Gaming against
your waistline

>>Nintendo hopes to lure weight-conscious
non-gamers into the fold with Wii Fit

PLAY GAMES, SHED POUNDS: Wii Fit in use

by ERIK LEIJON

With bikini weather just around the corner, the billion dollar health industry will be aggressively promoting a slew of quick fixes to shave those extra inches acquired over the winter, lose the extra arm flaps, un-cottage cheese those cellulite-ridden thighs and tone oneself to glowing Greek god/goddess status.

Nintendo is expecting their latest game, the active-minded Wii Fit, to provide something more to families than flab reduction. The Rocky workout montage equated getting in shape with consuming raw eggs, punching slabs of meat and running up stairs, but never did we see Sly Stallone prep for his umpteenth comeback fight playing video games (although Robert De Niro may have done so when packing on the pounds for Raging Bull).

“The intention in developing a game like Wii Fit was not to be put into that ‘Yeah this is an easy way for you to lose weight’ category,” says Matt Ryan, marketing director for Nintendo of Canada. “What it is intended for is to change the idea of what videogames are and to provide a fun way to participate in fitness. People can exert themselves in any way they want.”

Feel the youth

The videogame launched on May 19 in Canada exclusively for the Nintendo Wii console is the latest in the Japanese company’s line of products intended for non-gamers. Nintendo says they have specifically targeted families and women with Wii Fit, which uses a balance board as opposed to a regular controller. Similar in design to a typical aerobic step board, the Wii balance board is equipped with four sensor discs that pick up the arm and leg movements of anyone who stands on it. The exercises are a series of mini-games split into four categories: strength training, aerobics, yoga and balance training. Conceived by Nintendo with Japanese fitness experts, these games range from traditional yoga poses, push-ups and step boxing workouts to more fantastical activities such as ski jumping and tightrope walking.

“The activities are really basic in nature,” says Ryan. “We weren’t trying to create a new type of fitness training, it’s just a new way to do it.”

SENSORS STEP: Wii balance board

Ryan was on Day 15 of his new routine, and had dropped his Wii Fit Age to 23. (Ryan is 31 but did not say what his original Wii Fit age was.) The ideal Wii Fit Age should be lower than one’s real age, and is the method by which the game tracks a player’s fitness level. It is a combination of Body Mass Index (calculated by the balance board), the results of a few random balance tests and a player’s actual age.

This has provided some controversy in Europe—where the game launched in April—because some critics felt BMI isn’t an appropriate measure for children, and the game was telling young players they were overweight. Ryan points out Wii Fit is merely a game that boasts no health claims and should be a complement to an active lifestyle, adding, “We wanted to create something fun and get people active. It’s up to the individual user to determine how much they get out of it.”

Virtual reality meets real sweat

Another way Nintendo wanted to simplify the workout process was by providing a digital trainer to guide players through the 40 exercises, even pointing out proper breathing methods and making corrections. Wii Fit’s trainers will both verbally and physically demonstrate how to properly do every movement.

FEEL THE BURN! One of 40
exercises available

Hardcore gamers may scoff at Nintendo’s latest attempt to attract non-gamers to the Wii fold, but the balance board presents a technological advancement with far-reaching creative implications.

“It’s one step closer to virtual reality gaming,” says Ryan. “When you look at Wii Fit’s rhythm boxing, it incorporates the balance board with the Wii remote and nunchuk—that’s three accessories at once fully picking up the movements of your arms and legs. The possibilities could be endless.”