Hey.  I added some Wiispefic forums.  The categories are "friend codes, reviews, and game help."  Head in there if you want.  I know I'll be posting all my future Wii-stuff in there.

I bought Wii Fit today, and I figured I would help ya'lls out and tell you how it rates.  So you know my background, I was a decent runner through high school and college.  My best 10K (6.2 miles) time in college was about 32:42, which was my sophomore year because I had health and injury problems through most of the next two years.  On the college competitve level, I was better than most, but there was still a good amount of people better than me.  On the world-wide level -- including completely out of shape people -- I'm amazing.  However, I haven't really run for about a year and a half... so I'm out of shape.

Let me just get this out there -- the Wii Fit is the real deal.  It'll get you tired.  It'll get you
 sweating.  It's definitely not the hardest workout you can get in your life....  But it's AMAZING for what you can get in your living room even if it's a little frustrating that you have to gradually earn more and more workouts the longer you play.  But I sort of get it -- they don't want inexperienced people going into something too hard too quick.

Here's a run down of each area:

Yoga -- Didn't play this yet.  I'm not sure if I will or not.  I'll have to watch my girlfriend doing it first.  But I HEAR that it's one of the most spot-on modes in this game.

Strength -- These were decently hard.  So far they are allowing me to do pushups, leg extentions, squats, lunges, and some ab stuff.  I am not strong at all, but I got top ratings on all of these...  Which goes to show that Nintendo is concentrating on correct form (based on weight distribution) above all else.  For a lot of people, the basic amount of reps isn't going to be enough, so you'll have to go straight back into the exercises after you are done, which can be annoying.  It would be better if you could enter in however many reps you want to do from the start, but I think they DO let you unlock higher reps later.

Aerobics -- They have hula-hooping, step workouts, running, etc in this mode.  The hula-hooping is just like... hula-hooping.  So if you are sweet at that, you'll be good at this too.  The step workout is like DDR, basically...  and I suck at it, but it did get me breathing a bit.  The running isn't very long (even when you unlock the "long distance" one), but the cool thing about it is they change the pace of the guy pacing you so he's ALWAYS in front of you.  I absolutely killed myself on these runs.  I was out of breath and sweating more than in any other workout I did -- but I also sprinted it.  If someone wants to just "go for a jog" in this mode, they won't get much out of it.  They should probably actually go for a real jog... like outside.

Balance games -- I think a lot of people are going to spend a lot of their time here.  The balance games really are a lot of fun AND challenging.  Off the top of my head, there is heading soccer balls, ski jumping, downhill skiing, tight-roping, and the  "get the marble in the hole by tilting the platform" game.

If you are looking for a good way to workout at home, this is worth the $100 price tag.  If you've never worked out in your life, maybe try it out first by renting it or going to a friend's house....  It's pretty expensive for someone to buy, try, get too sore, then quit.  People that already like to workout, cool.  Hope this was helpful.

So, today was the official North American WiiWare launch. I had 3400 points, so I bought three games: Defend your Castle, My Life as King, and LostWinds. I spent quite a bit of time with two of these games today, and almost no time with the other... but here's my thoughts:

Defend your Castle:

This game has the world's simpliest graphics, but they work. It's all stick figures, middle school drawings, and pictures of different household items. Complaining about the graphics, though, is totally missing the point. They really don't matter at all.

This game is totally about gameplay... These stick figures will try to destroy your castle, while you use the on-screen pointer to pick them up and drop them to their death. Throughout the game, you can upgrade your castle's health, be able to "convert" enemies, pick up archers and demolition men, and a few other things.

Simply put, this is the ultimate "pick up and play" game. It's fun, addicting, and ANYONE can play it as long as the person knows how to point at things and press buttons. Of course, there is strategy to it when you get deeper into the game and are absolutely swarmmed by different enemies... but I doubt anyone will actually NEED strategy to do well in this game.

If there's one knock against it, it's that it may be too easy. I haven't ever felt threatened that I may die. Maybe I'm the best Defend your Castle play that ever has or will live, but I doubt it... I've played the game for about two hours today, and I'm not sure if I'll ever lose. Sure more enemies start storming the castle, but with the extra healthy I buy between each level, that really isn't a problem.

However, for 500 Wii points, it's a steal. That's mad cheap. Buy it.

My Life as King:

I also played this for about two hours and felt as if I didn't come close to even scratching the surface. Basically, you take the role of a king who has to build up the a town and keep everyone happy. You don't go out and actually fight monsters or anything, but you can send soldiers out to do that for you. There's really not much more to explain about this game in respect to how it's played. You build stuff and send people out....

Yet it's really fun and -- from what I've seen -- incredibly deep. There are always things to do and manage, and you mostly feel that you really are running a kingdom. As soon as things start to seem slow, the game unloads something new on you. It's hard to even explain what is fun about this game, though... because on paper it sounds lame. It's really something you have to play to understand.

The cool thing about this game is that they have downloadable updates/expansions. They cost Wii points, but you also only get to pick up the ones you are interested in, and the updates SEEM like they are pretty big. This gives the game possible endless replay.

If you are into any of that Sims crap or just like Square-created games, it's worth buying for sure. It's 1500 points, though, so it's more expensive thany any other Wii Ware game so far... But then again, it's also the most complete game out of all of them. I'd say it's worth the money.

LostWinds:

I only played this game for a few minutes (Cavs game), but from what I've played, it seems pretty neat. It has great graphics for a Wii Ware game, and the controls are excellent. The idea is that you use the nunchuck to move your guy, while you use the pointer to control the wind... Obviously I haven't gotten far in it at all, but it works well from what I've seen, and I've heard nothing but good things about it. The only negative is that I hear it is a really short game, so you may not want to spend 1000 points on it.

Anyone that has played any of the other game, please post your impressions on them... Or post your impressions of the games I've already talked about.

Overall, I think Wii Ware is going to be VERY good for Nintendo. The Wii is about experimentation and playing games that are unlike any other games... and are impossible on other consoles. But let's face it, publishers are often unwilling to take on risky games. Wii Ware allows for that expermentation to happen without too much risk for companies. I think we're going to see some really cool games from this service. I know a certain Mexican Zoo Animal-Zombie Killing game that I am looking forward in a few months...

Here are my friend codes:

Brawl friend code: 4554-0089-1559

Mario Kart friend code: 2836-0500-0107

I also play some Medal of Honor 2, but if I remember correctly, nobody else on here plays that.  Throw yours on here.  Even if I already have them.  Let's share them with everyone.