The key of Wii Fit is the "balance board", a special controller that you step on. It must be synced to your Wii, and it will always take over the P4 slot. The board weight about 10-15 pounds, is designed to support up to 330 pounds. Once you get past all the hype, it senses exactly two things, and nothing more:
Obviously, measuring a tracking weight is going to be part of the whole fitness thing, and is mostly the reason why people are picking it up. Surprisingly, Wii Fit is very insistent that a proper center of balance is important to ensure good posture, and good health. I never really thought of it like that.
The game essentially has a lot of activities, grouped into four areas: Yoga, Strength Training, Aerobics, and Balance Games.
Yoga is pretty straightforward. You follow the poses and learn to control and breath. The game measures your ability to stay balanced and not-wobbly during that.
Strength Training was surprising, since there are no weights or other things that are normally used. Instead it follows the Buns of Steel method and tries to get you to stretch and build your muscles solely through repetitive exercise. The tracking is mostly ensure that you're doing it right, but hey, that's important.
Aerobics is where I spent the most time, and honestly is likely where I'll need to be. There are a few games here, and more to be unlocked. For now, there's a step-aerobics game, a hula hoop game, and just plain running in place. But the running in place is in a nice scenic area, and it doesn't smell as bad as my outside neighborhood.
Balance Games is going to be interesting. The games all measure your ability to put your weight equally on the centers of both feet. This is rather unique, and something that I haven't seen in other games. Translation: I suck really bad.
After the first day, I could only pick up on two downsides.
It requires a lot of free space in your gaming area. You'll need to clear out a goodly chunk of your living room to play it right. For some, this isn't a problem. For me, this requirement some couch moving.
Also, you can probably fake your way through a few games without having to go through the motions. But if your motivation is low enough to cheat at a fitness game that you bought to be healthier, you may want to rethink that.
I may or may not post a daily or a weekly update on how things are going. But I'd like to keep trying, even if my body is sore from not using certain muscles regularly.
I've owned a Wii since last May, opened it in March. I preordered Wii Fit in April, it arrived last week, and I opened it last night.
Apparently, I'm not a very speedy person when it comes to video games.
I preordered it after reading about the 4colorrebellion dude's results with his Japanese Wii Fit. After eight weeks, he looks better and feels better, with photographic evidence. I figure that it counts for something.
The key of Wii Fit is the "balance board", a special controller that you step on. It must be synced to your Wii, and it will always take over the P4 slot. The board weight about 10-15 pounds, is designed to support up to 330 pounds. Once you get past all the hype, it senses exactly two things, and nothing more:
- Your Weight
- The center of balance.
Obviously, measuring a tracking weight is going to be part of the whole fitness thing, and is mostly the reason why people are picking it up. Surprisingly, Wii Fit is very insistent that a proper center of balance is important to ensure good posture, and good health. I never really thought of it like that.
The game essentially has a lot of activities, grouped into four areas: Yoga, Strength Training, Aerobics, and Balance Games.
Yoga is pretty straightforward. You follow the poses and learn to control and breath. The game measures your ability to stay balanced and not-wobbly during that.
Strength Training was surprising, since there are no weights or other things that are normally used. Instead it follows the Buns of Steel method and tries to get you to stretch and build your muscles solely through repetitive exercise. The tracking is mostly ensure that you're doing it right, but hey, that's important.
Aerobics is where I spent the most time, and honestly is likely where I'll need to be. There are a few games here, and more to be unlocked. For now, there's a step-aerobics game, a hula hoop game, and just plain running in place. But the running in place is in a nice scenic area, and it doesn't smell as bad as my outside neighborhood.
Balance Games is going to be interesting. The games all measure your ability to put your weight equally on the centers of both feet. This is rather unique, and something that I haven't seen in other games. Translation: I suck really bad.
After the first day, I could only pick up on two downsides.
It requires a lot of free space in your gaming area. You'll need to clear out a goodly chunk of your living room to play it right. For some, this isn't a problem. For me, this requirement some couch moving.
Also, you can probably fake your way through a few games without having to go through the motions. But if your motivation is low enough to cheat at a fitness game that you bought to be healthier, you may want to rethink that.
I may or may not post a daily or a weekly update on how things are going. But I'd like to keep trying, even if my body is sore from not using certain muscles regularly.