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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, April 27, 2009

Some Wii Fit games are better fits

By KIM PAINTER
USA Today

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Wii Fit has become popular with nongamer types, but does it provide a good workout? The $90 game, which includes a movement-sensitive balance board, has several additions out.

Nintendo

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I'm a Wii Fit fan. And I suspect I am a typical Wii Fit user: a mom who bought a Nintendo Wii gaming system for the kids, found the games fun and decided to try one aimed clearly at me. And, like many of the more than 6 million buyers who have made the exercise game a hit, I'm asking: What's next?

After all, Wii Fit is not perfect. The $90 game, which includes a movement-sensitive balance board, provides — at best — a light workout. For me, it's a rainy-day boost, but it can't beat the heart-thumping, muscle-warming workout I get from a simple, brisk outdoor walk. The yoga and strength-training options can provide a slow, gentle core workout. The balance games are fun and target a fitness zone most of us ignore. But the aerobic options — running in place, hula-hooping, step-dancing and boxing — come mostly in skimpy one- to six-minute segments that get old fast.

Overall, I give Wii Fit three stars for fun and two stars for fitness on a four-star scale.

When something is this popular, though, the market listens. And several additional Wii fitness games already are out. More are on the way — a good thing, because none so far provides the ideal mix of fun and fitness. Here's my take on three:

GOLD'S GYM CARDIO WORKOUT (UBISOFT)

Fun score: 2 stars

Fitness score: 3 stars

The box promises "a fun variety of cardio workouts and balance board exercises." So I was surprised to find this game's real mission is to train me to box — you know, punch and step, bob and weave. A few dull warm-up exercises are tacked on, but they don't make very creative use of the balance board. Still, the boxing is fun (for a while) and gets my heart beating.

My on-screen avatar (a character you design to represent you) is sleek, the instructions clear, the scoring system flattering (it says I spar with the agility of a 25-year-old). But did they have to make "buying" new clothes for my avatar the big reward for punching up points? A tip to the Gold's guys: Don't invite women to your sweaty gym and then treat them like girls.

MY FITNESS COACH (UBISOFT)

Fun score: 1 star

Fitness score: 3 1/2 stars

Maya, the soft-spoken trainer in this game, puts together a challenging, well-rounded program after testing me for strength, flexibility and endurance and asking whether I'd like to use hand weights, a stability ball, a step or a heart rate monitor. She lets me choose a workout space and music. But this is basically an old-school exercise DVD, tarted up with some customizable features.

So you don't get the same workout every day, but there's little to keep you coming back — no real scoring system, no clever use of the motion-tracking Wii remote and no use of the balance board at all (probably because this is a retread of a game made for other systems).

JILLIAN MICHAELS' FITNESS ULTIMATUM 2009 (MAJESCO ENTERTAINMENT)

Fun score: 1/2 star

Fitness score: 1 star

This game, from the host of TV's "The Biggest Loser," is just that — a dud. After outfitting my avatar (again, not a big thrill), I send her out to a training camp that features endless running in place through a repetitive, murky forest where, every few minutes, I'm dumped into some silly challenge (log jumping, monkey-bar climbing) with hard-to-follow instructions and dubious fitness value.

I get points but can't tell what they mean. Yes, some activities can be done with the balance board, but none is half as much fun as the Wii Fit ski jump.