Wii Fit & Wii Balance Board product reviews

We bought a Nintendo Wii with blance board when it first came out, we couldn't wait to get it as we were very excited about the prospect of how interactive the Wii appeared to be and also that it may be a fun way in which we could exercise and hopefull;y loose some weight, my partner was more excited I must admit about the fact that it came out with his favourite childhood game Mario Karts, as was his brother, needless to say this was the first game we purchased.

The Wii was so much fun, my partner, myself and other family members who we often see straight away set up our own individual user profiles to use with the Wii fit game, this is where you create a character to represent you and add in your own specific details such as your age, height, weight goal etc, the Wii balance board then weighs you and calculates your BMI for you, and then gets you to partake in a simple balance test. This on it's own was fun to do and was where our challenge and competitiveness as a family began and from here our weekly weigh ins began.

The Wii fit game features a variety of different exercise styles to work out, such as yoga, aerobics and muscle building exercises with a range of different fun ways to do these in such as hula hooping, dancing, torso twists and bubble balancing, while not all of these require the use of the balance board, many of them do.

The Wii is definitely a super fun way to get you off the couch and in my opinion much more fun than going to the gym and perfect for on rainy days when you don't want to go outside. This is something worth looking into buying if you have children who like computer games that you would like to get off the couch and up and moving, with the Wii fit and many of other games now available they are sure to have hours of fun with this, great graphics too.

We bought a Nintendo Wii plus balance board, wii fit and other game discs for my daughter for her birthday. We already owned a ps3 and Xbox 360 that my boys bought themselves, but it annoyed me that these consoles just required the kids to sit and stare at a screen pretty much but doing nothing but moving their fingers and thumbs. I liked the concept of the Wii. Getting up off the couch and actually moving/interacting.

Initially it was a big hit. The whole family got involved and many hours were spent by all doing daily exercises etc. Its cool because each family member can have their own little me, wii fit person/profile. And by standing on the balance board the wii weighs you, and gives you bmi. I don't know how accurate it is though. It also tests your centre of gravity and allows you to set fitness goals.

In comparison to playstation and xbox the graphics are pretty sub-standard but the concept makes up for it. The balance board is relatively simple to use but for some of the exercises/challenges you do require good aim and a keen eye to avoid standing on it wrong. We also found that batteries seem to run low quite quickly too.

All in all though its a great game set up that gets you off the couch and shows you just how unfit you might be lol turns out I was very unfit. But its enjoyable, fun, and great for family bonding. And if you really want to join a gym but find the idea daunting or finances don't allow just yet, this is a great wee alternative to the gym. Suitable for all ages and easy to navigate too :)

At the time this game set seemed like a fantastic idea. The Wii really is no good without a balance board as it limits what games you can play.

The concept of the game is fantastic, like having a personal trainer on tap 24/7 in the comfort of your own home! The downside is, the novelty soon wears off and ours became abandoned, sad and dusty!

The games on this are fully interactive and really fun, awesome to play with others and you can compete and really get into it. On your own, you feel like a bit of an idiot *what are the neighbours thinking??*

The quality of graphics and the ease of use cannot be faulted, so overall this is a great concept and a great game, the kids are sure to love this and enjoy it with friends ... and its awesome as it involves physical activity, which can lead to lots and lots of huffing and puffing!

Wii Fit from Nintendo is a fun way to keep tabs on your fitness.

To start, you enter a variety of personal details: height, age etc. From this the program can work out your ideal weight. Of course true 'ideal weight' covers a range that is normal, but the machine has limitations so it simply works out one precise figure (e.g. 56.3 kg or BMI 22). That being said, when you set your goals for target weight/BMI it does indicate a range of targets as still being ideal for you, so it's doing ok! (Then again, if you don't enter your height very accurately, that will also throw out your apparent 'ideal' weight/BMI.)

After you step on the board - the program calculates your actual weight & BMI etc. Then you can do a fitness 'test' and find out your 'Wii Fit age'. This part is quite humorous and I would caution anyone against taking it too seriously. So many factors can affect the outcome, like the difference between having the board on a hard floor or thick carpet for example (affects how well you can balance). You might end up being told your 'Wii Fit age is 20+ years younger or older than what you really are. I think I have ranged from about 30 to 64 (still working on getting down to 24, lol). Regardless of how specifically accurate it's various measures are - they are internally consistent and serve as a useful monitor. The main reason I like the Wii Fit is that you can quickly see a chart of your progress over time, in a fun way.

There are some very good exercises included, which do give a pretty decent work out (only if you do them though, heh!). Not all of the Yoga or muscle exercises require the balance board, but most do.

You can choose a male or female trainer and I do like that you can toggle front or rear view. Having used eye toy (Kinetic, and Kinetic Combat), and various exercise DVDs like Tai Chi etc where the trainer always faces you - I wondered how long before it occurred to producers to allow the user to toggle views so the trainer is working in the same orientation as you (Gold star for Wii Fit!).

I guess the hardest bit is maintaining inner discipline and time management to consistently keep with any exercise regimen for best value. I also do other kinds of exercise (cycling, cross-trainer etc) so I don't often spend a long time on a lot of Wii Fit exercises in any one session. I prefer to weigh in, do a fitness test, check my progress logs and then choose a few exercises (mostly yoga and muscle toning).

I have only one minor complaint. Surely they understood from the start that by nature these exercises would be repeated many times, so the trainer's 'post exercise' comments should be able to be instantly skipped or even set to 'no comments' at the user's discretion. It is really a very small gripe, but when you are on a busy schedule those extra few seconds at the end of every exercise seem to be wasting your time, as you have already heard this information many times...

Overall, Wii Fit (and accompanying balance board) has been a worthwhile and enjoyable purchase.