Wii Fit for weight loss?
by JC Fletcher 
{ Feb 5th 2008 at 5:00PM }
4cr's Vinnk is conducting a bold experiment: attempting to lose weight with Wii Fit. Nintendo's latest flagship product is designed as an exercise tool, but we admit skepticism in the efficacy of leaning as exercise. We're hoping that Vinnk will see definitive results of some kind or another, for science.While he's not going for a strict scientific approach, the methodology should be informative and representative of most users' experience. He says that he doesn't plan to make any other lifestyle changes in order to lose weight (though "with any fitness program there will be the desire to eat healthier and possibly less"), so the primary experimental factor will be Wii Fit. He'll report on his results every week.
We find journal projects like these fascinating, not just because we are fat and curious about Wii Fit, but because there's something quite cool about statistical tracking of someone's video game experience.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
NinKenDo @ Feb 5th 2008 7:32PM
The nice thing about Wii Fit is that it does most of the work for you. It will track your weight and BMI and even provide colorfully charts and graphs to track your progress. This is the beauty of the "game" for me, because that's what I hate about working out, not being able to easily track my progress unless I get completely obsessive about it and keep a log. So I guess Wii Fit is for those of us willing to work out, but just too lazy to keep track and journal our progress.
aZTEKv2 @ Feb 6th 2008 12:07PM
*tear*
its so happy to see you guys made up now.
i was hoping to see more synonyms of hate. oh well.
Aisorik @ Feb 5th 2008 8:46PM
If he's eating the same and using the wii to be more active than normal, than he will lose weight. (Since he'll be burning more calories than his body needs) In fact, if he just started eating less weight without having do any extraneous activity. Weight loss really isn't that hard.
Aisorik @ Feb 5th 2008 8:48PM
*if he just started eating less he'd lose weight without having to do any extraneous activity.
Missed some words there.
Kai Cherry @ Feb 5th 2008 10:51PM
Sigh.
JC...dude.
It doesn't *matter* if you whip out "tantalizing turns of text" such as "but we admit skepticism in the efficacy of leaning as exercise" when they are completely...well...ignorant.
Who is this "we" of which you speak, anyway?
Wii Fit actually contains cardio, toning, extension and yes, *strength* exercises.
While I guess we can chalk it up to you attempting to be...clever...(and failing miserably to do so, I might add) it is usually better to be, you know, accurate when you are sniping or otherwise you end up looking like, sigh, a total douche bag.
One to grow on from the old guy,
-K
JC Fletcher @ Feb 5th 2008 11:03PM
Sorry, I forgot I wasn't allowed to be skeptical. I wait eagerly for whatever thing Nintendo wants to sell me.
Jeez, I was just being silly about the lean-measuring board. Relax a little bit. Do some Wii yoga.
Kai Cherry @ Feb 5th 2008 11:18PM
Yeah that's it...reach out to the readership by attacking them when they point out YOUR errors...
Dude. YOU said "efficacy of leaning as exercise"...not me, ok?
It was neither clever nor funny...just inaccurate.
Good job though responding like a Big Boy *writer* with something insightful and maybe even a wee bit contrite...as opposed to more sarcasm and snottiness. Surely a spot at a major publication awaits you.
Oh wait...
See? See what i did there?
JC Fletcher @ Feb 5th 2008 11:24PM
All right. You want contrition? You deserve a little. I didn't mean to attack Wii Fit as archly as I appear to have. I plan to buy it day one or whatever. I think it's really neat.
And I'm sorry that you don't find me funny when I talk about a sensitive topic. I am aware that you do other things with the Balance Board than lean. You step, sit, stretch, and all kinds of other stuff. In fact, everybody knows that. I know sarcasm is often hard to parse on the internet, but at some point you have to put just enough faith in the writer not to take a patently ridiculous statement at face value.
All I did was comically understate Wii Fit's extent. You called me a douchebag. I do not think the reaction was equal to the action. I see no call for a personal attack like that, even if you weren't a fan of the post.
JC Fletcher @ Feb 5th 2008 11:26PM
Oh, and sort-of-final thought: even if you were mean, I infinitely prefer critical comments like this to the rote "lol u fail" comments I usually get from angry commenters.
Kai Cherry @ Feb 5th 2008 11:42PM
Generally, what you want to do is throw a lot more hyperbole at it JC...it really wasn't (that) obvious precisely because of the lack of it.
What does..."lol you fail" even...mean? :)
I suppose I might have harshed the initial comment a little bit though..but I'll tell you why: recently, Wii Fanboy has kind of gone beyond insightful criticism into a more more, for want of a better phrase, "darker" tone of constantly attacking the success of Nintendo's strategy because, well, it kind of leaves some people "out" right now.
And quite frankly, it is beginning to piss me and others off a little.
The Wii and its associated phenomena "is what it is" and you know, I think you guys should run with it.
The sales aren't lying...there have BEEN NO MISSTEPS...outside of the horrible fate of not being able to meet demand.
So there isn't a "F*ck The Skull of Christ: XXXTreme Edition HD" for Wii. So what?
Nintendo's customers do not seem to care.
Why in hell does Ninitendo Wii Fanboy? We're Number One! Isn't this what people...wanted?
JC Fletcher @ Feb 6th 2008 12:08AM
That, I can actually agree with. The Wii simply isn't a traditional game console, and that we should expect traditional games as the excecption and not the rule. Some of us are more upset about the prospect, and others are accepting of Nintendo's new direction.
With me, it's hard to tell, because I pretty much make fun of everything.
aZTEKv2 @ Feb 6th 2008 12:09PM
*tear*
its so happy to see you guys made up now.
i was hoping to see more synonyms of hate. oh well.
MarMar @ Feb 6th 2008 2:08PM
Telling the guy to do some wii yoga wasn't really an attack, it was actually pretty funny -- like the vegan resturaunt scene in Grandma's Boy.
But since JC ended up pandering to the guy with the PMS attack over "dark tones" in video game news instead of throwing down, all I have to say is lolololololololololololololololol!!!11, u fail haheyaha-aha-ha-ha-hahehehahah
Kai Cherry @ Feb 6th 2008 2:36PM
No no, MarMar...what JC did was to have an intelligent discourse about the matter at hand...like an adult that is a professional/semi-professional writer.
Read todays stories. How many do YOU see today with a 20-something "man...we wanna be Haaaardcooore, but nintendo is ruining everything!" undertone?
Who do you think is buying Wii systems exactly?
MarMar @ Feb 6th 2008 5:38PM
The problem here is that you don't seem to be able to comprehend when someone is just playing with you. When I make Mario jump off a clip he goes yaahooooo waaahh-ah-ah-ah-ah mama mia! but someone says something mildly tongue-and-cheek and you're all like i'm having professional discourse and correspondence and i expect professional journalism and staunch support by this readership!!! Chilllllllllllll
Kai Cherry @ Feb 6th 2008 8:29PM
Ugh.
Children.
*sigh*