Topic: Balance Board underrated

Do you agree that the Wii's Balance Board is not appreciated enough in terms of critical acclaim appeal?

I'm not talking about the fact that it's not supported enough. That's true. But in the wake of all the other motion control, and the PS3 trying to imitate the success of the Wii remote/nunchuk, people aren't mentioning the Balance Board as a huge thing for the Wii. Maybe Natal can replicate it, but I feel this board is just fantastic.

Now some people say that they don't want to do fitness stuff, but Wii Fit Plus which sold so much is not just for fitness. It really has some very good games. There are also Wiiware titles that use the balance board quite nicely, and I personally loved it when I played Avatar: the Game. It used the board right... the game wasn't spectacular but the use of the balance board was perfect I'm not kidding. This should have been used by other games as well. It's like 1:1 for the legs...

Maybe Nintendo should think of one day bundling Wii's with balance boards to begin with. These are impressive devices that aren't mentioned at all. People ask for more WM+ titles, people even ask for more Wii Speak titles but sadly nobody is asking for more Balance Board titles - they can be used for all kinds of action games and not just fitness or skiing/skating.

3/10.

it is a talented device... sadly, however, i think the uses are just too limited that it doesn't have the same appeal as M+ or WiiSpeak. it's effective for what it does and should be used a little more, but it's not enough, in my opinion, to make it an equal accessory to M+.

Personally, I think it's overrated. I don't care for it at all, and yes, I have tried it.

I think it is overrated and deserves a 0/10.

Overated. I stood in line for 4 hours to get Wii Fit for my wife. I found the game board controls to be somewhat inaccurate and frustrating. Then the games that are made for it are not good. Not to mention you have to stand on the dang board the entire time your played wich is just a pain. Great idea as usual. Way too expensive and limited.

Balance Board P/Oed me so bad, I sold it With the Wii on Ebay. Went for nearly $650 USD wich made me happy

Got my Black Wii now and love it, but the Balance Board, Vitality Sensor, Zapper, etc you guys can have at it. I do enjoy Wii Speak of course, how could you not if you play online.

It's a little meh.

I don't think it has been used properly enough. Sure, it works fine for Wii Fit games, but otherwise it's useless to me.

No, it's just that the Balance Board is never used and is really expensive.

I enjoy it. I think it works pretty accurately and I like wii fit and wii fit plus, but it's just not used enough. And it probably never will be.

I think it's overpriced is what it is. I'd rather have a dance pad or something cheaper.

It's fantastic.

Wii Fit Plus is one of the Wiis best games.
And Tetris Party is so cool with the BB.

10/10.

All people who don't like it just have bad leg-eye-coordination
and of course a bad balance. More people should practice and
get used to it. Hardcore gamers are too retarded and lazy and
not open-minded enough to use their legs for playing a videogame.
OK, everything should be fair, so here's a big double batch
of minus points for the really expensive price.

8/10.

@SKTTR.... yeah thats just it, bad balance. Wonder what it is I have that lets me be able to skateboard and surf?

Its called having a job and gettting home from work and being tired and well my job (shipbuilding) is extremely physical. I dont need to work out and standing on a board to play games (cool idea), just not for me.

My Mother In Law on the other hand has been doing her Wii Fit Workouts everyday since she got the dang thing. Great for her, I saw. On to play Monster Hunter Tri for me. lol.

I like it and I cannot see playing OverTurn without it, but then I do try to do a regular bit of Wii Fit Yoga multiple days per week. I was really looking forward to having a pure game collection like Super Monkey Ball use it, but that didn't quite come off as expected, so I'm left with a mech game and some Wii Fit mini games. I've not tried Tetris Party with it yet, I suppose I will one of these days. Oh and I probably wouldn't play Equilibrio without it either.

It's a nice bit of kit, but yes, it's under-exploited. Still, even though on a practical basis I only use it for Wii Fit Plus, I'm still happy to have it.

As a gaming device it's totally overrated because the Balance Board has not been supported by interesting classic videogames in my opinion. But the Balance Board was very important to Nintendo when it comes to console sales. Many people who will never really play classic videogames (like Zelda, Metroid,...) bought a Wii just for Wii Fit (and Wii Sports of course). Nintendo won this generation because they managed to establish the Wii as a trendy lifestyle product and the Balance Board was a key part of it.

When I do use it, I have to remove the dust first, nuff said.

I've never tried it but conceptually it's a very interesting device. Until there's a "killer app" for the balance board which is targeted at gamers (yes, the Fit+ may be good but I'd rather use it for games), I won't be sold on it.

Interesting.. I haven't really considered that it is pretty expensive. in the U.S when it was in stock it was selling for $80-$90 for a long time. I agree that it's also great for Tetris Party. Got to play Overturn! And yeah, Wii Fit Plus is a great game, it's not just a casual thing. It really is good and one can play both Wii Fit and Monster Hunter Tri and have a blast.

@SKTTR, I have to ask, how do you play Tetris with the balance board? The idea intrigues me.

@99er - you have to lean in order to move the pieces or to flip them. It's really quite challenging, but amazing.