If you haven’t heard about the Wii Fit videogame, then let me be the one to lay it out for you. After all these years of sitting blissfully motionless on the couch, this new offering by Nintendo attempts to get us off our butts and on to Nintendo’s Wii Fit balance board controller. This new controller is laid on the floor, and determines your position by how you move on it. It certainly looks interesting, although I don’t really see the need to buy a video game system just to work out!
And now Westin Hotels is getting in to the act. They have signed a deal with Nintendo to place this new exercise system in ten hotels initially, and if it’s successful moving to a nationwide roll out. Of course, they won’t be using the same Wii console you have in your living room; the Nintendo Wii Travel system will include a hard drive, several games including Big Brain Academy, and an automatic update and networking feature to make it easier for the hotel to manage the entire system.
Although it certainly is a great PR move and a headline grabber (I’m blogging about it, aren’t I?), I’m not sure that any video game system, however well designed, takes the place of a more traditional workout when it comes to weight loss. This article on Wired points out that the system as a whole is great for balance type exercises but that the author didn’t really lose any significant amount of weight. Of course, if you’re just looking for a way to stretch out and get your blood flowing, then this might be just the ticket - which is probably why Westin Hotels was interested in the first place.
May 3rd, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Hi Erika. Interesting post. I haven’t yet had a go on a Nintendo Wii but it’s definitely an interesting concept as far as exercise is concerned. My opinion is that the Wii definitely shouldn’t be used as a substitute for exercise. However, if you’re a fan of video games it’s definitely an improvement on the alternatives where you are just sitting on your but and not moving at all.
May 5th, 2008 at 7:14 am
I wish some other hotels would get in on this, like Hilton or Marriott properties. We never stay at Westins. This would be very fun to have the opportunity to use while traveling.