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Combining Health and Video Gaming

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What can be more intriguing than a video game that adds to it a healthy punch? Nintendo, after the popular Wii Sports, has augmented its reign over the craft of making stimulated video games; this time with the Wii Fit.

It is a highly optimistic console that endeavors to not just furnish an enticing video game playing experience, but also an attempt towards weight loss and health management. Unlike a recent visit to the local gym, repetitions here may be fun!

With the onset of Wii Sports, players would indulge in several sporty movements to control acts in a game, especially when playing tennis and bowling. It may have been entitled as mountain climbing' in context to gaming world, yet it was a mere baby step in contrast to a comprehensive workout schedule. This was the sole objective for addressing Wii Fit.

The product was an outcome to the famed designer Shigeru Miyamoto's fixation with measuring his weight every day. They came up with the Wii Balance Board, a scale like device that is complimented with all units of Wii Fit. This package isn't a downscale affair it costs around 70 pounds. It exudes stunning accuracy and precision, invariably measuring every slight movement and momentum nuance made on the Balance Board.

It carefully scrutinizes the inputs from left and right foot, and frames this data into encouraging exercises (with respect to the level of challenges); it includes yoga, push ups, or involving oneself in a network of games designed especially for the device. Over 40 challenges have been categorized into distinguished groups that include strength training, yoga, aerobics and Balance Board Games.

Although the Wii Fit displays a virtual environment, yet it successfully creates a space for dynamism. There are trainers - male and female in accordance to one's preference - that guide the player through different challenges. However, the trainers do display loopholes in reference to realism (there are no lip movements when they speak etc.).

Reactions (from the trainers) are drawn spontaneously as the inputs are measured; following with recommended steps towards the players' form, breathing and timing. This unparalleled inclusion isn't credited to just the trainers, but also to the sensitivity of the device that tracks even the faintest of movements.

Every time a yoga pose is exercised, a figure appears on the screen that keeps altering in response to the players balance, and this figure needs to be centered as long as the posture is held. For push ups, there are onscreen meters provisioned that let players know when to rise and lower down. In addition, there are circles representing inhalation and exhalation timings.

However, the console does not embrace any facility to input specifications or details. Taking for example, it never asks if the players have muscular bodies and doesn't prompt them to feed their exact fat percentage numbers prescribed by an exercise doctor.

It could have been useful for people who are accustomed to regular gym schedules and need to embrace Wii Fit in their work outs. For now, one can only hope to avail these options in either a downloadable update or in a sequel.