Wii Fit: Will the new fitness game get gamers off the couch?

By Jaweed Kaleem

Jun. 3, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Can a video game improve your posture? Build and tone your muscles? Help you lose weight?

With the release of Wii Fit -- a workout routine disguised as a video game -- Nintendo is betting it can.

Fit is the latest game for the Nintendo Wii, which upended the couch gamer model with a more active, family-friendly experience when it was released in 2006. Unlike most game consoles, Wii lets players use a wireless, one-handed remote that detects movement in three dimensions. In games such as tennis and bowling, the player's arms and body mimic the actual moves on screen.

Fit takes that to the next level with a "balance board" that measures the body's weight and center of mass. Players use the board to perform aerobic exercises, strength training and even yoga -- all while trying to keep pace with an avatar on the TV screen. They also get verbal encouragement and feedback on technique. Fit includes more than 40 workouts, from push-ups and lunges to step aerobics, ski jumps and Hula-Hoop. The $90 game, bundled with the board, has been sold out in many stores since its release less than two weeks ago.

While Wii Fit may be one of the most advanced exercise-related games to date, it's not the first. Dance Dance Revolution, a music video game in which players move their feet across a dance pad, stepping in time to song beats, was a hit in arcades and at homes years before Wii's release. And gyms, school fitness programs and rehabilitation centers have increasingly turned to exercise games to train, trim and rehabilitate people.

With that in mind, we tested the Wii Fit on a personal trainer, a group of middle schoolers and a patient going through physical therapy.

Did they break a sweat or was it just another video game? Read on.

8th grade gym class

Nautilus Middle School

Miami Beach

Nautilus students have been using video games to work out for months. It is the only public middle school in Miami-Dade County to have a video-game equipped wellness center. There are flat-screen TVs attached to PlayStation 2 systems with Dance Dance Revolution pads, bike-powered racing video games, treadmills that can hook up to iPods to play nutritional videos, and computers set to MyPyramid.Gov, where students can learn about diet and exercise.

Zach Bradley, 14, tried the yoga, push-ups and soccer head-butt exercises. After about 30 minutes, he had worked up a light sweat. Along with regular gym class, he goes to the video game room two or three times a week to work out, often on Dance Dance Revolution.

Bernard Cohen, 13, tried lunges, skip jump and alpine skiing. "It's the coolest Wii game I've played," he said. "I don't have any game systems at home because my parents think I'll get addicted, but this one gives you a good workout."

Bottom line: Kids easily picked up on the Wii and Wii Fit. Jayne Greenberg, director of physical education for Miami-Dade schools, watched, impressed. She hopes to get a Wii for the wellness center soon. Yet, she'll make one change: She won't let kids measure their height, weight or body-mass-index with Wii Fit -- she doesn't want the system to tell any students they're overweight.

"These kids are brought up with technology and the same systems we complain can make kids overweight can be the ones we use to help them exercise," she said. "With the game systems we already have, kids are exercising for an hour and a half and not even realizing it. They are drenched when finished."

Shondelle Solomon-Miles

Personal Trainer

Hollywood

Solomon-Miles owns Synergize!, a fitness studio in Hollywood that offers classes on weight loss, strength training and aerobics. In mid-April, she gave birth to her second child and by late May, she went back to her workout routine: up to 45 minutes of cross-training each day, including boxing, push-ups and running up bleachers.

She had never used the Wii system before. For her 30-minute test, Solomon-Miles, 33, tried yoga, step aerobics, Hula-Hoop and push-ups.

"Some exercises aren't very user-friendly," she noted. She had a hard time keeping up with the step aerobics exercise, where she had to step on and off the Balance Board as highlighted arrows told her the directions in which to step. She partially chalked it up to not being used to playing similar games such as Dance Dance Revolution -- and video games in general.

In the case of push-ups, Solomon-Miles thought the 12-by-20-inch board needed to be slightly wider to accommodate her arms, which were centered on the pressure-sensitive board. "I would do push-ups with a wider stance," she said. "The smaller stance makes it harder to do them, especially for a beginner."

Yoga -- she practiced the warrior pose -- and Hula-Hoop didn't present problems.

Bottom line: "For just getting off the couch, it could be good. It's also a great way to get kids active. I wouldn't incorporate it into my usual workout regimen, but for somebody who is deconditioned, this could be great."

Martin Solano

Rehab Patient

Baptist Hospital

Martin, 12, used to love playing Xbox 360, but lost the ability to move much of his right side after developing a tumor on the left side of his brain. He had the tumor removed in December and has since gone three times a week to the rehabilitation center at Baptist Hospital, where he works on walking, speech and social skills.

Often, he'll play Wii games during his sessions, including Cooking Mama -- a game in which players peel, chop and mix on-screen foods -- and Big Brain Academy, a math and puzzle-based game. He also uses Wii Play, a game that includes shooting, fishing and table tennis activities, which helps develop hand-eye coordination.

"These games do wonders for his attention span. Before, he would get so easily distracted," said Rebecca Mojica, rehabilitation services manager.

In Wii Fit, Martin tried a balancing exercise, soccer head-butting game and Hula-Hoop. He got tired after about 45 minutes and his legs began to shake. His therapists found the balancing game useful. It showed that Martin was putting 75 percent of his weight on his left leg. Martin, who moves slowly with a walking stick, is still working on balance.

"We just bought a Wii at home when we saw how well he was doing here," said Martin's mother, Yaremi Acree. "Before surgery, it was homework first, then games. Now it's games first because it's part of therapy."

Bottom line: "This is so great for all our brain injury patients," said Caroline Godinez, Martin's recreational therapist. The one-handed remote is especially good for Martin because he can't use his right arm. The hospital uses Wii games for kids and adults alike, including stroke and geriatric patients, and has ordered Wii Fit.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0123-25713487