I headed to EB Games tonight to pick up my pre-ordered Wii Fit kit, and I was so excited. I tried to get the guy to price match Kmart, but he informed me that Kmart sold out of ’em way earlier today. (They don’t match a price if there’s no stock.) Oh well. I wanted the thing NOW. So I carried it home and set it up. Snookums walked in while I was doing my first fitness test, so we quickly got his character set up on it too.
Okay, first off, this thing is ADORABLE. I wouldn’t have thought it was possible to anthropomorphize a heavy (and it is heavy) plastic platform, but the Japanese are geniuses. It speaks in this fun squeaky voice – “Initializing!” – that kept cracking me up. Of course, I stopped laughing as soon as Mr Balance Board calculated my weight and BMI, and my cute little Mii suddenly grew quite stout around the middle. Bugger. (For the record, Snookums is smack dab in the middle of his ideal weight. Bastard.) It also told us that our “fitness ages” are in the mid-forties, and it somehow correctly predicted that I trip a lot. (I wish I were joking.) We set our fitness goals and then started playing.
There are four types of games (Yoga, Balance, Muscle, and Aerobic), and we started with Balance since we’re lazy. Heading the soccer balls was surprisingly difficult… but so fun too. The board is very sensitive. I had to keep reminding myself that moving my actual head didn’t do anything; it’s all about shifting your weight. Incidentally, I love that Wii games always use the Miis from your machine, which meant that the people firing soccer balls (and shoes, and panda heads) at me included Fiona, Steph and Eva, Andrew and Kathleen, and basically anybody who’s ever played Wii at our house. I found the slalom skiing pretty hard until I worked out that I needed to bend my knees and shift my weight forward. That helped move me down the mountain faster. I think the funniest moment of the night, though, was when Snookums sped down the ski jump and stood up too late, resulting in his Mii doing a crazy header down the mountain (and turning into a giant snowball).
After Snookums retired to cook dinner, I tried out some of the yoga games. I chose the female trainer (she sounds like a Pom!) and started each exercise with a tutorial. They were surprisingly well done and effective! Even the simplest “game” – deep yoga breathing – takes on a new level of difficulty when you’re trying to keep a dot representing your center of gravity in the middle of a circle onscreen. I was actually pretty good at the yoga stuff, and I managed to unlock an extra level already. I can’t wait to try it out properly (like, when I’m not just about to each dinner).
So overall, I’m loving this thing. I did a good 20 minutes of varied, fun exercises tonight without even realizing it. While that doesn’t sound like a lot, I’m sure that there are millions of people who don’t get that much exercise in a day. This thing is gonna be revolutionary. I’m already looking forward to my next workout!
