I'm a gamer, and I needed to lose weight. While physical activity is only half of the battle, I was basically not active in the slightest. I bought this along with a Wii U and two Wiimotes, hoping that its format of short workouts that you get graded on would help. As it turns out, that method worked quite well for me. Games have a few different methods of measuring the player's success, whether it's high scores, fast times, star rankings, or whatever else. This game uses these methods of measuring success to translate physical fitness into video games. The gamer mindset makes you want get better scores, times, and rankings; and doing so requires doing the exercise better, and therefore burning more calories. It's a trick, but it worked wonders for me.
The fit meter is also a nice idea. It promotes being active even when you're not playing the game, and the activity it logs can be synced with the game to unlock in-game outfits and hats for your Mii. I implemented a daily walk around my neighborhood to get some extra exercise and log activity with it. It's very comfortable to wear, I wear it all the time and generally forget that I have it on. The battery it uses is a CR2025, and it lasted nearly a year for me before needing to be replaced. When replacing the battery, sync your fit meter data first! The fit meter also seems to be made of Nintendium, as it's survived several drops from my waist to the floor, and even fell down the steps a couple times. Heck, I even accidentally dropped it in the toilet once. Dried it off and it still works.
There are downsides, though. The game is adamant that you weigh in every day, which is far too often. For me, weekly was still too often; I'm currently weighing in monthly and that works well. Weighing in too often will wreak havoc on your mental health. You absolutely don't want to begin treating food like numbers and calorie goals like quotas, nor do you want to develop an eating disorder. However, if your weight goes up by 1.1lbs or more, it tries to make you associate that gain with something you did in the last 24 hours, giving you a rather short-sighted set of eight choices, seven of which are iffy at best and the last one is "I don't know". Selecting "I don't know" usually results in the game saying, almost verbatim, "Do you really not know?", which implies that it thinks you're constantly trying to cheat on your own physical fitness regimen. For the uninformed, losing weight is not a steady downward slope. It has its ups and downs, and the only way you know you're having success is by looking at long-term data. Despite having all of your data available to analyze, the game does no such analysis to figure out the statistical trend that your weight is following. What results is the game having a hissy fit about you gaining 1.1lbs, even though you lost weight over the last week and are 40lbs down overall.
It's also overly dependent on BMI, and not very flexible in letting you set your goals. Sure, when you're not very fit, BMI is pretty accurate, but as you become more muscular, it's less accurate since it makes no distinction between fat mass and muscle mass. When you set your weight and daily calorie goals, you can't just enter your desired numbers. You select a BMI you want to reach and the time frame in which you would like to reach it, and it calculates a calorie goal for you.
I had issues with getting the motion controls to work with some of the exercises, but the vast majority of them had few to zero control issues. If you're looking to buy as little hardware as possible and still be able to play the full game, two Wii Motion Plus Wiimotes, the Balance Board, and the Wii U Gamepad are all you need. All exercises that require a Nunchuck will also let you use a second Wiimote instead.
Overall, given that I've lost a bunch of weight and have kept it off by continuing to do what I was doing to lose weight in the first place, I'd recommend that any gamer who needs to lose some weight give this game a shot. It might be a somewhat large up-front cost if you have none of the hardware like I did, but in the end it's far cheaper than a gym membership, and you get the satisfaction of knowing that you're the one who made this decision, and that you're taking charge of your life and changing it for the better. When you see the results, you'll have nobody to credit but yourself. In that way, the investment is completely worth it.
Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime
and start saving today with fast, free delivery
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card
Frequently bought together
$159.00
Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 14
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
No Operating System
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Choose items to buy together.
Similar items that may deliver to you quickly
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
Reviews with images
Love the Wii board
Love the Wii board...got it for very cheap on Amazon. Whole family has fun on it.... we love the Ski Jump! Our Fave!
Top reviews from other countries
Kristina
The product itself is great, it is a great way to introduce a ...
Reviewed in Canada on November 22, 2016
Eon Corsair
Perfecto para el hermitaño apático
Reviewed in Mexico on February 25, 2016
