Wii Check-Up Channel

Cemu writes with news that Nintendo is teaming up with Panasonic, NEC, and Hitachi to work on the Wii Fit Body Check Channel, which will use data from the Wii Fit to provide users with health advice. Quoting: "Since last December, NEC and NEC mobile began a cell phone version of the 'Wii Fit Body Check Channel.' Starting this April, the NEC Group (NEC and NEC Mobile) will launch a hosted Wii Fit Channel aimed at employees and their families. The company hopes to offer this service outside NEC in the future. ... Also this April, Wii Fit and the Wii Fit Body Check Channel will be introduced by Panasonic Medical Solutions to health care workers with its Plissimo Sigusa health care plan. What's more, Panasonic Medical Solutions is offering the program to the country's health insurance union."

Comments

Not a bad idea, but treat with caution.

[RogueyWon]

I own Wii-Fit. I like it. With its help, I've been able to lose 8 pounds since Christmas day, on the basis of a 40 minute daily routine with it. However...

It's important to be aware of what Wii-Fit can and can't do. It's a good programme, but using it safely and effectively involves a lot of working around its limitations and doing a bit of your own research. IGN carried a good article a few months back in which a qualified fitness trainer assessed it, which is a good starting point. In short, the positives came out as:

+ The way it makes exercise more interesting and makes it easier for gamers to stick with it without getting bored.

+ The aerobics exercises in general, which are a good way to burn calories.

+ The balance games, and the general focus on balance, which won't burn many calories, but will underpin the rest of your exercise regime well.

+ Some of the muscle exercises, particularly the balance-focussed ones.

The negatives were:

- The yoga.

- Some of the muscle exercises, which are overly advanced for beginners and could well cause injury if not done properly (which the game does not adequately warn about).

- The failure to warn the player of the need for appropriate footwear, especially for the jogging exercise.

- The body tests in general - the focus on BMI is not great, as BMI is a blunt instrument which is now treated with a lot of caution, while the Wii-fit age concept is largely laughable.

- The overall lack of guidance given in the package as a whole, which gives beginners to exercise very few tips on what constitutes an effective regime.

Work around those negatives and this is still a fantastically good accessory and software package. However...

In short, I would be very cautious about any application which claimed to be able to give detailed fitness advice on the basis of your Wii-Fit body test results. Professional advice from a doctor or fitness professional will be far safer and more useful.

Re:Not a bad idea, but treat with caution.

[vrmlguy]

I got a Wii Fit back in September and lost twenty pounds by New Year's Day. I was earning 30 Wii Fit points per day for most of that period, plus I was walking with my kids two miles every Saturday on a local nature trail.

Unfortunately, between the New Year's Eve party and a bunch of unhealthy left overs, I managed to put about a third of that back. Plus, bad weather has kept me off the nature trail, which certainly doesn't help. And all of that has hurt my motivation, so where before I'd done over 100 consecutive days of exercise, now I'm skipping more days than I'm doing. I've apparently fallen into the trap described in this article. Overall, though, I'm still doing better than most years, where I would put on ten pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year's, and never take it off. Damn you, homemade English Toffee!

BTW, Nintendo has created a pedometer that talks to your DS. The cartridge allows you to download your Mii for an experience similar to Wii Fit. What's missing is apparently any way to upload data into Wii Fit, but that may show up in a future channel.

Re:Not a bad idea, but treat with caution.

[Gulthek]

Jogging in place? You shouldn't need any footwear at all, our feet are kind of designed for that.

Update please!

[gravos]

How about an update that allows you to create an actual workout routine? Seems to me it currently takes longer to cycle through the menus than it does to actually do most of the workout activities...