Wii Fit facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Wii Fit |
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Wii Fit European box art
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| Developer(s) | Nintendo EAD |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Director(s) | Hiroshi Matsunaga |
| Producer(s) | Tadashi Sugiyama |
| Programmer(s) | Katsuhito Nishimura |
| Artist(s) | Yauso Inoue Kazuya Yoshioka Ryo Koizumi Motoki Fujita Teiko Takagai |
| Composer(s) | Toru Minegishi Manaka Kataoka Shiho Fujii |
| Series | Wii |
| Platform(s) | Wii |
| Release date(s) |
December 1, 2007
Wii Fit
Wii Fit Plus
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| Genre(s) | Exergaming |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Wii Fit is a fun video game released in 2007 for the Wii console. It was created by Nintendo's Hiroshi Matsunaga. This game is all about getting families to exercise together! It includes many activities like yoga, strength training, aerobics, and balance games. To play, you use a special device called the Wii Balance Board.
Wii Fit has been used in many places, like health clubs, to help people stay active. It has even been used in physical therapy for children and older adults to help improve their posture and balance.
The game was very popular and got mostly good reviews. People liked how it made exercise fun, even though some thought the workouts could be more intense. Wii Fit sold over 22 million copies, making it one of the best-selling console games ever!
An improved version called Wii Fit Plus came out in 2009. It added more games and features. Wii Fit Plus was also a huge hit, selling over 21 million copies. Together, both games have sold more than 43 million copies, making them some of the best-selling video games of all time.
Contents
How to Play Wii Fit
Wii Fit needs a special accessory called the Wii Balance Board. This is a platform you stand on while playing. The Balance Board can tell where your center of balance (COB) is, which is super important for the games. It can also measure your weight, just like a bathroom scale.
The game has more than 40 activities to help you exercise. These include yoga poses, strength training, aerobics, and balance games. Most activities help you keep your balance and improve your posture.
You create a player profile in Wii Fit with your birthday, height, and a Mii character. The game keeps track of your progress. You can even add physical activities you do outside the game to your profile. Up to eight different people can have profiles on one game.
Yoga and Strength Training Activities
In the Yoga and Strength Training parts of Wii Fit, you get an on-screen personal trainer. This trainer guides you and tells you how well you're doing. You stand or lean on the Wii Balance Board and try to copy the trainer's movements exactly.
- In Yoga, you hold different poses for a certain amount of time.
- In Strength Training, you do a set number of repetitions for each exercise.
While you're doing these, you'll see a red dot on the screen that shows your center of balance. The trainer will tell you to keep this dot inside a yellow circle. When an activity ends, you get a score based on how well you kept your balance. If you swayed or shook a lot, you might lose points. Wii Fit has 30 Yoga and Strength Training activities.
| Yoga | Strength Training |
|---|---|
| Deep Breathing | Single Leg Extension |
| Half-Moon | Push-Up and Side Plank |
| Warrior | Torso Twists |
| Tree | Jackknife |
| Sun Salutation | Lunge |
| Standing Knee | Rowing Squat |
| Palm Tree | Single Leg Twist |
| Chair | Sideways Leg Lift |
| Triangle | Plank |
| Downward Facing Dog | Triceps Extension |
| Dance | Arm and Leg Lift |
| Cobra | Single-Arm Stand |
| Bridge | Push-Up Challenge |
| Spinal Twist | Jackknife Challenge |
| Shoulder Stand | Plank Challenge |
Aerobics and Balance Games
The Aerobics and Balance Games sections of Wii Fit have 18 minigames where you play as your Mii character.
- Aerobics games involve more active movements. These include hula hooping, step aerobics, and jogging.
- In Hula Hoop, you spin your hips to keep hoops going.
- Step aerobics (called "Step" in the game) involves stepping on and off the Balance Board to a rhythm.
- Jogging doesn't use the Balance Board. You run in place with a Wii Remote in your pocket, which acts like a pedometer.
- Balance Games have nine activities where you control the game directly using your center of balance.
- For example, in "Soccer Heading," you lean left or right to make your Mii head soccer balls.
- In "Table Tilt," you shift your balance to tilt a platform and guide balls into holes.
- There are also games based on slalom skiing, snowboarding, and tightrope walking.
- A quiet game called "Lotus Focus" (or "Zazen") asks you to sit on the Balance Board and stay still for a while.
| Aerobics | Balance Games |
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| Hula Hoop | Soccer Heading ("Heading" in Europe) |
| Basic Step ("Step Basics" in Europe) | Ski Slalom |
| Basic Run ("Jogging" in Europe) | Ski Jump |
| Super Hula Hoop | Table Tilt |
| Advanced Step ("Step Plus" in Europe) | Tightrope Walk ("Tightrope Tension" in Europe) |
| 2-P Run ("2P Jogging" in Europe) | Balance Bubble |
| Rhythm Boxing | Penguin Slide |
| Free Step | Snowboard Slalom |
| Free Run ("Free Jogging" in Europe) | Lotus Focus ("Zazen" in Europe) |
Body Test and Wii Fit Age
Players can take "Body Tests" to check their progress. During a Body Test, the game calculates your body mass index (BMI) and tests your balance control. Each test gives you a "Wii Fit Age". This age is a fun way to see how your physical strength compares to your actual age.
You can even install a special "Wii Fit Channel" on your Wii console. This lets you do Body Tests without needing to put the Wii Fit game disc into the console.
How Wii Fit Was Made
The idea for Wii Fit first came from Nintendo's main game designer, Shigeru Miyamoto. He first talked about it in 2006, calling it Wii Health Pack. He wanted it to be a way for families to exercise together. The idea was even part of his first plans for other Wii games like Wii Sports.
Miyamoto got the idea for Wii Fit from his own life. He and his family started paying more attention to their health, going to the gym, and tracking their weight. He found it fun to talk about these things. Since just weighing yourself isn't a game, Nintendo decided to build games around the idea of balance and fitness. The Wii Balance Board itself took almost two years to create!
Wii Fit was officially announced in 2007 at a big gaming event called E3. Miyamoto showed off the game with other Nintendo leaders. He said a full team had been working on Wii Fit for a year.
Wii Fit Plus: An Improved Version
Wii Fit Plus is an updated version of Wii Fit. It was released in October 2009. This game includes all the original activities from Wii Fit, plus 15 new balance and aerobics games (called "Training Plus") and six new strength training and yoga activities.
Some new features in Wii Fit Plus include:
- A counter that shows how many calories you've burned.
- The ability to create your own custom workout plans.
- New profiles for pets and babies (just for fun, not real exercise for them!).
- It's also faster and easier to move between exercises.
After Wii Fit became so popular, Miyamoto wanted to make a follow-up. He learned that many people stopped playing the first game because it wasn't always convenient. So, a new menu called My Wii Fit Plus was added to make it quicker to start activities. When designing the new games for Wii Fit Plus, Miyamoto wanted activities that made players use both their mind and body at the same time. Many new games used both the Wii Remote and the Wii Balance Board together.
Wii Fit in the Real World
Wii Fit has been used in many different ways to help people.
- It's used in physical therapy to help people recover from injuries or improve their movement.
- Many health clubs around the world use Wii Fit as part of their exercise programs.
- Some nursing homes use Wii Fit to help older residents do gentle exercises. It helps them with yoga, flexibility, and balance. It can even help increase their heart rate and improve overall health, even if they stay seated.
- In 2009, the Finnish Defence Forces bought many Wii consoles and Wii Fit games for military bases. They wanted to encourage soldiers to exercise more in their free time, and the soldiers liked it!
The Legacy of Wii Fit
Newer Games in the Series
The next game in the series was Wii Fit U, released for the Wii U console. It kept most of the features from the earlier games but also used the Wii U GamePad. It could also connect to an optional Fit Meter, which is a small device that tracks your steps and how high you climb.
A newer exercise game for the Nintendo Switch called Ring Fit Adventure came out in 2019. This game uses a special ring (called the Ring-Con) and a leg strap with the Switch controllers. It lets you do more complex exercises like stretching, poses, and jogging in place. Ring Fit Adventure is also a role-playing adventure where you exercise to defeat enemies!
Wii Fit Trainer in Super Smash Bros.
The female Wii Fit trainer became a playable character in the fighting game Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U in 2014. The game's director, Masahiro Sakurai, included her because he thought she was unique and would surprise people. Later, it was announced that the male Wii Fit trainer would also appear as an alternate character. Both Wii Fit Trainers returned in the latest game, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
The female Wii Fit Trainer became very popular online after she was announced for Super Smash Bros.. Many people found her inclusion funny and charming, even though some critics were unsure at first.
Other Appearances
The gym where you do the Rhythm Boxing minigame in Wii Fit is the same gym from the boxing training games in Wii Sports. Also, the island you jog on in Wii Fit is an early version of Wuhu Island. Wuhu Island later appeared in Wii Sports Resort, Wii Fit Plus, and many other Nintendo games.
See also
- Wii series
- Fitness Boxing
