Not for a long time has a videogame (that isn’t a showcase for violence, bloodshed and controversy) caused such an incredible amount of intense debate both within and outside of the gaming community over the past couple of weeks and months.
While there has been much praise for Wii Fit, many have criticised both it and Balance Board for being poor excuses for exercise, and as yet another excuse for people to stay fixated in front of the television instead of getting outside and enjoying physical activity in the 'real' world.
Although there have been similar efforts before it, no exer-gaming title has been promoted so fiercely (or sold so well), so isn't it about time we stopped scrutinising Wii Fit so negatively and beginning appreciate it for what it is, and what Nintendo has dubbed it all along - the first step to a healthier lifestyle, an attempt to make exercise fun, and one of the most revolutionary inventions the videogaming industry has ever soon?
Let's cut Wii Fit some slack.
A recent report suggested that just 12 per cent of US adults are mentally equipped to monitor and manage their own physical health and wellbeing. Wii Fit turns the issue of weight and exercise into something undaunting, entertaining, and habitual. Wii Fit allows its millions of users to easily and confidently track their weight loss progress in an opportunity unlikely to have been afforded to many of them in such a way previously.
Yes, jogging on the spot with a Wii Remote inside your back pocket isn't as beneficial as lapping OAPs taking a stroll around the neighbourhood, and no, wiggling your hips isn't going to beat a hefty weights session at the gym, but for many thousands of people in differing circumstances, the 'best' methods of exercise aren't always an option. In these instances, the accessibility and benefit of Wii Fit is perfect, no matter the degree of its use.
The countless swipes at Wii Fit from fitness experts have, it seems, been less a case of a balanced opinion, and more a case of bias, both in response to a perceived threat to their own interests and the fact that Wii Fit is a videogame - no matter how innovative and impressive it is.
And to those 'hardcore' gamers who dubb the arival of Wii Fit as the beginning of the end of for videogaming as we know it, it is perhaps time to embrace change within the industry, accept that if the hobby you love it to continue to grow and evolve, then games like Wii Fit are as much a part of it as the latest driving simulator of first-person shooter.
No straight-thinking person would be silly enough to think that Wii Fit is enough to replace a gym membership or other types of 'real' exercise, but in a Western world where obesity is on the increase, it does more to raise the issue than almost anything else before it - and if it's a videogame by Nintendo that has to do that, then we commend them.
Roll on the Wii Fit copycats.
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