We only do desire that the greatest of all Wii peripherals could be so close at hand. We could reach out and touch that one thing to make the Wii range to all ages – -  [+1 Ages]

And we lost it. The Wii balance board, in essence an “extra peripheral” peripheral, is indeed worth something. But is it enough? There are redeeming values to the board and there are less spectacular downsides.

The balance board is another step outside the ring for Nintendo – a woot to them (woot!) – but is it too far outside? It is another level of motion sensor, it can determine the amount of pressure each foot puts on the pad and, by measuring this, can imitate activities such as hoola-hooping and pushups, (not to mention skiing) and allow the user or player to get an amount of exercise from the activity. How much exercise, though, it also tries to grasp and measure. [+2 Exercise]

Based on your applied pressures throughout the activity at hand it tells you how well you are doing, but only to a certain extent can it do this. Even with the sensitivity of the board at the height it is, you can cheat.  [-1 Cheating]

Variety – we want it. We want variety of favor of ice cream, of kinds of videogame, of genre of movies. Well, one thing Wii Fit certainly got right is variety. A good number of activities are built into the original game and there are at least three other games using the board for more activities:: Gamespot references My Fitness Coach and Wii Ski as two.  [+1 Variety]

Though variety leaves a little to be desired, the Wii Balance Board and Wii Fit are off to a tremendous start of an innovative concept which is certainly going to grow. There are imperfections in the game though – - you can only do so much, and repetition is seen often in Wii Fit and the related video-offspring.  [-1 Repitition]

Honestly, the greatest of all wii peripherals goes to the controller in every way, but we must understand that the balance board is not meant to rival the other peripherals but to complement them, which it does quite amazingly well. Thus, I will concede to you my rating:

6.5/10… + sidebar… 8.5/10
(Gamespot: 8/10; EGM: 8/10)

Written by Jordan Timmerman for WiiFreedom.com