Wii Fit at the Play Away the Calories event, Dana Centre Thurs. 26th March 2008
A wet Wednesday night in London it may have been but it was worth the travel into the city to experience the first public showing of the Nintendo Wii game, Wii Fit. Some very well presented science was also on show at the Dana Centre with the event discussing on 3 levels, if gaming is a healthy activity in mind & body & could it be so in the future:
“Could video games make you healthier? With adult obesity rates having almost quadrupled in the last 25 years, might more interactive games technology really increase our fitness?”
Before I get onto the event in full let me give you my…
Wii Fit impressions
It’s a shame but I was told that I couldn’t take any pictures of the Wii running Wii Fit at the event. I had thought that Nintendo would have been more open even to allow just a shot of the Wii being put through it’s fitness paces but it wasn’t to be.
Nevertheless what I did see of Wii Fit gave the strong impression that we will be looking at a well executed, fun, polished & maybe healthy gaming experience.
At the start out you have your own Mii avatar that tracks your progression over time, I also saw a monthly calendar which allowed you to look at your past days events & activities, don’t know if this is something you can edit or not. Wii Fit looks like it is geared towards healthy competition within the household, this also seems to be backed up from the events I saw on the night; ski slalom & jumping, jogging, hula hoping & step aerobics all had a best times leader-board or at the very least a star rating, out of 5 for each event/exercise attempt. Slalom skiing also awards penalty time to each gate missed ala the real thing & with the ski jumping, a good forward leaning position before leaving the ski jump makes all the difference. A circular indicator guides you to the best forward leaning position…if you do have a bad exit off the jump the results can be spectacular!
Wii Fit will not come with all exercises & events unlocked. Which means you must master the beginners selection of exercises before you can try the next more advanced level. Last thing Nintendo want are law suits over injury to deal with from players attempting the more intricate Yoga postures!
OK on to the event itself…
Play Away the Calories
Group #1…but no prizes were forthcoming
The event itself had some serious topics to cover about health & gaming. With a good 60 or so people attending the event, we each were given a numbered sticker either 1,2 or 3. Each number referring to the group 1,2 or 3 that we were divided into after a short introduction from the 3 speakers. One of the speakers was an ex-journalist turned consultant, Margaret Robertson & spoke to her at the end of the event although not as long as I’d liked to as at this point I had time on my mind with the long journey home looming.
Each group then had time with each speaker over the course of the night. My group had Tim(sorry didn’t catch the surname) who was connected to a Sport & Exercise department in a Merseyside University. Apologies here as I am still getting to grips with my new Dictaphone & some information has been lost in translation.
This session looked at how new gaming could be a benefit to health & fitness. A volunteer was used as a guinea pig of sorts being connected to heart rate monitor & a monitor for oxygen consumption. Then put through different activities beginning with the sedentary, sitting on a chair to the more active running on a tread mill then on to playing Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training to Wii Fits Step aerobics.
First highlighted in this session which was picked up upon through the night, was the fact that even sedentary gaming was better for you in a measurable way than say sitting watching TV. Deep down I’m sure we’ve all know this to be true!
Margaret Robertson spoke at length about the history of exercise gaming from the early days of Nintendos Dance Aerobics from the ’80’s to the games that made use of PS2s Eye Toy. The conclusion being that the more a game rewarded you with better in game items or achievements & the more fun the experience was for the player then the more that game would impact on the players everyday life. A lesson Nintendo hope to have learnt with Wii Fit.
A number of nice conclusions were hit upon at the end of the event & I think that even if Wii Fit does what it has in it’s Japan release it will at the very least make people question their own fitness & lifestyle. Wii Fit in itself will be a good addition towards a balance healthy lifestyle but I don’t think it can claim to be a sole fitness proposition or a replacement for all actually exercise needed to stay fit & well.
Even though I left tired after a days work & on top of all the travelling it was a worthwhile event to attend & housed in a very well orchestrated venue as the Dana Centre.
§Related Posts ¦ Wii
Tags: Dana Centre, Fitness, Mii avatar, Nintendo, Play Away the Calories, Science, sedentary gaming, Wii Fit
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March 28, 2008 at 12:02 am
would u buy this yourself? i hear you can use the mat itself as a controller for other games such as Wii Ski, could be fun with a group of people…
March 28, 2008 at 5:16 am
Alright John
yes I’d buy it but am hoping to get a promo copy from Nintendo to review. There’s a slim chance of that as I spoke to the woman from Nintendo at the event & got a contact in their press office.
I think the Wii balance board will be used on a good number of titles to come.
March 28, 2008 at 11:40 am
Glad it was fun…
it was Tim Cable from LJMU
March 28, 2008 at 7:10 pm
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