So is Wii Fit really going to be any good at making the gaming "we" fit? That's a question Nintendo would rather not answer, just like they won't really say whether or not Brain Age really trains your brain. Still, if it doesn't make you lose at least a little bit of weight if you're over the limit, is it any kind of success?
This is where Game|Life's Chris Kohler comes in handy. Game|Life got a Wii Fit unit a month early and he was willing to submit himself as a guinea pig despite not being in the best of shape.
And that is precisely what the Japanese version of Wii Fit told me mere minutes into the experience. I put in my height (6 feet 1 inch) and stood on the Balance Board. Quicker than you can say "ranch dressing," it told me I was fat. This thing is a genius!
He came back after a full month of playing Wii Fit daily to talk about how much weight he'd lost, and the results are pretty interesting....
I'm losing weight slowly but surely. It's fluctuated a bit since I started a month ago, but I'm down a few pounds as of today. It's not nearly what I thought I'd lose, but from what people are telling me, what I didn't take into account is that the things I'm doing with Wii Fit are mostly for building muscle. Every time I play I usually do lunges, a Wiimote version of the "French press" weight exercise, and push-ups, which all serve to build and strengthen those muscle areas -- not so much burn fat.
Of course, as Kohler points out himself in the article, Wii Fit tracks your progress by how much you weigh on the board... even though muscle weighs more than fat. That aspect of the game isn't going to go over well, but if Wii Fit inspires people to start exercising regularly on their own, then it might just work. Now, if people are willing to drop $90 for encouragement... that remains to be seen.
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