A Wii Workout

[Adrian Laguna]

For a lot of couch potatoes, moving about in any form would still be much more exercised that they otherwise do, and it's fun enough for them to do it often and for long periods. Better than nothing, I guess.

Barely. You'll probably lose more calories jacking off to tentacle porn than playing on Wii. I hope people [read: lazy children] won't use the defence that 'the Wii IS exercise, mom!' when pressed to do some real physical activity, such as playing football with friends or riding a bike.

While it certainly is no substitute to real exercise, some movement beats no movement. I recall a study* where it was found that people who move a while watching television (to change position, scratch themselves, etc.) weigh less on average than people who sit still as a corpse. Granted, both groups are still fat, but something is better than nothing. The key here is that some people aren't gonna exercise anyway, and the Wii is better than sitting still. Is it even better for them to get a real workout? Of course it is, but something is better than nothing.

*A study I can't find, so I'm relying on my admittedly unreliable memory.

[Mad]

Wii Sports also has a specific Workout Mode.

No, it doesn't. Wii Sports has a "Wii Fitness Test" mode which measures the "Wii Fitness Age" of your Mii based on your performance in three random training mode events for that day.

It's a measurement (for fun, obviously), not a "workout mode" designed to make you more fit.

[Alferd Packer]

I was playing Wii Sports last night over at my friend's house, and I could see where Boxing could get a little intense. If you played that for an hour and a half, flailing around to the max, you'd get a decent cardio workout. The other Wii Sports aren't intensive enough.