Nintendo Wii Fit Plus Review

The Balance Board

Set up of the Wii Fit is very easy. You turn the board upside down and insert the 4 AA batteries, as shown in Figure 3. In this Figure you can also see the gray rubber feet which keep the Wii stable when used on tile, wood, or other slippery floors. As noted earlier, if you have thick carpets you can place the included additional feet on top of the rubber feet to add height to the balance board while maintaining its stability. The balance board is very sturdy. It can accommodate people up to 330 lbs (150 kg).

Figure 3: The bottom of the balance board.

Before you use your Wii Fit, you have to sync it with your Wii. This is generally something you will only need to do once. You remove the battery cover on the bottom of the Wii Balance Board. When you press and release the small red SYNC button on the Wii Balance Board, which is seen above the batteries in Figure 3, the blue light on the front board, shown in Figure 5 will start blinking. You then open the small SD Card slot cover on the front of the Wii console ( shown in Figure 4) and press and release the red SYNC button while the blue light on the board is still blinking. The blue light will stop blinking and turn a steady blue showing you that the synchronization is complete. After that, you turn on the Wii balance board by simply pressing the button on the front of the board, shown in Figure 5.

Figure 4: The Wii console.

Figure 5: The on button.

When you start using the Wii Fit you are asked to input your height and date of birth. Then you are asked to step on the balance board for a weigh in. This data is used to calculate the user’s BMI (Body Mass Index), which is commonly used in medical and exercise assessments to determine whether the person is underweight, normal, or overweight. Then a balance test is given. This requires the user to shift their balance. There are on-screen instructions that walk the user through this routine. You are then given your Wii Fit age and are encouraged to work at improving both your BMI and your Wii Fit age.

The on-screen instructions walk you through the activities. This may entail stepping in place, stepping on and/or off the board, moving your hips, shifting your weight, or a plethora of other movements. Once you get involved in a Wii Fit activity, the use of the board is quite intuitive.

All of the activities of the Wii Fit revolve around the balance board. While it is quite plain looking, it has a lot of technology inside. The board is extremely sensitive so it picks up even small shifts in weight.