Welcome to Gaming.Fit! (Formerly Nutwiisystem.com)
Exploring the Past, Present and Future of Exergaming and Video Game Exercise
Back in 2009 before exergaming was "a thing" I started this site to prove to the world (and myself) that yes, you can lose weight using a combination of active video games and diet. A lot has changed since then, but one thing hasn't: if you have the desire to improve your fitness and health, video gaming can still be a key to helping you get motivated and to build good habits. I'll continue to update the blog from time to time with my latest thoughts. Welcome (or welcome back!)
Amazon has an incredible deal to celebrate the price drop of the Wii from $249 to $199 which happened midnight September 29, 2009.
From September 27 to October 3, when you Buy a Wii, you’ll get it at the new low price of $199, PLUS you’ll receive an Amazon.com $25 gift card in the mail within 10 days of your purchase.
Another great deal they have for September 27 only is that you can buy the Wii Fit with Balance Board for only $79.98.
Of course, those who read this site’s list of upcoming Wii fitness games know that there’s an updated version of the Wii Fit called Wii Fit Plus which is coming out next week. So here’s how you can get the deal of a lifetime:
Buy a Wii at $199. And get a $25 Amazon Gift Card
Buy Wii Fit at $79.98. This gets you the current version of Wii Fit, plus the Balance Board.
After you get your Amazon Gift Card, use it to get Wii Fit Plus (Game Only). This way you’ll have both the current version and the new version with additional, improved games. Since the game alone costs $19.49, you’ll get it for NOTHING (and have $5 to spare)
If you’ve been on the fence, there’s no better time to jump. But hurry!
Today, the president of Nintendo announced that Nintendo would be dropping its price from $249.99 to $199.99. There’s no worse time to get a Wii than between today and 12:00 AM Pacific Time Sunday. But there’s no better time than 12:01 AM 🙂
Be sure to visit Amazonor your favorite retailer to get the reduced pricing.
Also, visit the list of upcoming Wii fitness games to read about some of the great fitness games coming out very soon, starting with Wii Fit Plus on October 4.
For today and today only (while supplies last), Amazon is featuring EA Sports Active as their Video Game Deal of the Day for $43.98. This is by far the lowest price I’ve seen on EA Sports Active, and chances are we won’t see this price level again for a long, long time. If you’ve been on the fence, I’d jump now (and squat, and run, and lunge 😉
In many ways, the company that brought “exergaming” into the mainstream has been Konami. In 1998, they introduced a new arcade game called “Dance Dance Revolution”. It was one of the first mainstream games that involved not just exercise of the thumbs, hands, and wrists but the whole body. It was such a simple concept–move your feet to match on-screen arrows moving to the pace of pop music–but it was as addictive as a video game as as effective as the best aerobic workout in the gym.
Fast forward to 2006. Nintendo introduced the Wii which also ended up reversing a trend of video games turning kids and grown-ups into flabby couch potatoes. Suddenly, every video game company started producing games that focused not just on fun but on getting exercise.
Konami ported DDR to the Wii, but was a little late to the game as far as producing fitness games. But in the coming months, they’ll be making up for lost time in a big way by introducing a number of new titles which make use of the good old DDR dance pad.
Here are the upcoming games which will use the Dance Pad with their release dates. Click on any link to see the product on Amazon.Com.
Walk It Out (October 20, 2009). This game will be an exercise title which focuses on walking or step exercising using your DDR Dance Mat controller. It’ll feature a huge “virtual” world that you can walk through and a rich music soundtrack.
Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 3 Bundle (October 27, 2009). This game will be the sequel to Dance Dance Revolution. The biggest improvements will be a much improved music soundtrack and optional support for the Wii Balance Board.
Ultimate Party Challenge (November 3, 2009). This game will be a set of over 40 minigames, many of which use the DDR Dance Mat controller. From early screens, it looks like this will in part be a response to Namco Bandai’s Active Life series of games, which itself introduced its own mat controller. Here’s hoping this competition is a good thing, and Konami will step up to the challenge of making high quality mini-games.
Many of these games will support multiple players, so if you already have DDR, you can either get the game alone or find the game bundled with a dance mat so you can play together with friends and family.
An adequate but not show-stopping sequel to Active Life Outdoor Challenge.
Reviewer: Nutwiisystem August 28, 2009
1ist paragraph here
I had been looking forward to Active Life Extreme Challenge for a long time after being a huge fan of Active Life Outdoor Challenge, the first game in the series (which has occupied and continues to occupy spot #3 on my list of Best Wii Exercise Games). Active Life Outdoor Challenge was just a great game. It introduced a new Wii controller mat, it had a great selection of unique games, and with all but one or two instances, the games were fun and very responsive.
I admit, I was a bit let down with this game. Namco Bandai did a couple things which were unfortunately a big step backwards in their “Active Life” series of games.
Some of the more disappointing things:
Unlike the original where most of the games were new and unique, a lot of the games in Extreme Challenge are simply uninspired. Extreme Challenge’s Street Luge is really not much different than Outdoor Challenge’s Pipe Slider. Double-Dutch is the same as Jump Rope (and the “Fusion” feature, where you need to follow an on-screen character’s “challenges” is especially frustrating due to poor controller response). BMX is much like “Speed Roller”. Wii Sports Resort did it right, in that all of the game except for two were new, unique, and original, and even the two (golf and bowling), they introduced enough improvements to make them feel new. With Extreme Challenge, it’s just the opposite; almost nothing feels new at all. And speaking of Wii Sports Resort, games like “Wakeboarding” in Extreme Challenge are simply outclassed by the far superior versions in Sports Resort, both in terms of controller response and graphics.
The mat seems very unresponsive at times. I’m not sure if this is a result of poor programming or just the nature of the mat, but this is the cardinal sin of Wii games.
I suppose in an effort to make their game appeal to an older, teenage audience, they decided to make the characters and graphics “hip” by making them a bit more realistic and fit, with Little Orphan Annie-like circles for eyes. Personally, I just find these characters a bit annoying. Worse, when you unlock the ability to use your Mii, they plop your cartoon Mii’s head on top of a very fit young person’s body. The result is creepy, to say the least! This is a case where they should have taken a cue from Nintendo, who is not shy about embracing and building a consistent cartoony world, which incidentally I haven’t heard any teenagers I know complain about…
It’s not all bad, of course. Some of the good points:
There are a handful of games which really do introduce something new. Rock Climbing is an interesting game where you kneel on all fours and press different buttons on the pad to make your character climb up a rock wall. Inline Skate and and BASE Jumping are games where you need to use your feet to match a rapidly appearing pattern of buttons.
Like its predecessor, most of the games are still a great workout. And because they’re so fun (and you can compete against a friend or family member if you have a second game pad), you get exercise without realizing you’re exercising.
If you have Active Life Outdoor Challenge and need a new Mat, it’s not a bad idea to get this game if for nothing else than the additional Mat. The new games, while they won’t knock your socks off, are fun enough, adequate for extending the use of your mats.
Long story short? It’s worth getting if you have and loved Active Life Outdoor Challenge and want to get a slightly wider variety of games to play and exercise with on your game mat. It’s definitely worth getting if you’ve been thinking about getting an additional mat that’s compatible with Outdoor Challenge and Extreme Challenge (and future Active Life games).
On the other hand, if you don’t already have Outdoor Challenge, I strongly recommend getting that first. Because of its great workout potential, this game will make the Top 10 for now, but the original is still much better.
As we all know, Wii exercise is great but so is regular exercise. And so, I decided to sign up for the MS Bike Tour in New York City. It’ll be a 66-mile bike ride around Manhattan. I did this in 1999 and 2005, and I figured it was about time to do it again. It might interest some of you to know that this is the year I turn the big four-oh, and so it’s a way for me to prove to myself that I can still be fit with the best of them.
As part of the commitment to ride, I’ve also committed to raising money to fight MS. MS is a debilitating disease. There are those who can’t ride a bike, can’t play video games, and live their lives in pain. For those of us who can, please consider a generous donation. You can visit my donation page here.
As thanks for those who donate through this site, I’ll be giving away, to three of you whom I’ll select randomly, one of the Wii Fitness Games featured on this site. And even if you’re not selected, your contribution is 100% tax-deductible.
Thanks much, and now back to your regularly scheduled blog…
Remember the “this is so cool” moment you had when you first swung a baseball bat in Wii Sports or bowled your first strike? Get ready for the feeling again.
Wii Sports Resort is the much-anticipated sequel to Wii Sports. It comes with the MotionPlus controller, a small cube-shaped attachment you snap onto your existing Wii-mote (you can see pictures and a more detailed description in my review of EA Sports Tennis). What makes the MotionPlus special? It gives new life to your old Wii-mote by allowing games that are designed for it to react not just to your arm movements, but to the angle of your wrists and the speed of your motion.
And just like Wii Sports was the perfect way to show off the Wii-mote, Wii Sports Resort is the best way to show the capabilities of the MotionPlus.
Like Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort is made up of several sports simulation games, with your Mii as the star of each game. Here’s a breakdown of each sport, along with a video plus my observations on how useful it is for exercise.
Air Sports: Fun *** – Workout Intensity * When you start up Wii Sports Resort for the first time, you see your Mii on a plane heading for Wuhu Island, where the Wii Sports Resort is located. Your plane doesn’t land there–you parachute out, forming in-air formations with other parachuters. It’s a neat little way to present the title sequence, and you can replay it by choosing one of three “Air Sports”.
The other air sport has you holding your Wii-mote like a paper airplane, and flying around the island collecting. You can literally spend an hour flying around slightseeing and never getting tired of it. Not much exercise value, limited replay value, but nonetheless a very, very cool introduction to the game and a demonstration of the Wii Sports Resort developers’ attention to detail.
Archery: Fun ***** – Workout Intensity * This is one that is nothing short of amazing. You hold your Wii-mote in your left hand, and you hold your Nunchuk in your right. You aim your Wii-mote like you’re holding a bow, and you pull back on the Nunchuk like you’re pulling an arrow. This game makes great use of the sensitivity of the MotionPlus.
Basketball: Fun ***** – Workout Intensity *** This one takes a bit of getting used to, but once you do you’ll find it does a fairly good job of simulating a real basketball workout, both as a classic NBA-style three-point contest and a game of three-on-three. For the three-point contest, you pick up a ball from a cart by reaching with your Wii-mote pointed down and pressing the “B” button to pick up the ball. In one motion, you lift the Wii-mote in an arc (which will make your on-screen player jump), and then make an arcing motion with your hand (just like you’re shooting a real basketball). You let go of the ball by releasing the “B” button, and just like in the NBA you repeat until you’ve finished five racks of five balls. It’ll be frustrating at first, but you’ll soon find out that (just like in real life) you need to exert a different amount of force and spin for each location you shoot from.
The pick-up game uses similar controls for shooting, except you have to avoid defenders, and you also play defense by blocking shots and stealing balls.
The trick to this game is to release the ball when you’re at the top of the jump, to flick your wrists to put spin on the ball, not putting too much or too little force in your throw, and to aim the ball right at the basket when you let go. Try it a few times and you’ll get the hang of it. The more you envision yourself shooting a real basketball, the better you’ll do.
Bowling: Fun **** – Workout Intensity * This is a remake of Wii Sports Bowling, but with controls that are much more precise and subtle due to the MotionPlus. It does take some “re-learning” to do properly; instead of getting strikes for just flicking your wrist, you’ll be rewarded now for using proper bowling technique like curving the ball with your wrist.
Canoeing: Fun *** – Workout Intensity ***** I’d say this is the most intense of all the games on Wii Sports Resort for exercise. You hold your Wii-mote like a canoe paddle, row to the left, and row to the right. The MotionPlus can tell how fast you’re rowing and how deep in the water your paddle is. You’ll find yourself flailing your arms trying to reach the finish line before time runs out, and your heart will be pumping.
Cycling: Fun **** – Workout Intensity **** Reminiscent of the running game in Wii Fit, this is a brilliant game where you simulate the strategy of a bicycling race like the Tour de France or Olympic cycling. You alternate waving your Wii-mote and Nunchuk to simulate your biker’s pedaling. Wave too hard, and your biker will go out of breath or even need to stop for a bottle of water. Wave too lightly, and you’ll be left in the dust. Like in real cycling, you can “drift” off of other riders by riding behind them, you’ll move from pack to pack of bikers, and you need to conserve your energy for a mad sprint to the finish line.
Frisbee: Fun **** – Workout Intensity * This is another incredible game that really shows off the MotionPlus. You basically hold your Wii-Mote like a Frisbee, and you can aim it at any angle, control the spin with your wrists, and throw it at any speed. One of my favorite parts of this game is the cute little digital dog who always fetches and returns the Frisbee to you, something that doesn’t always happen in real life.
Golf: Fun *** – Workout Intensity * Another huge upgrade to the golf in Wii Sports. You can consider this a “lite” version of Tiger Woods Golf. Like Tiger Woods Golf, you basically hold your Wii-mote like it’s a golf club, and you try to swing it like a real one. Like a real golf club, you want to keep your wrists rigid throughout the swing. Twist your wrists or fail to properly follow through on your shot and it’ll be off.
Power Cruising: Fun **** – Workout Intensity ** I’ve driven a Sea-Doo once in my life at Walt Disney World. I have to say that this experience was amazingly close. You basically hold your Wii-mote and Nunchuk as if they’re the right and left handlebars on a Sea-Doo. Twist the controls to rev up your engine and go faster. Turn to the left or to the right to control where you go on the water. You basically have to maneuver through a slalom course. The only thing missing is the feeling of water splashing on you!
Swordplay: Fun=* * * * *, Exercise Intensity=* * * * Swordplay sort of reminds me of Wii Boxing. Like Wii Boxing, I imagine that the workout intensity will increase the more levels you increase. Basically, it’s a fencing game. You wield your sword, and you can swing it high or low and in every direction. You can fence against a computer opponent, but my favorite game is when you compete with the computer (or a friend) to see who can be the first to slice an object thrown at you (ranging from sushi to a diamond to a boiled egg).
Table Tennis: Fun=* * * * *, Exercise Intensity=* * * * This is another one where you scratch your head and wonder how they got it so close to the real thing. The MotionPlus makes your control of your paddle extremely accurate; you can tilt the racket and use differnt amounts of force to aim shots and spin the ball. It’s one of these games that may not be the most strenuous workout, but it’s so addicted you’ll play over and over again and get pretty decent exercise. If you’ve played ping-pong on Wii Play or Mario and Sonic at the Olympics, prepare for a whole new experience.
Wakeboarding: Fun=* * * * *, Exercise Intensity=* * In this game, you hold the Wii-mote horizontally (as if you’re on jet skis holding onto a tether), and waterski in the boat’s wake, doing jumping tricks and collecting points.
To summarize, Wii Sports Resort isn’t an exercise game, per se. If you’re going for pure exercise, you’re still better off with games like EA Sports Active and Gold’s Gym Cardio. But like Wii Sports, it’s incredibly fun and will certainly get you off your backside and moving your arms and shoulders. Like its predecessor, overall I’d rate the fun a solid * * * * *, and the exercise value a * *.
If you’re reading this on Monday July 27, run, don’t walk, to Amazon.Com’s Gold Box, where today and today only they have Dance Dance Revolution for the Wii for the ridiculous price of $34.99, which is 50% off the retail. This is almost guaranteed to sell out quickly at this price, so hurry!
In addition, it looks like the entire day of “Lightning Deals” (limited-time deals that are offered every few hours) will be related to dedicated to rhythm video games.
So, if you read this blog a lot, you’ll know I also have a blog dedicated to Indoor Gardening. In another case of blog-crossover, I wanted to report on how to use fresh herbs to spice up a Nutrisystem dinner.
The first step is to take a batch of fresh basil.
The next step is to make a Nutrisystem pizza the same way as always, but instead of just pouring on the cheese and tomato sauce, add a layer of basil in there.
I gotta say, it turned out incredible. The added taste of the basil transformed it from a ho-hum pizza slightly under the quality of a frozen pizza to, I kid you not, a gourmet meal. The smell of the cheese and the tomato sauce and the basil was nothing short of heavenly, and the taste was great. It didn’t look too shabby either.
You’ll end up with something that looks like this:
I’m not exagerrating when I say it was amazing. It added a whole new dimension to the standard Nutrisystem pizza, changing it from a ho-hum TV dinner quality meal to something that tastes and smells like something you might find in a fine restaurant (okay, maybe a fine diner).
The first thing to get out of the way is to make clear that Dancing with the Stars for Wii is not really a dancing game. You don’t learn dance steps, you don’t get scored on how well you dance, and you don’t even use your feet.
The best way I can describe this game is that it’s like “Dance Dance Revolution for your arms”. To play it, you hold the Wii-mote in one hand, the Nunchuk in the other hand, and as in Dance Dance Revolution you move your arms to the beat, getting higher scores depending on how precise your timing is. Something they added to the game are “flair moves” with names like “Maracas”, “Mashed Potato”, and “Twist” which will fill up a meter if you do the move right, boosting your score.
Dancing with the Stars will be enjoyed most by those who are already fans of the show. It has all the same theme music, and on-screen graphics as the show, and the dancers you compete using are actual celebrities and dance experts from past seasons of the show, including Season 5 chamption Apolo Anton Ohno and Julianne Hough, among others.
The judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, and Bruno Toniolli have all lent their voices to the game, and they’ll “grade” your performances. You advance by getting “voted for” by the audience. The music is the same popular music played on the show (thank goodness the producers chose to license the music rather than playing generic stock music). And while you won’t learn any dance moves, it is entertaining to watch the animated celebrities dancing on the screen as you’re moving your arms,
The controllers are mostly accurate, but from time to time as is common for games like this theymay fail to register movements. But there’s nothing too bad here, unlike other games like Samba Di Amigo.
Even after you’ve won the game, the game is still a lot of fun with a friend. You can compete against a friend, or the two of you can dance with in “Duet” mode.
There are actually two Dancing with the Stars games for Wii out there. You’ll want to get the newer one called Dancing With the Stars: We Dance! (in some cases, it’s also called Dancing With the Stars: Get Your Dance On), which has gotten far, far more positive reviews than the original.
Copyright 2015 Gaming.Fit Inc. - All Rights Reserved.
EA Sports Active is the #1 ranked exercise game on my list of 
(October 20, 2009). This game will be an exercise title which focuses on walking or step exercising using your DDR Dance Mat controller. It’ll feature a huge “virtual” world that you can walk through and a rich music soundtrack. 
(October 27, 2009). This game will be the sequel to Dance Dance Revolution. The biggest improvements will be a much improved music soundtrack and optional support for the Wii Balance Board. 
(November 3, 2009). This game will be a set of over 40 minigames, many of which use the DDR Dance Mat controller. From early screens, it looks like this will in part be a response to Namco Bandai’s Active Life series of games, which itself introduced its own mat controller. Here’s hoping this competition is a good thing, and Konami will step up to the challenge of making high quality mini-games.
is the much-anticipated sequel to Wii Sports. It comes with the MotionPlus controller, a small cube-shaped attachment you snap onto your existing Wii-mote (you can see pictures and a more detailed description in my 
is not really a dancing game. You don’t learn dance steps, you don’t get scored on how well you dance, and you don’t even use your feet.