Feets-On: Wii Fit

On a console with surgery sims and cooking competitions, Nintendo managed to pull out a game that's even more bizarre.

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Nintendo's ultimate unveiling at its E3 2007 press conference has been pretty divisive among fans thus far. Some have lauded Wii Fit as the next great idea from the company, while others have derided it as another instance of Nintendo catering to the casual gamers while leaving the original fans in the dust. We got to try many of the minigames on display at the conference, as well as a few new ones.

Wii Want to Sway

While we didn't get to recreate the epic Reggie vs. Miyamoto match-up from the press conference, we did get to try the soccer minigame. Despite our extensive calibration beforehand, blocking the goals proved to be an exhaustive chore, as our Mii goalie lagged and barely leaned, except when a point-sapping panda head or loose shoe was headed towards us. Also playable was the hula-hoop minigame shown during the game's demo reel. Basically, it consisted of swaying your hips around to keep the hula-hoops swinging, while other Miis tossed additional rings that you had to sway your upper body to catch, and sway even harder to keep balanced.

Nintendo Skii

By far the most enjoyable minigame on display was Ski Jumping, a minigame that little--if any--screen time at the press conference. Ski Jumping required the player mimic nearly all of the motions an olympic jumper would go through. To start moving, you had to squat forwards while keeping your balance to gain momentum, stand up straight to leap and keep your balance to land successfully. The minigame was very responsive and required a lot of strength and concentration to get a good distance. It was easily the most competitive of all the minigames, and it's addicting simplicity brought to mind the minigames of Wii Sports.

Are Wii Fit to Play Sports?

What we didn't get to check out were the other interesting applications of Wii Fit on display the press conference. While the balance test was there, as well as the workout-intensive pilates minigame, we couldn't measure our Mii's body mass index like Reggie did--probably for the better since our bodies packed on some pounds from E3's open bars and many meals. The games on display were hit or miss, much like the minigame-filled Wii Sports and Wii Play. Wii Fit, like those, is more of a Trojan Horse developed to get a new Nintendo product into gamers' hands (or under their feet, if you will). Unlike the ones before, if this one is properly developed, it could serve a greater purpose than a freeware pack in.

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