September 30 12:00 P.M.
With well over 20 million units sold in about a year and half, bona fide exergame phenomenon Wii Fit is already among the best-selling games of all-time.
It's the Wii Fit Plus, coming at'cha!
But despite its epic success, even Wii Fit's most enthusiastic fans were a bit miffed that a game purporting to be all about fitness was missing some key health-tracking features. Where's the customizable workout regimen? Where's the calorie counter? Where's the incentive to cancel that expensive gym membership and let this thing truly whip us into shape?
Waiting for Wii Fit Plus, that's where.
The sequel to Wii Fit stretched onto retail shelves last weekend, and while it doesn't reinvent the wheel, it offers a marked improvement over the original -- particularly for those interested in a real virtual workout.
I've been sweating to this newbie for a few days now. Here's how it's shaping up.
The basics:
Wii Fit Plus contains 15 new balance games, 3 new yoga poses and 3 new strength training exercises in addition to all of the balance games, yoga poses, strength training and aerobic exercises found in Wii Fit. In other words, Wii Fit Plus is the original Wii Fit plus a bunch of other cool stuff. What Nintendo lacks in creative game-naming, they certainly make up for in accuracy.
The game comes in two flavors. If you already own a Wii Balance Board, you can simply grab the game disc for a mere $20 and be up and running (or jogging) in minutes. However, if you're new to Wii Fit entirely, the bundled package -- Balance Board and game -- runs $100. That might seem excessive, but seeing as how Wii Fit currently retails for $90, it's actually a pretty fair price considering the new functionality (more on that in a bit).
What's new:
Okay, so I couldn’t wait. The real selling point of Wii Fit Plus isn't the new games and poses so much as its impressive new feature set, headlined by the ability to build your own workout from scratch in the new "My Wii Fit Plus" section.
There are a couple ways to do this. The quickest and arguably coolest option is to choose the new 'Wii Fit Plus Routines' mode and let the game throw together a three-activity regimen based on your particular needs. Long day at work? Select the "Relax" option and stretch away the stress. Scarf down one too many late-night snacks? Click "Overindulgence" and sweat off the guilt. You can even target specific areas, like your hips or arms, although the lack of a "gamer gut" option is clearly an oversight.
It's a fun, handy way to tackle day-to-day exercise needs, although it's really just scratching the customizable surface. Those looking for a more intense, fat-burning experience can literally build their own from the ground up. It's a bit like making an iTunes playlist: just drag and drop exercises and yoga poses and let the game string them together into a full workout, sans those irritating menu screens that broke up the flow in the original Wii Fit. Alternately, you can simply pop in a time limit and the game will build an appropriate workout for you on the spot. Looking for an impromptu, gut-busting, 45-minute circuit? Knock yourself out.
New Features makes the old shiny and new.
Adding even more cred to the game's increased focus on fitness is a calorie counter. Regardless of the play mode, the game will keep track of your calories burned, then relate that to different food sources through a partnership with the USDA National Nutrient Database. It can be quite sobering to crank out lunges for ten minutes only to find that you burned the equivalent of one can of soda. Do they still make Tab?
As for the new games and exercises, suffice to say they are just as much a mixed bag as those in the original game. An obstacle course stands out as being particularly engaging, as does the oddly addictive Rhythm Kung-Fu. A dull Segway simulator, however, is even less fun than riding an actual Segway. But you're not playing these games because they're a blast, you're playing them to help blast away your midsection. And in that regard, they sure won't hurt.
Is it worth it?
It's hard not to be impressed with Nintendo's refocused efforts at providing some truly useful weight loss features in Wii Fit Plus, although it's fair to argue that those features really should have been in Wii Fit to begin with. Still, there's no doubt that Wii Fit Plus is a better, stronger, and faster version of the world's most popular exergame. While the new games are a little underwhelming, the ability to fully customize a workout alone is worth the $20 dip in the wallet for current Wii Fit owners. And if you've been on the fence, now's a good time to hop off and get moving. Those abs aren't going to tighten themselves, you know.
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Posted: 30 Sep 2009
