Consumer Reports Gets Its Game On 301
Itninja writes "A few days ago Consumer Reports posted their first report on a specific video game: Wii Fit. From the article: 'Our testers ranged in age from 24 to 69 and included 10 women and five men. Users ran the gamut from regular exercisers to mostly sedentary folks.' Will this be a harbinger of things to come? Will CR be reviewing the next installment of Gran Turismo?"
Re:Wee Fit (Score:3, Insightful)
Keep clamoring for corporations to take responsibility for my behavior, and watch our individual rights continue to erode.
Re:n = 15 (Score:5, Insightful)
Wii fit can be good... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Wee Fit (Score:5, Insightful)
Sure, playing WiiFit isn't as strenuous as swimming laps, but if you're up and moving at all, you're getting more exercise than you would be sitting on a couch. I think the bigger problem with a lot of exercise routines has less to do with the fact that you don't get results and more to do with the fact that exercising is hard work and usually not particularly fun.
If someone finds WiiFit to be a good time, they'll probably keep playing it until it stops being fun. And in the meantime, they'll get a little bit more exercise than they used to. No harm done. I don't think you'll see any currently fit people giving up their habit of running three miles every morning and just playing WiiFit instead.
Re:n = 15 (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Wee Fit (Score:5, Insightful)
Is yoga a 'workout'? Is pilates a 'workout'? If you consider that to be a part of your workout routine, then the Fit is a part of that. And if it accomplishes the same thing as working along with a yoga/pilates video and is more fun, then that would be a win.
Nobody is saying that a Wii fit is a replacement for cardio, or weight training. But it may well be a perfectly legitimate to compliment yoga/ pilates/ and stretching exercises.
Besides, after the buzz wears down, anyone doing these "exercises" will quickly discover there are no results to be had, and the balancing board will end up in the closet with the rest of the rubber bands, abdominizors, and exercises dvds.
Unless its engaging and fun. Which a lot of people think it is, and who will play it regardless of whether they get 'results' or not.
And no matter how you spin it, its better for you than sitting on the couch.
So while Wii fit may not melt fat off, at least its not part of the problem.
Re:n = 15 (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Can't wait for the "Unsatisfactory" rating (Score:3, Insightful)
I will say that sometimes they do miss some important points when they deal with specialized products. I remember once seeing a review of bicyles that included a braking distance rating -- just like for cars. Well, all the bikes in the price range they were testing probably used the same or very similar Japanese component sets on rims of the same alloy. Any remaining difference in stopping distance would be determined by (in order): adjustment, rider technique, net weight, rotational mass (wheel weight). So there's not much to be gained for a serious rider looking at braking distance.
Also, there is the matter of comfort. The two most comfortable seats I've ever had were unpadded. One was a classic leather seat, the other was a plain, hard plastic shell. I never found that adding padding made the seat more comfortable, in fact quite the contrary. I found padding cut off the circulation after an hour or so in the saddle.
But that particular observation is not valid for somebody who takes his bike out for an hour or two a dozen or so times a year. If you ride on the order of a hundred miles or more per week, what you find comfortable is different.
Likewise, tire differences might make a difference in braking for a weekend rider, who is more likely to brake without adjusting his weight distribution, and thus is more likely to skid.
What I'm getting at is that if you aren't the kind of person who as a more specialized source of consumer information, the CR reports are probably fairly useful.
Re:Consumer Reports Sucks (Score:3, Insightful)
They do? Where? There are no ads accompanying the article and I don't see them on any of the reviews I've looked at.
I've found their reviews very useful and their expertise in affordable testing procedures carries from products to product. They provide fairly useful reviews from a normal person's perspective, with some product lines being reviewed by experts as well.
You say Consumer Reports sucks.. well maybe so, unless you compare them to every other company out there. They're pretty much the most reliable source of unbiased, professionally written reviews out there. Even for unprofessional reviews you have to deal with astroturf (more and more common) and with people trying to justify their purchase, by excusing problems or by villainizing the company because of a bad experience. Consumer Reports is better than anyone else I've seen. Who, exactly, is more trustworthy and useful in your opinion and why do you think that?
Re:n = 15 (Score:5, Insightful)
So two things come to mind when I think about this situation: a) the Wii might fit a nice gap in at least getting people off the couch and moving around. For some true couch potatoes, this might be enough and sufficient for at least a little while. b) Find a small local gym that isn't full of morons and doesn't charge brutal contract fees. They're all over, they want your business, and you're doing yourself and "the little guy" a favor.
Re:Anyone actually TRY this? (Score:3, Insightful)
In general that's a criticism of something many people throw blindly at the Wii or Guitar Hero, or Rock Band simply because they don't understand it. They're quick to criticize and say "Why don't you just play [real] tennis, play a [real] guitar, or shoot a [real] Nazi?" and they miss the entire point.
In general however, I can understand if people think Wii Fit isn't a workout. Some people may either beyond the point where the exercises are on the easy side of what they are used to, or they are of the apathetic side that doesn't put much into it and walks away too soon. This being slashdot, my money's on the latter.
You will get out of it, what you put into it and if someone steps on the board and does 10 minutes or less of exercise then they won't feel anything.
So far my largest complaints aren't of the board or the game, it's the inability to chain exercises or set up a schedule. I'd like to set up routines that go seamlessly from one to the next like a routine to give me "30 minutes - Ab exercises" or "30 minutes - Cardio".
Re:Wii Sports Experiment (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:n = 15 (Score:4, Insightful)
Fitness games in general (Score:5, Insightful)
But when DDR got big, I've got to say I saw it as a positive thing. Will it replace treadmills and such? Of course not. But, to someone with my attention span, a treadmill is VERY boring. A video game is fun and exciting, so I am much more likely to use it.
Case it point: in my living room right now, I have a nice metal dance pad and a nice elliptical machine. They both cost about the same. Guess which one gets used more? Exactly. So even if the dance pad doesn't give a better workout, it gives a better workout anyway because I will actually use the damn thing rather than avoid it like the plague.
Just my 2c
Re:Ughh... (Score:4, Insightful)
What lackluster reviews? BMW 3-series gets top marks in every category (membership required) [consumerreports.org] and the new wagon [consumerreports.org] gets a good score but loses points for controls, cup-holder design, a small interior, and the need for premium fuel. I'm not sure why you're so personally offended by such an honest review, but maybe it would help you to know most CR readers don't focus much on the final "score" but rather look at the pros/cons and consider which are important to them.
Your post really comes across as a pompous attempt to be a "car guy" but real "car guys" (1) don't get their panties in a twist over a CR review and (2) don't drive BMW's.
Re:Consumer Reports Sucks (Score:3, Insightful)
How do you know it is not biased? They're being paid by the companies they are reviewing. So how do you know they don't nix the most critical reviews? Do they take donated cameras? Are those cameras the same as normal people buy, or cherry picked by the companies donating them?
There are several things useful for review sites. Expertise is one, and maybe one where CR is not top of their game. Another is credibility, where CR is at the top of their game. With other sites, you just don't know for the most part if they are honest or will remain that way. A third is testing methodology. Do they know how to acquire and test batches of goods for reliability?
Most individual publications are horribly biased either by intention or because of the realities of the industry. The only practical way around that is to move away from advertising as in income stream and move to subscriptions. Very few people want to pay a subscription for just reviews on one type of product, because it is inconvenient even if it is not too costly.
If they run ads or even take donated gear, I don't trust them. This opinion has proved to be the correct one again and again as magazine after magazine has been exposed as changing content to suit the people paying them, and that isn't the reader. For sites where consumers post reviews, the situation is just as bad. Reviews can be removed at the behest of advertisers. Reviews can be paid astroturfing. Reviews can be biased by consumers trying to justify their purchase or angry because they had a bad experience that may not be reflective of the general case. Seriously, paid subscriptions are the only model that does not have a huge probability of intentional or unintentional misinformation.
Re:Ughh... (Score:3, Insightful)
I dunno, I find them a good source of concrete relative comparisons rather than gushing hyperbole like most advertising-driven reviews from other sources. Even for cars. Yes, there are lots of subjective factors that go into car buying (or blender buying, for that matter), but subjective reviews by third parties (even if they were directed by a desire to maximize advertising revenue rather than honesty) aren't a good guide to those factors most of the time, anyway (the self-awareness to know what objective factors influence your subjective response to something allows objective reviews to sometimes be a good guide to that, and beyond that you've just got to try it yourself.)
Re:n = 15 (Score:5, Insightful)
Besides, I have stairs outside of my apartment. I am permitted to traverse vertically to my heart's content without an induced fee. I am free to do pushups within most public areas. Additionally, I am permitted to walk, saunter, jog, run, sprint, dash, and speedwalk without so much as tipping my hat to other passers-by.
What makes a difference "in your condition" as you troll, is actually exercising. If you think that buying a game, or a gym membership, or new shoes, or brightly colored shorts, or a new tennis racket will help you, you are free to do so.
I do not comment on other's health choices/investments.
Also, it is cheaper than most home gym sets (if you have a wii already) and may well be more entertaining.
Re:n = 15 (Score:5, Insightful)
Not everybody who's buying this game is somebody who's overweight and never gets any exercise. Even those who *are* overweight and never get any exercise... I'd rather they play the games that come with Wii Fit than sitting on their ass playing Halo... the games that come with Wii Fit will actually have them getting up and possibly even working up a sweat. I know that I usually work up a sweat by the time I get to the step aerobics in my routine the sweat's usually streaming off (that's about 25 minutes in).
It's better than nothing. But as with any exercise routine, you'll get out of it what you put into it. If you're serious about losing weight then you'll need more than a video game. It's a good start, but it'll require some serious lifestyle changes for any weight loss to take.
There's a couple of major advantages to Wii Fit over going to the gym. You've touched on them yourself... you don't have to deal with asses at the gym, you don't have to deal with grimy sweaty equipment, you can do it in the privacy of your own home... and the personal trainer is actually pretty good. Well voiced, gives realtime encouragement based on your current position, which is limited by the fact that it can only detect your center of balance and not your actual position, but it is still fairly accurate for most situations.
Finally, I'd like to second the comment that using BMI as a measure of anything is approaching idiotic... It's good to keep track of your weight, and how it changes... and that's actually the idea behind Wii Fit: track your weight on a day to day basis so that you're more conscious of what you put into your mouth. There was an interview available on the Nintendo channel that explained this..... Anyway. BMI itself is a fairly useless measurement, because it doesn't keep track of anomalies. There is somebody at my dojo, for example, who weighs 260lbs. This person is 6' tall, giving him a BMI of over 35. Well into the "obese" category. There's just one thing wrong with this definition: This person wears a 32" waist, and has body fat of 13%. Tracking your BMI over time will give you an indication of how much weight you've lost, but it won't actually give anything approaching an indication of how much you still need to lose.
Re:Consumer Reports Sucks (Score:5, Insightful)
They exist to keep regular joes from getting ripped off.
They do not exist to give expert advise to nit-picking, niche hobbyists. If you want that sort of expert advise, go to one of the many magazines dedicated to whatever niche you have a fetish for.
Meanwhile the people who just want to buy a washing machine/refrigerator/car/bed/television/dvd-player/vacuum/etc that does a decent job and won't break down a month after the warranty expires can go to CR.
Re:Can't wait for the "Unsatisfactory" rating (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Anyone actually TRY this? (Score:1, Insightful)
Just wanted to add my 2 cents: I've had WiiFit for 2 weeks (since it came out here in Australia) and have already lost 4 kg (~8 lb). It's a great motivator actually.
Did anyone else notice (Score:2, Insightful)