Saturday, January 16, 2010
We're finally giving in. Sort of. I'm not a big video game person. It's not that I don't find them fun; I have fond memories of summers spent playing Astrosmash and B-17 Bomber on my uncle Dave's Intellivision. However, I also found that it was far easier decision to use my laptop to destroy bad guys than to pen my CS honours thesis back in the day. To avoid frittering away my money on things I don't really need or want, one principle to which I firmly adhere is that, if I think I want something, I should, as my dad says, "lay down until the feeling passes." However, there has been talk of getting a Wii Fit for some while now, so I think it's safe to say that it would not be an impulse purchase. Monsieur Jude keeps talking about getting a video game, "just like [his cousin] Thomas," (even at this very moment, he is playing with his toy cars, and some blocks as a "mo-control and a video game") and Rebecca is (I think) interested in using the Wii fit as an alternative to the gym, which involves both planning and public showers.
Not known for its first person shooters, the Wii instead has many family oriented games, which is a plus. There's the modest potential of the Wii Fit as a health benefit. And then there's the nostalgia of the rebooted Mario Bros. dynasty. Not all Wii offerings are winners, however. As you may know, I like to cook, and Rebecca likes to entertain. For that reason, when the television is on, if it is not tuned into Nick Jr., it is usually tuned into the Food Network. There, I have seen advertised a Wii game called Cook or Be Cooked. The game requires the player to use the Wii controller to chop, flip, fry, and otherwise do the actions involved in cooking a meal. The holy grail in video game design is to achieve total immersion in the game. Piles of money and manpower have been thrown at the task of making games as realistic as possible. Photorealistic renderings of skyscapes, rumble controllers and 5.1 surround sound go some of the distance, but the experience of virtual reality remains beyond the capabilities of the most advanced hardware programmed by the cleverest engineers. However, if it's chopping, frying and stirring that you're into, the technology for a fully immersive experience does exist. It's called put down the damn Wii controller and go make dinner because it's 7:30 and your kids are eating the peanut butter out of the container.
2 comments:
I don't think you'll regret it! In addition to the Wii Fit Plus, I've heard that the game Active is good, if Becca is looking for a good workout. I like the aerobic and strength training exercises the best. The biggest benefit to me, though, is that it's motivating. It gets me onto our stationary bike, too. If you've got wireless Internet, we can have our characters travel to each others' systems.
i have both wii fit and wii active...if you want a workout, get wii active from electronic arts. it IS a workout. i sweat and get sore like i do at the gym.
wii fit is great for practicing some yoga stuff and some of the strength stuff as well as the balance games but it's not at all intense (the strength challenges are but there are only three of them). there is no ability to put together a program of stuff, so it's never really much of a workout because you just move from one activity to another and that's time consuming and unless you have something written out it's a bit random.
wii active on the other hand is a workout. you can use the wii board too with some of the sports activities. but anyway, there is first of all a 30 day challenge which is 20 workouts done over the course of a month (or sooner) and these are about 30 mins each. they will push you. you can choose from three difficulty levels. i use the hard level and i find it a good challenge.
on top of that there are programs set up already for different goals, like how long you want to work out, whether cardio or upper or lower body, and again different levels to choose from. also, you can make your own programs. so right now i'm nearly done the 30 day workout and i also do some of the preset programs and have made up a few of my own to do different things (e.g., i like the sports activities so a couple of the ones i made up are a 30 mins and 60 mins mainly sports workout).
the thing missing from wii active is abdominal stuff and my understanding is that this is included in the add-on called wii "more active". also on more active is a 6 week challenge.
for me, in winter, i find it harder to get my ass out of bed at 5:30 to get to the gym for 6 (the only real time i have) so i've been doing wii active more. but then i also jog, walk to school, and still get in some mornings to the gym, but 6 days out of 7 i'm doing wii active. some days (like days i don't do anything more active than walking to and from work) i do it twice a day.
so....wii fit = fun but not a gym replacement. wii active = can definitely be a gym replacement for normal folks who aren't looking to be the next mr. muscles(or those with public shower anxiety).
and that's my two cent review.
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