Videogames | Fit to Be Wii’d: The revolutionary platform is now your home exercise regimen 

It’s not for lack of trying, mind you. I’ve asked for it, begged for it and now I’m screaming for it. Oh, well, I guess cooking eggs is the one thing that Nintendo Wii can’t do.

In the past, it has made me a boxer, a golfer and an assassin, so I figured over-easy and a side of bacon would be child’s play. The Wii has already made itself the only absolutely must-have videogame system thanks to its groundbreaking interactive play.

But now, the boys and girls at Nintendo are trying to develop it into a product that you can’t get along without in your daily life.

I first realized this when I realized that Wii was becoming a must-have for families who didn’t even care about or want a videogame system in their house. Thanks to the addictive nature of Wii Play and the interactive Miis, combined with the system’s “get off your butt and do something” philosophy, the Wii was flooding into homes at very high rates. For a lot of families, the Wii has become an entertainment centerpiece. Family game nights once featuring Monopoly, Life and Operation have been replaced by family bowling and golf tournaments. It’s the interactive board game of a new generation.

Now Nintendo wants to use the Wii’s innovation to make it fit even more into your everyday routines with Wii Fit. You already go to the Wii for your entertainment, so why not for your workout routine?

Wii Fit is an interactive “game” that comes with a special balance board that allows you to conduct various exercises and activities. You can perform yoga poses, engage in strength training exercises like push ups, play games to help with your balance and activities to engage you in aerobic exercise. The game measures your weight and your body’s age, and then you are able to track your progress as you play the various games. While only allowing you to determine your body type by weight is an obvious flaw, the game is absolutely a good building block for future fitness titles. And it certainly is a lot healthier (some might say) than playing Grand Theft Auto IV for hours on end.

But what Wii Fit does more than exercise your body is exercise your brain. You can’t help but think, “What will it be able to do next?” Videogames have always been the ultimate outlet for fantasy, escapism and, unfortunately, laziness. But we were OK with that, we accepted and we loved it. The advances made by the Wii, however, have broken down the barriers of what gaming is more so than any other advance in gaming to date. So if Wii Fit really has the power to make us healthy, we’d better take advantage of it because if this is any indication of where gaming is going, we’re going to need six-pack abs just to survive.

InBrief
Summer Movie Tie-In Games
Since I have always dubbed myself the gatekeeper of movie-based games, I have to spend just a couple of words on this summer’s new crop of movie-based titles: They stink. From Iron Man to Prince Caspian to the somewhat OK Speed Racer, these games once again seem rushed into production to capitalize on the accompanying films. I have slim hopes for both the Hulk and Hellboy games, because both are scheduled to be released around the times of the films. On a really high note, however, Lego Indiana Jones should be incredible, just like the Lego Star Wars of previous years. Of course, it’s based on a movie, but the cred that comes along with the Lego titles always makes them worth playing.