Gym’s $110 per hour Wii workout - Can PS3 or Xbox boast similar claim?
By Dave Parrack
The Nintendo Wii has been universally derided as a next-gen console. PS3 and Xbox 360 gamers don’t even regard the console in the same breath as their own due to poor graphics and a lack of hardcore games. But the Wii has managed to do what its two rivals haven’t - crossed over in to the mainstream. In fact, the console is increasingly being used as a substitute for many real-life activities.
When the Wii was first released and most people got Wii Sports as part of the bundle, the console immediately hit the mainstream. This was due mainly to word of mouth advertising and the desire of people of all ages to just have a go at the motion-sensing control method. Everyone, from dyed in the wool hardcore gamers to old grannies, wanted to give it a try.
Then along came Wii Fit, and the whole thing started again. The game has sold in huge quantities, with people wanting to use the device as a method of losing weight and getting fit, while still having fun. Around the time of its release, various people reported on the real life benefits of the game, with one even quitting the gym to use Wii Fit exclusively.
Now, a New York gym has decided to go one step further and actually make the Wii part of its training programme. According to The New York Post, Gravity Fitness at Le Parker Meridien hotel in Manhattan, charges customers $110 an hour for a personal training session, part of which includes time using the Wii.
The Wii is already being used in a range of different places, from hospitals helping people recover from injuries, to schools using it as part of physical education classes. However, this is probably the first instance of an institution actually charging for the privilege of using a Wii in this way.
Dorothy Evans, a personal trainer at Gravity Fitness, explained why the Wii is being used in this way:
You’d be surprised. It may have little to do with the real sports, but we get people’s heart rates up to 140 to 150 beats per minute - although some of that may just be the excitement of the game.
This was bound to happen sooner or later but I can’t see the logic of anyone paying that sort of amount to use a Wii in a gym when you could just buy one and use it at home as often as you like.
As I asked in the title though, can the PS3 or Xbox 360 boast a similar claim? The short answer is no, and that just proves that the Wii has broken out of the limits of being merely as games console, and become something more akin to a lifestyle device for all.
Anyone who doubts that casual gaming is the future that every console manufacturer is aiming for needs only needs to read this story to realise why: there’s too much money in casual gaming for Sony or Microsoft to ignore it any longer.
Related:
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Tips N4G
August 6th, 2008
You ever heard of Yourself Fitness for the XBOX? That is a more serious workout and it is backwards compatible with the 360. offers Fitness, Weights, Yoga, and a diet plan. the Wii Fit might be a bit more fun but Yourself Fitness is no slouch and I personally think it is a better workout.
August 6th, 2008
wow… why pay a hundred bucks an hour ???
if youre so lazy that you “rent” wii instead of buying it… then no amount of exercise is gonna get rid of your flab…
although I have to say… wii makes working out fun… but it doesnt give you the COMPLETE work out… I think its okay to have it on the side… just not to depend on it exclusively…
August 6th, 2008
LMAO this is the funniest thing ever. Has madness gripped the entire world? Replacing dedicated workout time with a video console… you’ve got to be joking. As you all know i’m a gamer, but there are limits to gaming… working out is far past the limit. People cannot seriously think that the Wii fit can actually replace, or emulate a full gym workout. This is insane. Video games cannot get you fit. They can give you a SLIGHTLY FASTER HEARTBEAT, but thats it. I cant believe so many people have been almost brainwashed into thinking video games consoles can actually make a difference to our fitness. The whole idea is absurd. How about, instead of picking up a wiimote or X360 controller, actually going out for a run, doing 10 minutes of sit ups or push ups!!!!
Video games cannot replace a real workout. North America especially actually think that this is a way to keep good health? You gotta be kidding me.
August 6th, 2008
@ Dave Parrack & Mike Ferro.
Every single ‘article’ that you guys submit is such blatant fanboy flame material. Instead of focusing on throw-away comments (mainly in the headlines), that are so obviously used to get a lot of wankers on here foaming at the mouth - try and focus on industry news that is at most within two days of being current e.g the article on the 360 Avatars having God mode is about a week old.
Admit it guys, your sole purpose is to get people to sledge each other over console preference. Am I wrong?
August 6th, 2008
well. actually wii fit makes you run for 30mins. repeat if you are unsatisfied. makes you sit up and push up for as many rep or you like too. i sweat as much as when i am playing basketball.
anyway, i agree that paying 100bucks per hour is too much. just pick up a wii online or at your nearest store. .. and help wii to increase its hardware sales.. lol.. =p
August 6th, 2008
thats ridiculous. If you want to run, go out and run. why run in your living room? Thats the laziest “workout” ever. Talk about idiocy.
August 6th, 2008
Hmm interesting. It would be nice to see Sony develop something similar.
August 7th, 2008
@DAVE PARRAK
I’ve been reading your so called “articles” quietly for sometime now and you really haven’t written something new about the gaming world.
All you DID was to start a flame from between the next gen fanboys.
Suggestion : Start writing about games and the technology. If you can’t do that, then PLEASE STOP WRITING!
August 7th, 2008
Bourne, the idea is you run while watching other miis run or just take a look at the island you are running on. there’s a mode where you can turn the tv onto any channel you want and watch tv. the wii mote speaker will just tell your progress while running. sort of when you are using a threadmill in front of a tv kind of thing. anyway that is just one exercise and there are a lot more.
as you said you can just go outside and run for 30 mins. that requires discipline, if you make push ups, and you already feel tired, you will stop anytime if you do not have enough discipline. wii fit sets goals and scores for you so that you can be motivated to workout. you can unlock more games and difficulty levels when you workout frequently and it adds to the motivation. unlike if you just run outside, you’ll just feel tired after, if you run using wii fit, you’ll feel tired + maybe you can unlock the snowboarding game.
August 7th, 2008
Bourne
Your ignorance about indoor exercise is amazing. Sure real exercise is better but indoor can be just a beneficial. Anything that can get your heart rate going is a workout. It may sound silly to you but I bet if I put you to do a workout on the Wii or Yourself fitness that you wouldn’t last.
August 7th, 2008
bourne - spoken like a man who’s never set foot in a gym. someday when you actually do, please look for the spinning cycles, life cycles, stair climbers, pilate classes and aerobic classes. ALL recommended methods of improving cardio and every one indoors.
if you want to see what an “at home” excercise routine can do, research the P90X exercise regiment.
August 7th, 2008
Tiko
Tell Him. He is the worse writer on here.
August 7th, 2008
Ok then, this begs the question, why pay for something that you can do for free (referring to the wii fit as opposed to a gym)
August 7th, 2008
Ok then, this begs the question, why pay for something that you can do for free (referring to the wii fit as opposed to a gym)
August 7th, 2008
mgs - if you need the motivation of a video game console then you shouldn’t do excercise. Its purely a money making goal of Nintendo to sucker people into thinking that its a real workout.
CAD - I love the way you assume you know me. I do workout but i don’t have to splash £150 a year on a gym or £70 on Wii fit like my friends do, instead i take the initiative, go for a run myself and workout by myself in my room.
Kev - I see the M$ disease spreads to workout as well, in that to get fit : splash money at it, have a problem : splash money at it , need to get laid : splash money at it.
When will people see that you can workout yourself for free as opposed to spending money to do it! I workout for free and i’m in great shape!
August 7th, 2008
Bourne
I’m not saying to go to a hotel to have a workout everyday that is plain stupid. But if you have the system and Wii fit then why not.
August 7th, 2008
“An individual is smart….People are stupid, panicky, dangerous and you know it!” -Tommy Lee Jones
August 7th, 2008
Dying last words from a doomed console.
The Wii is a success because it’s 200 bucks. You toss one to your kids to shut them up. If it breaks, you throw it out and buy another one.
Very gimmicky, cheap little toy.
NOT RECOMMENDED FOR THE INTENSE GAMER!
August 7th, 2008
Dying last words from a doomed console.
The Wii is a success because it’s 200 bucks. You toss one to your kids to shut them up. If it breaks, you throw it out and buy another one.
Very gimmicky, cheap little toy.
NOT RECOMMENDED FOR THE INTENSE GAMER!
August 7th, 2008
^^^ AMEN!!!! lol. The Wii belongs in the FUCKEN garbage!
August 7th, 2008
Bourne-”Ok then, this begs the question, why pay for something that you can do for free (referring to the wii fit as opposed to a gym)”
….It’s because the Wii is aimed for the mentallly disturbed. The Wii aims for people who have NO LIFE, no talent, and no sense of innovativeness! People who own a Wii only like cheap things, and cannot handle the true sensation of playing Playstation 3 or Xbox 360. It’s an honest fact.
Now for the small children who own the Wii, I understand. Games on PS3 and XBox 360 do not cater to them. But any teenager or parent that owns a Wii for their own personal use, it clearly retarded and in dire need of psychiatric evaluation!
I mean come on, the last time I played TOYS was when Power Rangers first arrived. It’s time to GROW UP!!! Buy a PS3 or Xbox 360 and stop living like a loser
The PS3 and Xbox 360 PWNs the Nintendo Wii!!!!!
August 7th, 2008
Bourne, why shouldn’t i exercise? i play basketball and do boxing once a week but i do not exercise daily. wiifit encourages the user to spend a few minutes to exercise at least every other day. this lifestyle chage is good for our body. without the wiifit, i do not think i will be motivated to exercise daily (so thank you nintendo for this), plus its more fun to exercise and playing at the same time than to plainly do boring exercise. if this is a gimmik by the bigN for them to make money, well, it’s their product, so its fine. the mgs series is a gimmik thrown to us by konami for them to make money. it’s just business. we are spending money to enjoy their product.
August 7th, 2008
The future of Sega - I cant believe i’m saying this but amen brother ( referring to “the Wii is aimed at the mentally disturbed”)
Mgs - I never said you shouldn’t excersice, please quote me on this. Infact i said I excersice. My Point is that if you want to excersice don’t do it half arsed on a games console, rather do it yourself, take the initiative and do it for free! why do you need to pay to get yourself into shape! your motivation should be yourself, rather than relying on a games console telling you your losing weight in a wierd way.
August 7th, 2008
The future of Sega - I’m with you there for once and once only.
Mgs - If you read my post you’d know that i never said you shouldn’t excersice, because i excersice, its just the method of how you do it. If you have to rely or be encouraged by a games console to keep fit then there’s something wrong. The inscentive to keep fit should come from you rather than Nintendo’s gimmick. Its purely a way to make money rather than a lifestyle option. If its so boring, do it with a friend, go to a gym, get a porn movie to watch while excersicing, jeez.
August 7th, 2008
@ mgs fanboy…..”without the wiifit, i do not think i will be motivated to exercise daily”. Are you fucken serious??? Go ride your bike, run up the sidewalk, have a speed race with some friends, play catch with the dog, go swimming, join a karate club, or play dodgeball or something. Get off your lazy ass and go outside!
Geez. Exercises are NOT boring! They seem boring because people are so FUCKEN lazy these days. Just look at how pathetic people look that they need VIDEO GAMES to encourage them to exercise and live a healthy lifestyle! What a joke.
August 7th, 2008
The future of Sega - I’m with you there for once and once only.
Mgs - If you read my post you’d know that i never said you shouldn’t excersice, because i exercise, its just the method of how you do it. If you have to rely or be encouraged by a games console to keep fit then there’s something wrong. The incentive to keep fit should come from you rather than Nintendo’s gimmick. Its purely a way to make money rather than a lifestyle option. If its so boring, do it with a friend, go to a gym, get a porn movie to watch while exercising, jeez. Again if exercising is so boring then why do it at all.
August 7th, 2008
DAVE - Can you delete my re-posts, my servers quite slow and comes up with an error message prompting me to re-post. Sorry bout that, could you delete a few of my re-posts?
August 7th, 2008
Hey not to go off topic but I was wondering why doesn’t the 360 play ALL of the Xbox original games!???? That was the ONLY reason why I purchased a 360 because my original Xbox kept making a loud disgruntled sound which was REALLY annoying!
And come to find out only 5 or 6 of my 30 Xbox games are compatible. -Sigh- I wonder if Xbox 360 is TRUELY aimed for the hardcore gamer……Or is it just aimed for gamers who have a lot of money
August 7th, 2008
bourne, yes we do exercise. i am exercising to increase my stamina for an upcoming basketball tourney. i am not trying to lose weight. i just chose to increase my stamina while playing games and unlocking new games compared to just running around the village. anyway i bought the wiifit mainly because of the experience of using the balance board on the games. an not because i need a motivation to exercise. what i am mentioning is, the game encouraged me to exercise daily, which is good. but that fact is just a BONUS to why i actually bought the game.
August 7th, 2008
future of sega, i don’t need to go to the gym or live a healthy lifestyle to be healthy. my BMI is just a little above the optimal BMI to have. also I only play for computer games for only around 3hours per week (the only only lazy time i have). also as i have just said, i play basketball and do boxing. =p and they are fun to do. the exercises that i am referring to as boring are push ups and sit ups, and other counting stuffs. i prefer to do them while playing wiifit to unlock more games. i got your point that the activities you mentioned in your example are not boring. I also get bourne’s point that why spend for sth that can be done for free. my point is that the game makes workouts more accessible and fun, and keep in mind that exercising is not the only reason to buy the game. i exercise enough already even without wiifit.
August 7th, 2008
lol Future, i smell flamebait…
August 7th, 2008
“can the PS3 or Xbox 360 boast a similar claim?”
Thankfully, NO!
And when are you going to start writing objective ARTICLES, DAVE PARRACK? Enough of the puff pieces and flame bait, give us something worth READING.
August 7th, 2008
Yeah, for all the people crying “FLAMEBAIT ARTICAL!!1″ I see that the only thing we’re flaming each other over is the topic of exercise itself.
Not to mention that this article managed to bring Superdynamite out of retirement. Man, I haven’t seen him post in forever…
-Arvis
August 7th, 2008
Oh, by the way, I enjoy tennis myself. It’s my new addiction. Anyone else play? Anyone? Anybody at all?
-Arvis
August 7th, 2008
bourne - “money”? wtf are you babbling about? bottom line if you want true results you need a variation of aerobic and resistance training. you plateau very quickly w/o resistance training. If what you said was true, gyms would be out of business. gawd you can be so dense sometimes…
also, running is high impact to the joints. many, many people can’t run long enough to see real gains due to knee, back, or hip problems, thus why spinning, climbing, swimming, and cycling are considered better for you than running. (as ANY doctor or sports doctor)
maybe if you left your “room” and learned the benefits of fitness really works you may learn something. bah..that would make too much sense…
August 7th, 2008
Yeh I play Arvis, not serious games, but with a few mates every now and then. And no, not Virtua Tennis or Top Spin. I played Virtua Tennis demo a few times when I got my PS3 though (there was only a few demos about).
The whole Wii fitness thing - if it gets people who would otherwise be too lazy to exercise, great. It is good to see people have fun and get fitter at the same time. Also, some people can’t get to the gym, like single parents, etc.
Myself, I’d rather go outside or to the gym though. I’m not going to finish triathlons using the Wii as my trainer.
I apologise if I just said anything which someone else has already said, I only scan-read the comments.
August 7th, 2008
This is very interesting, I had a conversation the other day and mentioned to my friend I thought the wii could replace trainers.
August 7th, 2008
I go to the Gym everday M-F for 1 hour during my lunch. Then I exercise my finger and eyes during game sessions at night. Just wanted to say that.
August 7th, 2008
Kev - Ok i’ll do that some time LOL. I didnt know you were a doctor along with a fanboy/microsoft employee AND full time know it all. Is there anything you cant do? You’re like a swiss army knife.
August 8th, 2008
bourne - wow… first, i’m prolly a lot older than you so life experiences tend to teach people more. secondly, the military tends to encourage fitness and it’s a lifestyle i’ve maintained after the service.
Anyone who is serious about fitness knows exactly what i know. it’s nothing that anyone who IS serious about fitness doesn’t know.
Finally, the fact you didn’t know this only underscores you lack of knowledge and lack of committment to fitness.
i never said i was a doctor, but i have taken some great fitness advice from docs and sports trainers.
finally, my ex is a pilates instructor….
you can take you foot out of your mouth now…
here’s an idea, don’t assume you know people on the other side of the world.
August 8th, 2008
OK everyone needs to step back for a second. You people are arguing about exercising now?!! With the high rate of obesity I don’t care how you exercise, just do something. Here, I will settle it for you. If you like to be around other people and use equipment then go to the gym. If you like fresh air and views go do your thing outside.
STOP EXCERCISE FANBOYISM NOW!
August 8th, 2008
Wylie - Never!
August 9th, 2008
@ Cad “I go to the Gym everday M-F for 1 hour during my lunch. Then I exercise my finger and eyes during game sessions at night. Just wanted to say that.”
…..And what relevance does that have with the topic??? Your comments are starnge at times mister
August 10th, 2008
“starnge” translation STRANGE. Sorry about that, I had a brain fart