Anyone know if this is planned?
I keep hearing how beneficial the Wii is for working out, but recently bought an XBox360, so I figure I’m SOL, right?
Q
pretty much.
The x360 is a gaming console, it’s not intended for things like Wii-Fit (the benefits of which aren’t so much that it’s a great workout, more so that it’s a great way to keep track of your work out regiment and as an added bonus it helps with posture and makes you do push-ups and such). Nintendo’s strategy of late seems to be focused less on making games and more on making utilities, with things like Wii-fit for the wii and the absolutely slew of DS “games” like dictionaries, cookbooks, kanji-writing tools, handwriting tools, etc. Much more so here in Japan than in America.
My big problem with wii-fit is that it uses the BMI like it actually means something. I was under the impression no one used the BMI anymore, as body fat percentage is much more useful (in that it’s actually, you know, reasonably a reasonably accurate measurement. Whereas BMI was invented over 150 years ago by a mathemetician and doesn’t take into account different types of body structure or the fact that muscle weighs more than fat. So if you lift weights at all you’re screwed
For the record, my BMI is around 27.5, so I’m technically overweight. But even in college, doing martial arts and fencing every day and playing a lot of soccer, in the best shape of my life, I was at 26.5, so still technically overweight. It’s a system that simply doesn’t work for shorter, stout guys like me
Yes. You’re screwed if you want lame.
On a more serious note, no. It’s not there. Also, the gym is beneficial for working out. Wii Fit is beneficial for moving off the couch from a sedentary lifestyle.
I don’t believe there’s anything at all in the pipeline for the 360 and fitness.
Grow up, LOUNE.
The focus of the 360 is definitely more on hardcore gaming, but there are some options for fitness. For the more kitschy side, you’ve got third party crap/accessories like the “GamerCize” products, or a backwards-compatible Xbox game where a virtual trainer suggests and shows you fitness exercises.
But the best real, fun option for getting in shape is that old arcade throwback, Dance Dance Revolution. There are three versions out on 360, and they all include some sort of fitness mode that counts your steps toward a goal and also feature the ability to set up routines of your favorite songs. It’s been around for awhile, but DDR is still a sure way to work up a sweat while still technically playing videogames.
You know, I didn’t even think about Dance Dance Revolution. I wouldn’t say that it’s for fitness, but that being moderately more mobile is a by-product of playing the game. Good call, nonetheless.
Apparently, there were rumors of a Wii-style controller for the 360 being planned. I don’t know when/if this is still coming out, but it is certainly possible that we’ll see it one day. http://www.8bitjoystick.com/archives/jake_xbox_360_newton_motion_sensing_controller_confirmed.php
Where do you keep hearing this? I could see it being beneficial if you lived in a Tokyo-style apartment on the moon and couldn’t leave (even then I’d probably do pilates instead), but mostly it seems to me an excuse to not do any real exercise for a couple weeks before the owner gets bored of it, starts letting it collect dust, and goes back to the couch. I mean, Wii Fit is kind of neat, but they should have focused more on the games aspect of it, because that’s all it is: a game. You’re not going to get “fit” using it (and saying 5 or 10 people out of the millions who own it have done so means nothing; they’re a statistical anomaly.)