Wii Fit Yoga: Games, News, Reviews | Wii Yoga | Wii Sports | Wii Fit

Yoga Wii, has had some mixed reviews, in an earlier post were some more negative reviews, however, there have been various people who have used it and have actually proven to be fairly positive about Yoga for the Wii

Here is one such review from Amazon, by Moxy…

“

I’ve taken part in yoga at school and really enjoyed it. I looked into taking classes at a yoga studio and it was quite expensive. Yoga classes are more expensive than my entire gym membership, if not for that I would be a yoga pro by now!

So I found this game and gave it a shot and it was great. It’s like having your own personal yoga instructor anytime you want. It was so easy and relaxing. The music was soothing, the voice of the yoga guide was calming and I went at my own pace. Having the Wii Balance Board made it even more fun because I actually had to be precise in my movement. Love this game?

”

Another review of Yoga on the Wii is from Nellie…

“

I must admit I was skeptical about this game at first. I thought there wouldn’t be much to it but was I ever wrong.
I really thought it was just going to be a boring game featuring some odd posing. But as soon as you start the game you have three options, either you choose Story Mode, Training Mode or Routine Mode.

Story Mode walks you through a museum like building with a guide (almost like a tour guide). Your guide discusses several types of yoga, the health benefits of yoga and even foods you should and should not eat. It’s pretty cool and I learned a lot.

Training Mode gives you the freedom to choose from all 30 of the different poses so you can practice and get better. Routine Mode specializes in specific routines that fit your individual needs. There is a routine for someone with the common cold, arthritis sufferers, back pain and so on. There is even a routine specific for times when you have a headache. How cool is that! If you had a long day at work or school and you have a headache, just pop on the Wii.

I highly recommend this game for anyone interested in yoga or fitness

”

So we are now getting more balance in the reviews coming out with regards to Yoga for the Wii, feel free to let us know with regards to your experiences…

The world’s first 100% Yoga gaming experience is to be released by the Austrian publisher JoWooD for Wii™ in November. It includes 30 different Yoga poses to support your mental and physical well-being and soul.

From November on, “Yoga” for Nintendo’s console, Wii ™, allows players to take a Yoga class with a real Guru – right in your own living room! No matter if you’re a beginner or a Yoga expert: Create and modify your individual training program, then practice your poses in seven highly detailed levels based on authentic places and buildings in Asia. An interactive Yoga Guru provides vital feedback, while top model Anja Rubik guides you through the game’s core features and tells you her own personal Yoga secrets. Using the Balance Board™, players receive feedback on how well they’re doing in the breathing and balance exercises.

A total of 30 Yoga poses bring you mental and physical well-being and health for soul, spirit and body. Top model Anja Rubik, currently ranked third in the international Model Ranking, offers a short preview of what is in store for “Yoga” players:

Mountain Pose – Tadasana
The standing posture Tadasana is one of Yoga’s most important and basic poses – it is the beginning and end point for most standing poses, and is well-suited for beginners. The Mountain Pose helps one achieve an upright posture: The balls of the feet and the heel are placed firmly on the ground, the arches raised slightly, and the toes spread. The back should be straight with the arms held straight down to the sides. Thoughts are calm and the body is calm and stable – like a mountain. The mountain pose can easily be integrated into everyday life and helps you train good, correct posture – the huge benefits of which, both on physical and mental well-being, can be felt immediately.

Corpse Pose – Shavasana
Shavasana, the Corpse Pose, is a basic Yoga posture: You lie back, completely relaxed, and feel the contact with the ground with all body parts that touch the Earth. The head and neck should be straight. In order to relax, concentrate your mind on each body part, one after the other, and pay close attention to everything this body part is feeling. Any tension present is thus released automatically. Shavasana is frequently used as a relaxation exercise at the start of a Yoga session, or as a meditative finish to a challenging practice session.

Lotus Position – Padmasana
The Lotus is probably one of Yoga’s most well-known positions. The triangle formed by the rump, knees and arms forms a stable foundation. The Lotus position is a perfect pose for meditation since it allows one to remain utterly motionless and concentrated for a long time. The heels of the feet, each resting on the opposed thigh, activate important energy spots in the abdominal area, the hands rest comfortably on the knees, the head and neck are straight and help upright, but relaxed. Slow and measured breathing helps to relax muscles and lower blood pressure. There is increased blood flow to the abdominal area, which helps activate nerves near the Os Sacrum and tailbone. This also has positive effects on the digestive tract.

Lord of the Dance – Natarajasana
Natarajasana (also known as Natarajasan, Nataraj oder Nataraja Asana) is one of Yoga’s simpler balance exercises. To perform this pose, stand upright and set your eyes on a fixed point. The pelvic and abdominal muscles are tensed. Now move your weight to your left leg, then grasp your right leg with your right hand and gently guide it upward, while the left arm extends horizontally. The upper body leans forward or back and up. Advanced practitioners can bring their foot up to the head. This Yoga pose is beneficial to balance, strengthens the rump muscles and vitalizes the entire body.
Trademarks are property of their respective owners. Wii is a trademark of Nintendo.

About JoWooD Entertainment AG
JoWooD Entertainment Software AG (ATXPrime: JWD) is listed in the Prime Market segment of the Vienna stock exchange. JoWooD is a leading publisher of computer and videogames, releasing international acclaimed, high-quality titles for all existing and future gaming systems. JoWooD games are distributed worldwide by an efficient net of distribution partners. Visit http://corporate.jowood.com for more information.

About DreamCatcher Inc.
DreamCatcher Inc. is a leading worldwide publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment software. DreamCatcher Interactive is owned by JoWooD Productions, an Austrian based video game publisher traded on the Vienna stock exchange.
Established in 1996, the company markets its products under two popular labels: DreamCatcher Games, featuring the critically-acclaimed, bestselling game Painkiller; and The Adventure Company, the number one brand for PC adventure game sales worldwide including award winning titles such as Syberia and Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None.
DreamCatcher products include titles for Windows® as well as leading hardware platforms – the Xbox 360™, PlayStation® 3, Nintendo DS™ and Wii™.

The first 100 percent Yoga experience for the Nintendo Wii™ is released by JoWooD Productions and Dreamcatcher and will hit the stores in November. With Anja Rubik, ranked as number 3 of international female models, JoWooD releases the first official trailer which features Anja Rubik and some in-game sequences.

Vogue Paris, Vogue Nippon, Vogue Germany, Spur Magazin Toki, Time Magazine Style&Designs– it doesn’t matter which magazines you have read during the last couple of weeks, Anja Rubik was present in all of them. The 24 year old Top model from Poland became THE rising star in the international model business. Besides the vast coverage in several notable magazines, Anja is also featured in numerous campaigns like e.g. Gucci, Etro, Balmain, Barney’s New York, GAP, Giuseppe Zanotti, and Jones New York.

The international coverage pays off! www.models.com, an international model website of worldwide renown, currently ranks Anja on the third place of the world’s most wanted, female top models.

Apart from her skyrocketed career, Anja is a true Yoga enthusiast, and represents this ancient Indian philosophy in a very authentic way. Anja Rubik’s commitment to Yoga for Wii™ helps her getting trough the days and weeks of her tightly set schedule:“Yoga enables me to stay fit and maintain my body shape; my joints stay relaxed and agile. Another very important part of Yoga is the right breathing, which helps me personally to stay calm in some stressful situations. Even my lower back problems, caused by high heeled shoes, are gone!”

Currently, Anja attends Yoga lessons in New York regularly, but with“Yoga for Wii” at hand; she can practice her Yoga at any city around the world!“This Yoga game is awesome! It is challenging, but in a comfortable way as it never pushes me to the limit, as seen in other fitness games. Afterwards I feel relaxed and fit!”

Anja is not just a grace to the cover of this new lifestyle game, but will also guide the players’ trough the game and help her/him with useful tips and tricks.

As opposed to other games,“Yoga for Wii” provides players with a 100% Yoga experience. The approach: Become one with your body, mind and soul– with the Balance Board™ in your own living room.“Yoga for Wii is a high-quality game and was designed for all those who are interested in learning more about this ancient Indian philosophy and who want to get their body in shape whilst maintaining a balanced mind,” says Markus Reutner, Marketing Manager at JoWooD.

About JoWooD Productions Software AG

JoWooD Productions Software AG (ATXPrime: JWD) is listed in the Prime Market segment of the Vienna stock exchange. JoWooD is a leading publisher of computer and videogames, releasing international acclaimed, high-quality titles for all existing and future gaming systems. JoWooD games are distributed worldwide by an efficient net of distribution partners.

The experts have their say on the Wii Fit Yoga as The Desert Sun, of Palm Springs, put local yogis to the test.  Seasoned teachers Kristin Olson and Chuck Burks from Urban Yoga in Palm Springs were given the Wii Fit and were asked what they thought of Wii Yoga.

The Pros

This is a great way to introduce people to the world of yoga.

The game isn’t intimidating.

In most of the poses, there is a yellow circle on the screen. Players distribute their weight and maintain proper balance by keeping a red dot inside this circle. This is a nice way to focus on the core muscles.

It will help people feel comfortable doing yoga in their own homes.

The interactive nature of the Wii Fit makes it more interesting than a yoga DVD or video.

Even though yoga is not a competitive sport and is not about racking up points, the Wii scoring system can motivate players to keep practicing and continue working on their poses.

Even people who have no interest in yoga will benefit from slowing down and stretching.

Complete Article Here

The experts noted a few cons: that the practise lacked the heart of yoga in exploring the connection between mind, body, and spirit.  The meditative quality of yoga practise is lost as there are stops between postures, clicking through to the next, without consideration to sequencing, and holding the wiimote is annoying. The teachers also noted that some postures could be advanced for newcomers, and risk of injury is present if the pose is held incorrectly.

I agree with them and these are all points I have made of this blog before and the obvious conclusion is the wii fit is not a replacement for a regular yoga pratice, and thus should not be compared to yoga as a whole. The Wii fit is only a very very small sample of yoga but the percentage of people crossing over from the Wii yoga to a local yoga class to daily pratice should be noted as positive movement for the yoga community.

CVG is reporting a Wii Yoga game (?!) being developed by JoWood currently planned for released in the second quarter of 2009.

The publisher says young at heart gamers will be able to experience the “favoured doctrine for mind, body and soul” with Wii Yoga, and promises a truly “unique” gaming experience unlike anything else. Apart from Wii Fit.

The JoWood website has no official information at their website so for now you might want to consider this information a rumor but one must have to assume that the gaming development sector is racing to come out with a Wii Yoga type of game on the heals of the Wii Fit success. If a gaming company out there could release a halfway decent exclusively yoga program for the Wii Fit by this 2008 Holiday season, the masses would buy.

I would like to add: calling yoga a game just doesn’t sound right. “Practice” makes better sense but may sound too boring for marketing. Second, as CVG reported, Nintendo already has said no to developers using “wii” in their game titles so JoWoods may have to use the name “We Yoga” just like the “We Ski” game. I’d place my bet on “iYoga” but yogis don’t gamble.

Please add you ideas for a “Wii Yoga game title” in the comments section below: