Created by Shigeru Miyamoto, the legendary game designer of Donkey Kong, Mario, Zelda, and Nintendogs, Wii Fit is a game that has been created to make users aware of their own bodies. Similar to how Pikmin for the GameCube was developed from Mr. Miyamoto's love of gardening, the idea for Wii Fit came about a few years back when he began weighing himself daily. The task of keeping charts of his weight increases and decreases became fun, but he yearned for a way to make it easier and more fun. The rest is history. Wii Fit comes bundled with the software, which includes over 40 different activities, and the balance board. The balance board is wireless and can not only weigh a person, but it detects even the tiniest of movements, thus monitoring a person's balance. The board is extremely sturdy and can be used by people up to 330 pounds. It runs off a set of 4 AA batteries, which should last for many hours.

When you first boot up Wii Fit you will select the Mii you want to represent yourself. You will then be asked your birth date and height and then it's time to stand on the balance board. You will be taken into the body test mode where it will run a series of tests based on your balance. After this it will calculate your body mass index and assign you a category (underweight, normal, overweight, or obese) and announce your Wii Fit age. Your Mii will grow fatter or skinnier depending on how your results turn out. Your goal is to lower your age to be closer to or lower than your actual age. To do this you will need to train daily via a multitude of exercises and activities.

There are a host of training activities for you to participate in when you first begin the game. As you train you will earn credits that will be placed in a bank. These eventually unlock new exercises and mini-games that can be played. Doling out new modes over time is ingenious as it keeps players motivated to keep training daily to unlock them. There are four different training categories: Yoga, Strength Training, Aerobics, and Balance Games. Each has plenty of activities to explore, with some being simple games (like snowboarding, ski jump, hula-hoop, and tightrope walking) whereas others offer more of a workout (jogging, push-ups, various yoga poses). For the traditional workouts you will be able to pick your trainer. He or she will explain how to properly perform the various moves and offer advice if you're having difficulty. The modes start on easy, but as you become better you will want to increase the repetitions. The first time I played I had some trouble balancing with the yoga poses and the push-ups were killer as it's been years since I've had to do any. The hardest part was when I had to cross my legs and then balance on one hand while reaching for the ceiling with my other. I definitely felt the burn the next morning on both sides of my abdomen.

For gamers and also for the kids I think the mini-games will be most appealing. The downhill ski jump has the player leaning forward to try and keep his or her balance. There's a small circle that has to stay inside a zone to really gain speed and then at just the right moment the player must stand up to jump. Distance will be measured and the game keeps the top 10 places. Another fun one to play, and to watch, is the hula-hoop mini-game where players try to keep them from hitting the ground by gyrating their hips. One of my favorites is the one that Nintendo showed off at last year's E3 show: soccer heading. Here you move your body to hit the soccer balls back as they come at you. It gets more interesting as the other Miis begin to throw cleats and other obstacles that you must avoid hitting. The more balls you can hit in a row, the higher your scores you will rack up. Table tilt is another great mode that shows off the balance board. Here your Miis are morphed into marbles and your goal is to get the marbles into a hole. By leaning on the board you tilt the on-screen platform. This game ramps up in difficulty quickly, but really makes you aware of small balance shifts you're making with your body.

Does Wii Fit make you lose weight? It depends. If you're like me and don't exercise as much as you should, but then decide to play Wii Fit and stick with it on a daily basis, then the answer is going to be a resounding yes. Like anything in life though, you have to stick with it and actually use the product. What Wii Fit does really well is it makes it fun to exercise, plus it can tell if you're correctly doing them whereas a simple workout video has no clue if you're actually working out or sitting on the couch eating a bag of potato chips. The game does a marvelous job of tracking your activity via charts and it's awesome that you can set a goal and the game will track that goal to see how you're doing. It's one more way to get your, or your kids, off the couch and playing a game that is actually good for them, providing they're using all the modes available on not just playing the skiing game. If, however, you're already a very active person who works out on a regular basis, you probably won't see immediate benefits from Wii Fit, although any activity is obviously better than none.

Wii Fit delivers a fun way to exercise, monitor your weight, and develop a plan to reach your goals. The game is aimed at people of all ages and is packed with activities that can be both strenuous and fun. The balance board is going to be used in some upcoming games like Skate It (skateboarding game from EA) and Rayman (mini-game compilation). No word at this time from Nintendo if they plan on releasing more games for the board, but chances are good. If you're looking for another tool to use to help you lose some unwanted pounds, or just another way to get the kids off the couch, Wii Fit will make a nice addition to your gaming library.