That's Fit

Bethany recently gave us a heads up on the soon-to-be-released Wii Fit. Already hot in Japan, the game has been swiped up by 1.76 million Japanese and crowned their top-selling game of the year.

What makes Wii Fit special is an electronic balance board capable of monitoring movement and weight. A bit of a cyber-personal trainer, Wii Fit will help determine your Body Mass Index (the balance board records your weight, you add in your height and age), and initially test/grade your balancing skills. Wii Fit will also provide visual and verbal kudos and criticism, spitting out graphs and charts to reveal your progress over time.

Here are a few Wii Fit games that interest me:

• Wii Hula: A strenuous game where you catch hula hoops on your arms and then try to keep them spinning on your hips. This is my one chance to hula hoop, I've never been able to gyrate the hips properly to keep the hula above ground!
• Wii Yoga: Anything to get Americans in a Sun Salutation is alright by me. If more couples spent time deep breathing followed by a triangle pose, I bet this country would have a lower divorce rate.
• Strength Training and Balance Games Galore: Planks, jackknives, row squats and tightrope walking are better than popcorn and a movie any day.

My neighbors love their Wii. Another family just extended an invitation for a little Wii boxing this weekend. Will Americans embrace this next generation Wii like the Japanese? I bet Wii will.