Månad: april 2008

Wii Fit – Day One

Johan Dahlberg 2 kommentarer

If you’re the least bit familiar with the Wii console, you’re probably aware of the fairly new game titled Wii Fit, an attempt from Nintendo to make us exercise more. Wii Fit has been available in Japan for some time now, and has been sold in over one million copies there. Here in Europe, however, the game has only been in stores for a few days.

So why is Wii Fit so special? Well, besides featuring over 40 fairly interesting minigames and exercises, including everything from yoga poses and balancing games to aerobics and muscle training, it also introduces the Wii Balance Board. This board, when standing on it, takes into account how you balance your weight, and that is essentially what Wii Fit is based on – balance and how it’s distributed.

Upon starting the game for the first time, I was asked to enter my height and birth date. The board measured my weight automatically. Upon doing all this, the game then calculated my BMI (Body Mass Index). I was also asked to set a goal – how much weight I’d like to get rid of – based on these results.

Even though I knew that Wii Fit focused on exercising (duh!), I was still surprised at how seriously it takes this task. You can track your progress, the game offers extensive tips on everything from how to do a certain exercise for maximum effect to how your sleeping habits compare to what’s recommended, there are graphs and the so called ”Wii Fitness Age” (based on your performance), and you also get your own personal trainer for some of the exercises. You even get a cute little ”FitPiggy”, a sort of piggy bank which keeps track of how long you exercise daily, and a personal trainer showing you how to do some of the exercises.

During the past year or so, my family has become increasingly aware of fitness – what we eat and how we exercise. Because of this, the Wii Fit advertisement campaign stating something like ”with Wii Fit, fitness will become a common topic in your household” doesn’t really hit the target, for me. However, I bought it because it sounded fun, not because I wanted to lose weight or gain muscles.

Despite this I have come to believe that Wii Fit can in fact do something for my body. I was surprised at how effective the exercises felt (especially yoga, I need to improve a lot there!). With such a massive focus on fitness, it’s hard not to get motivated. Sure, jogging in one place in front of a TV screen might not be as healthy as jogging in the outdoors, but then again, it sure must be healthier than not jogging at all (jogging is not how I usually exercise). And I even believe Wii Fit can make me more aware of what I put in my mouth.

With all this said, I’d hope to see myself using Wii Fit for at least 30 minutes a day (with perhaps some ”free” days), and I’m eager to see how I progress over time.

And also, with such an innovative yet simple idea as the Wii Balance Board, more games are bound to show up taking advantage of it. Can’t wait for that either!

1000 Blank White Cards

Johan Dahlberg 8 kommentarer

The coolest game around! And it’s unusually simple, too.

The idea is that you take a number of blank cards (pieces of paper, post-it notes, the back of old business cards, whatever). 1000 isn’t needed (although once you start playing, you’ll soon discover that you’ll use them up rather quickly!), but 100 should be quite enough to begin with.

Playing the game

So what are you supposed to do? Simply, you create the cards – and rules – as you go! The game is usually divided into three parts: the creating of cards, the actual play, and an epilogue.

Everyone starts with a number of blank cards (we play with three), which, before the game begins, they are to fill out (see below). For the first game, however, when you don’t have any older cards to use, you might want to create some more straight away).

Next, a deck is created consisting of the newly created cards, old cards from previous games, and, if desired, some blank cards. A good amount of cards is 50-100 in a deck (although again, for the first game, you might not have that many and want to use less in the deck).

Now the actual game begins. Each player is dealt five cards from the deck. The player to the left of the dealer goes first. On a players turn, s/he may play one card and draw a new one. A card can be played on the player himself, on an opponent, or in the middle of the table (in which case it affects everyone).

Creating the cards

Players create cards before the game actually begins, and on the go, if a blank card is drawn from the deck. A card usually consist of a title, a picture, a text to go with the picture (not required) and an effect. The effect is usually a number of points from 100 to 1000, either positive or negative, but can also be other things, from simply ”lose a turn” to more advanced stuff. Be creative!

Here are some of our own cards as examples:

Sounds interesting? Go ahead and try it 😀

April Fools

Johan Dahlberg 3 kommentarer

”April April you dumb herring,

I can trick you where I want.”

OK, so it doesn’t really work in English. But I survived April Fools day! Did you? Tell us about your own tricks, or what people did to you 😀

A hint of spring

Johan Dahlberg Lämna en kommentar

Today I sat in Christa’s garden for a few minutes, and for the first time this year I sensed a hint of spring in the air. The snow was melting, the sun was warming me, and some of those familiar spring sounds could be heard. Ah, that was a lovely moment.

The ants aren’t out yet, though.