Five things I like about the Wii Fit Plus

Wii Fit Plus is Nintendo's latest exercise based computer program.  It works with the Wii Fit Balance Board so not only do you watch stuff on the screen, the system gives you feedback and, most importantly, a score.

Wii Fit Plus is sold as a sequel to Wii Fit.  It's actually more of a Service Pack.  Both of them sell for about $100.  The Plus however, is also available for $20 without the Balance Board, for users who already own one.

Here are five of the things I like about the Wii Fit Plus

1) It gives me a score.

I occasionally consider doing a push up or two in a hotel.  But the idea never lasts more than one day, or even 10 minutes.  The Wii Fit Plus, though, will score my performance on all the various Yoga, Strength Training, Aerobic, and Balance Game exercises.  Now, it's not about doing the exercises, it's about getting a higher score.  It's not about refining technique to improve workout efficiency, it's about doing all that to get a higher score.  Why does this matter to me?  I don't know.  But I need that metric.  And I need that competition against myself to do things a little better each day.  Losing weight isn't an incentive to do this.  Scoring better is.

2) It imports Wii Fit data flawlessly.

When I started it up the new version the first time, it easily imported my old data with absolutely no problems.


3) The end of day can be 3:00 AM.

Most games seem to define the end of day at midnight, just because that's when a day technically ends.  But I prefer to use it late at night.  The old version ended the day at midnight, so if I started playing with it at 11:30 PM and wrapped up at 12:30 it would think that was two separate days (because technically, it is) which was frustrating.  The new version let's me redefine the end of day to 3:00 AM.  It's much more accommodating of night owls like me.

4) Custom Routines

The Wii Fit Plus let's me pick from a bunch of different activities and the bundle them all together.  The nice thing about this is that when I do this, I don't have to go back to the menu after each exercise and choose the next one.  The game will just move from one to the next.


5) All the old games are in the new version

The Wii Fit Plus includes all the original exercises, games, and more from the original Wii Fit. The nice things about this is that I never have to choose which disc to put in. Everything is part of the new package. I can play the older games just as easily as the new one.

And with all these advantages, and using it 1-1.5 hours a day when I'm in Seattle, I should hit record scores in no time.  And maybe -- just maybe -- lose a pound or two.