Metareview -- Wii Fit

by Ludwig Kietzmann { May 20th 2008 at 9:00AM }

Wii Fit used to be that thing you threw when the guy behind the counter told you the store was sold out of Nintendo's insanely popular console. Again. Nowadays, it's a video game and balance board peripheral claiming to make exercise "fun." Yeah, right!

No, seriously, right. The critics have done the whole Yoga thing and declared that exercise needn't be the terrifying and punishing physical activity you've dreaded all these years. It might not be the sort of game you want to play all day long, but if you're set on shedding some pounds, it sure beats going to the boring ol' gym. You can do eat!

1UP (83/100): "I guess I'd hoped an exercise videogame would make fitness a lot more fun -- and easier to do. And, though it doesn't quite exceed those expectations, Wii Fit will get you moving -- especially if you're looking for a gentle, fun introduction to an exercise program."
Eurogamer (80/100): "You can compare your results with others, but really it's about setting your own targets and seeing how your performance improves. So far I've found this provides enough motivation to play Wii Fit every day - sometimes for ten minutes, sometimes for an hour. I don't know how long I'll keep this up for, but I do know switching on the Wii is a lot easier than going to the gym. Wii Fit is not as beneficial, undoubtedly, but a lot more fun."
IGN (80/100): "But for a title that is so geared toward the everyman, it clings onto one hardcore fundamental -- unlocking challenges. So if you're the type who wants to jump right into everything that Wii Fit has to offer from the beginning, you're out of luck. You'll need to spend days upon days partaking in all of the modes to earn Wii Fit minutes, which eventually add up and open up other portions of the experience."
GameDaily (80/100): "Like Miyamoto said a few months ago, Wii Fit won't necessarily make you fit. If you're looking to get ripped, you're better off buying some protein powder and heading to the gym. For everyone else, this is a clever way to sneak in a little extra exercise every day."

Tags: Balance-Board, Exercise, Nintendo, Wii-Fit

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

name123 @ May 20th 2008 9:12AM

Scam.

tmacairjordan87 @ May 20th 2008 9:22AM

And here I thought I'd never ever ever agree with anything you said, but you're right in this case.

People try jogging every day. It's free and you'll get in better shape. Spend the $90 on other (real) games you may want.

JJ Rooster @ May 20th 2008 9:29AM

Awesome first post. This will sell, just like all the stupid ab crunchers and other gimmicky fitness products. And it will soon go unused, just like the Wii itself by a number of casual owners.

redneckvampire @ May 20th 2008 9:50AM

"We don't serve their kind here!"
"What?"
"Your droids (anything other than hardcore elite games). They'll have to wait outside. We don't want them here."

Markez (MKWii 4339-2878-5120) @ May 20th 2008 10:04AM

@ Tmac

Some people want to, and will do both. What's the harm in that?

Grog @ May 20th 2008 10:42AM

My wife and I have a membership to the local Y. We're there 3-5 days a week to lift or run, but my wife still wants this for her birthday. For those days when you don't feel like going back out to the gym or don't want as intense of a workout, this is a great tool. It also utilizes a program that sets goals and encourages you through progress, something that most real world gyms are just starting to catch on to.

Shagittarius @ May 20th 2008 10:55AM

Nintendo Schill. Use the 90 bucks for sex instead you losers.

copa @ May 20th 2008 10:59AM

Shag, that's like telling us to go use the 90 bucks to buy a car instead.

I mean, yes, it's possible, but I'm really not going to be happy with the end product.

Shagittarius @ May 20th 2008 11:11AM

Lol copa!

Your thinking too big, don't go for around the world, settle for something specific an 90 should be plenty.

Worst Review Ever @ May 20th 2008 11:35AM

Did Shag just say that people that want Wii Fit are losers and recommend paying for sex in the same breath? The irony is almost killing me.

Shagittarius @ May 20th 2008 11:45AM

No I suggested that people who NEED Wii Fit should use the money to pay for sex instead.

ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ May 21st 2008 3:41AM

It'd only truly be a scam if there was another game on the market which offered anything similar to what WiiFit does, but at a better price/quality ratio.

nastysquar3d @ May 20th 2008 9:12AM

While I applaud what Nintendo is trying to do here and *might* pick this up someday down the line these reviews are pretty much what I expected.

It's gotta be hard for game reviewers to review something this non-traditional.

jsn @ May 20th 2008 9:16AM

what you call nontraditional, others call a gimmick.

nastysquar3d @ May 20th 2008 9:22AM

So what's your point again?

I could call a lot of "traditional" games some negative connotation because they're not my cup of tea.

kevinski @ May 20th 2008 9:32AM

Relax. Really, there's nothing wrong with a Nintendo product getting anything less than 10/10. Really, this was just a lame idea, altogether, and I feel that even scores around 80% are being a bit too generous.

nastysquar3d @ May 20th 2008 9:39AM

For the record, I don't mean "hard" as in they got the score wrong, I think the scores are right on. I mean hard as in, "How do you rate something that isn't really a game?".

No objectives (per se), no levels, no sense of accomplishment in the traditional gaming sense (beating a hard boss / level).

I guess hard was a bad choice of words and "weird" might have been better.

Paviel @ May 20th 2008 12:05PM

"No objectives (per se), no levels, no sense of accomplishment in the traditional gaming sense (beating a hard boss / level)."

That describes Wii Sports pretty accurately too. Did anybody have difficulty reviewing Wii Sports?

nastysquar3d @ May 20th 2008 12:56PM

"That describes Wii Sports pretty accurately too. Did anybody have difficulty reviewing Wii Sports?"

You mean to tell me that bowling a perfect 300 isn't an accomplishment? You mean to tell me that a hole in one isn't an accomplishment? You mean to tell me that hitting all ten pitches out of the park in homerun derby isn't an accomplishment?

Wii Sports definitely has accomplishments in the traditional sense. I don't see Wii Fit having that unless outside of "I did better this time than last" which is an accomplishment in its own right. But I don't see any "goals" or milestones that you can reach. It seems that there's no upper limit. It's a game that you can never be "perfect" at because there's always room for improvement.

That's pretty non-traditional if you ask me.

Chase @ May 20th 2008 9:21AM

Someone tell Nintendo to stop fucking around and put out a real successor to the Zapper.

The only thing good about Wii Fit is how it tells people "Holy shit, fat ass, get the fuck off me" - and if it doesn't it should.

baby sea tuna @ May 20th 2008 10:11AM

Why bother?

http://www.nyko.com/Nyko/Products/?i=124

Jody Anthony (cookingrebels.com) @ May 20th 2008 11:14AM

that nyko perfect shot is 100% pure awesome.

double wielding nyko perfect shots + house of the dead 2 and 3 return = bliss

GRANTED @ May 20th 2008 9:24AM

if the game is mediocre, it's mediocre. it's not because GAME REVIEWERS (read: it's THEIR JOB) don't know how to review it. But rather, it's a crappy peripheral aimed at people too lazy to spend 20 min X 3 days per week at the gym, or fernandos that think nintendo first party can do no wrong. the only reason it got low 80s is because it's a novelty.

nastysquar3d @ May 20th 2008 9:33AM

I'm not suggesting that it got "mediocre" reviews because they don't know how to review it. That's not how I meant my comment to be construed. It's my opinion that a game review should reflect how fun and engaging a game is.

That being said I never expected a piece of exercise equipment to be fun. (Exercise is inherently not fun in my opinion). However, that doesn't mean that this doesn't succeed in what it is trying to do.

And I have to say that I also disagree with 80's being "mediocre".

Dave @ May 20th 2008 9:26AM

And despite all the reviews, this thing will still sell like hotcakes. Non-traditional gamers have spoken with their wallets.

Chase @ May 20th 2008 9:29AM

At this point, I'm pretty sure people would buy a Nintendo-brand Fleshlight peripheral, and reviewers would give it 10s across the board praising it as the second 'coming' of Jesus.

J @ May 20th 2008 10:47AM

Yeah, man! Fleshlights are the shizz, but you can never tell what brand they are, once in the bedroom... if it can make Jesus come twice then they're good enough for me ;)

chez @ May 20th 2008 9:26AM

First "game" to sell a billion.

zero2dash @ May 20th 2008 10:25AM

a) there haven't been a billion Wii's sold let alone a billion produced

b) they'll have WiiFit "shortages" I'm sure

xFenixKnightx @ May 20th 2008 9:28AM

You gotta give Nintendo credit though, this POS is gonna sell through the roof after people see it on Good Morning America, The Today Show, Ellen's goofy butt, Oprah, etc.

*sigh

JJ Rooster @ May 20th 2008 9:35AM

Truth brother! I don't hate the Wii so much as the casuals who buy them for 1-2 games, making the NDF think the Wii is the best console ever.

At a BBQ yesterday, people asked why I don't have a Wii and they all said the bowling/tennis/baseball looks fun. To them the Wii was for WiiSports and that's all they knew. Fuck them, they're part of the problem.

GenBanks @ May 20th 2008 9:44AM

Why is that a problem? Those people would probably have enjoyed getting around the TV and playing it. I have a Wii, hardly play any games on it though. It's still good to have because everyone can play and enjoy wii sports. The only person who uses it is my sister, who isn't a gamer on any other platform but is obsessed with Zelda and has gotten much further into the game than I have.

samfish @ May 20th 2008 9:47AM

"I don't hate the Wii so much as the casuals who buy them...Fuck them, they're part of the problem."

Wow, aren't WE quite the little elitist?

Oh, wait, I mean 31337157

xFenixKnightx @ May 20th 2008 9:48AM

GenBanks

Good, so you agree that the Wii should'nt even be put in the same category as PS3 or 360 right. kthxbai

Dale @ May 20th 2008 9:50AM

I don't see Wii Fit as a bad thing. But then, I *want* people who traditionally wouldn't buy games to understand my passtime and thus not think of me as a sad little boy blasting monsters in his bedroom.

Nigeria @ May 20th 2008 9:54AM

"Good, so you agree that the Wii should'nt even be put in the same category as PS3 or 360 right."

You're right, Fenix.

To use a marketing term, the Wii is a next generation console while the PS3 and 360 look rather laggard.

xFenixKnightx @ May 20th 2008 9:54AM

Samfish

Why must you and the other NDF always bring this "elitist" crap in? "You're an elistist blah blah blah." Get over it.

xFenixKnightx @ May 20th 2008 9:58AM

Nigeria

Thats fine by me. The Wii can be all by itself in that "true next-gen" category for all I care.

samfish @ May 20th 2008 10:07AM

Why do "we" bring it in, Fenix?

BECAUSE IT'S ELITIST SHIT! Sheesh, man.

"NO! tehy shoodn't be allowed to play gamez becuz the gamez tehy like all suck! fuck them!"

There's nothing inherently wrong about being elitist, so long as you're dignified about it; otherwise, you're just obnoxious.
The problem is, telling "casual" gamers to go fuck off because they don't like teh Haloz or whatever is FAR from dignified.

I know that I don't have to explain to you why being an asshole towards others is wrong!

xFenixKnightx @ May 20th 2008 10:16AM

Sure I agree, what HE said was overboard but goodness, NDF sure does like that word. Most of the time its not merited. Oh, and calm down...you like it, thats cool. I'm sure Wii Fit will be able to get all your agression out :)

samfish @ May 20th 2008 10:37AM

Well, no...it is merited, because of all the fear and what appears to be borderline hatred for casual style gamers. Now, if it were a topic about some 'hardcore' game and someone came in and just out of the blue said, 'all of you guys are elitist', than sure, that's wrong.
...but I don't know I've ever seen that, to be honest.

Telling people they should be excluded for not liking the same thing someone else likes should be frowned upon always, from religion to video games.

JJ Rooster @ May 20th 2008 11:03AM

Samfish, I admire the Wii for what it is. It's a Nintendo console primarily for Nintendo games, and generally skews towards casuals. I just hate how some NDF claim the Wii has won the console race this round, when really the Wii is nowhere near the leaps PS3/360 have made this gen. That irritation makes me spew venom once and a while in Nintendo posts, apologies.

Shagittarius @ May 20th 2008 11:09AM

The difference here is that the Wii and Nintendos strategy really do undermine what games are striving to be. In a few years time people will look back on the Wii like they look back on boy bands. Just like boy bands are percived as fake, rip off, assembled music the Wii will be seen as the same.

People who defended the Wii will be seen like people who listened to New Kids on the Block, or any of the other boy bands, people with really bad taste to be avoided, or sheep who will do whatever pop culture tells them to do.

When they do 'I love the '00s' on VH1 people will blast the Wii and wonder how the hell Nintendo managed to pull off the biggest product hoax in history.

It s funny to listen to you Nintendo Fanboys defend casual games, it sounds just like your defending boy bands. Some things are just shit and theres no justifying them, some people have bad taste and theres no justifying that. Keep repeating your casual gamers mantra over and over to yourself to justify your unreasonable love affair with Nintendo, but eventually (pretty soon) the casual gamers will get tired of it, and even you wont be able to build up any fanboy fervor for Wii Fit 2, or Brain Training 9, or Mario 24, anymore, because they will be dumbed down to the point where its not even a game anymore.

Bon Appetit

GenBanks @ May 20th 2008 12:15PM

"Good, so you agree that the Wii should'nt even be put in the same category as PS3 or 360 right. kthxbai"

Uhm, why do you think that's such a strong point? I don't give a shit which category you want to put it in. Do whatever you want, it doesn't matter. What I said is true though.

Mr Khan @ May 20th 2008 2:31PM

You guys are right: It's Wii Fit's fault that Splinter Cell Conviction was just delayed: The Gods of Gaming are angry, my friends. This casual shit displeases them

If we sacrifice a copy of Wii Sports to Kali Ma, all will be made better

(Takes tongue out of cheek)

t_m @ May 20th 2008 2:37PM

"The difference here is that the Wii and Nintendos strategy really do undermine what games are striving to be. In a few years time people will look back on the Wii like they look back on boy bands. Just like boy bands are percived as fake, rip off, assembled music the Wii will be seen as the same."

And the others will be the teenagers who refuse to give credit to anything unless its "meaningful and depressing" and spend all their time criticizing everyone else's music tastes? Snobs essentially.

What nintendo is doing is widening the market. Half these hated "casuals" will move on to becoming "hardcore" and that will be good for everyone.

(and I'm sure once they do they'll spend all their time loudly dissing nintendo and proclaiming how their new taste is superior to everyone else... just like everyone does when they migrate from boy bands to other music forms...)

tdub301 @ May 20th 2008 3:16PM

how stupid is it to say "what video games are trying to be"? Shag, you've obviously humped your brains out with too many 90 dollar whores.

I'll tell you right now what video games are trying to be and if you disagree you're an idiot, they're trying to be big business and guess what? They're all succeeding and the NDF has every right to say the Wii is winning cuz guess what? Nintendo is making the most business. Like it or not, you know this is true.

Sorry they are expanding their audience and coming out with some games you don't like, their must be a rule somewhere that all video game makers have to appease Microsoft and Sony fans in order to get their "I'm a real system" video game boy scout badges.

This is nothing but a big competition to see which fanboys are right. All fanboys, regardless of the system they love exhibit the same traits of grasping at straws to make their favorite console look better.

I'm a Nintendo fan because I grew up loving my Nintendo games, and I'll always be loyal to my childhood friend. Does that mean I think it's perfect? And I have a 360, too, and like it as well while it's working (stopped reading discs a little while ago, surprised?) I'm not defending casual games, I couldn't give a damn about a casual game, I don't play them. I play Galaxy, Brawl, Zelda, Metroid, No More Heroes, Godfather, etc. Are you going to say those are casual games?

I'm not going to sit here and let you people (that's right I said it, you people) say it's destroying hardcore gaming or compare it to a boy band or something. The bands would still be around if they hadn't broken up, and people would still be listening to their music (don't get me wrong, I couldn't stand them myself) that's a very bad analogy. And since when would you give a damn about something MTV or VH1 says? or care about something that happens in an "I love the 'xx years" show? Very bad analogy, so anyone without the same taste as you has bad taste then? I thought you were smarter than that.

While I'm playing my Mario 24 you'll be playing your Gears of War 17, and God of War 14. There is a way bigger difference between Mario Galaxy and the last Mario than there will be between all 4 God of War games combined after the PS3 version comes out. You'll still be walking around a fixed path beating down the same enemies with those same weapons and being able to do a few new kill maneuvers. But guess what? I'll probably still play it and have fun with it anyway and not badmouth it like "you people" like to do for Nintendo games.

All you ever hear from Microsoft and Sony fans is "Oh my god, the Wii is worthless cuz it doesn't look as good as my system", "games aren't fun unless they look good", "if it doesn't have a lot of blood and violence it's a little kid game", "my system is better cuz I get to play with annoying 14 year olds online who don't know how to shut the fuck up", "the Wii has nothing but casual and shovelware games" (for the record, the first 2 playstations had a shit load of terrible games as well, but you never bring those up, it's cuz they were the system selling the most), and other "waa waa waa my system isn't selling as well and I don't know why" arguments.

I'd tell you to give it a rest, but like I said before it's a competition and we all play games, so the competition will never die.

"bon appetit"