Dave Balmer

I was all prepared to give a dismissive, sarcastic review of this gadget, but the silly thing is good. Not only has everyone in the family used and enjoyed it, but it’ll even support my weight. And that’s no small feat.

In case you’ve missed the ads, web promotion and signs in most metro areas, the “WiiFit” is a new personal fitness and training system for the Wii. Basically, it’s part aerobic step, part scale and part video game.

Setting it up is easy. You pop in the included AA bateries, and synch it just like a WiiMote. Then set it down, turn it on and pop in the game disc.

The WiiFit focuses on balance and core training. Every exercise so far has some element of balance and weight distribution built-in. Sections include yoga, aerobics, strength training and balance games. Yes, yoga. My friend Rand would be quite pleased to see me trying to balance my bulk and practice deep breathing and graceful-yet-mildly-uncomfortable poses.

Also built in is a daily body test, which uses BMI and balance exercises along with your age to compute your “WiiFit Age”. After three days, I’ve gone from 45 to 41. Not bad, except for the fact that I’m really 37. But that’s fine, because there’s also a built in nag system to encourage, praise and even chastise my ups and downs. Mildly annoying, but generally effective.

The thing really shines in a family or group of friends, because you can watch and encourage each other as well. Actually, more like shame and ridicule each other, but I think that depends on the group dynamic. Either way, feedback from other people who are doing the same thing is a major plus.

And the thing actually works. We all went crazy with it the first day, spending about an hour apiece trying to unlock new activities, and get better scores on the ones we had. It was fun! The next day everyone — and I mean even the fit 12 year old — were feeling some sore spots from the previous day’s workout. After some groaning and sharing our various aches and pains, someone popped WiiFit back on, and away we all went all over again. Each day since has been the same, but with a little less griping the next day.

Go get one of these. It costs about what you’d pay for a boring night on the town, and is a heck of a lot better for you.