All you need to accomplish your fitness goals is your Nintendo Wii Fit. 22.5 million copies have sold since December, so now’s the time to put it to good use.

In this article I am going to cover the top Wii Fitness games you can use to get in shape without leaving your house. Again, I know what you’re thinking – MakeUseOf only covers free software and tech. Well, we’ve decided that when it comes to your health, it doesn’t hurt to explore all of your options, so we’ll let it slide this one time.

Recommended Wii Fitness Games

When you buy a Wii Fit, it comes stocked with a balance board and various strength training, aerobics, yoga, and balance games. While these exercises can be effective, they aren’t all that fun to do, at least in comparison to some of the games that have come out since.

If you’re going to go all out to get into shape you might as well have a little fun, right? The following games are a few of the more popular Wii fitness titles out right now. They aren’t in any particular order.

Wii Fit Plus

If you liked the games that came with Wii Fit but wanted a little extra, Wii Fit Plus might be for you. The Wii Fit Plus has over 20 new games for you to play, and includes a calorie burning counter, ability to create custom workouts, profile creation, and quicker navigation than its counterpart.

If you already own a Wii Fit, you can purchase the Wii Fit Plus game by itself to serve as an upgrade. If you don’t, you can buy the Wii Fit Plus bundled with a balance board.

The Biggest Loser

Whether you are familiar with the TV show or not (one of my favorites), The Biggest Loser video game is a fun way for players to get in shape and maintain their ideal fitness. Like the TV show, the game is set at The Biggest Loser ranch.

Settings allow you to compete in 4, 8, or 12 week programs against former contestants from the show. Your progress and schedule is kept on a calendar for you. If you want to see who can lose the most weight between you and your friends, you can compete that way as well.

The game allows you to keep track of in-game achievements and even allows you to receive credit for progress made outside of the game, like walking, running, cycling, etc. You do have to enter in outside progress on your own, however, so remember to write down your achievements during your daily workouts.

The Biggest Loser also features a lot of suggestions and tips from former contestants and trainers in the game. These healthy tips include 50 recipes straight out of The Biggest Loser book that you can follow.

EA Sports Active: More Workouts

The successor to EA Sports Active, EA Sports Active: More Workouts has, like the title implies, more workouts for you to follow (35 to be exact). These exercises allow you to customize your routines to target different areas of your body, like upper body, lower body, and cardio.

If you don’t want to focus in on one area of your body, you can try one of the full body circuit routines. It also has warm-weather activities for you to try like water-skiing and paddle surfing.

The game features a 6 week challenge of core exercises, including abs, curl ups, and crunch and punches. It has a warm up/cool down feature as well as an in-game journal for you to record your progress.

Jillian Michaels’ Fitness Ultimatum 2010

Jillian Michaels, trainer from The Biggest Loser (see above game), is one of the more intense trainers out there. Her fitness game, which is a sequel to the 2009 title, is pretty intense too. In the game, Jillian coaches and trains you for up to six months, giving you custom routines to work on in a one-on-one style session.

When playing this game, you will participate in a boot camp setting that is packed with energetic workout modes and 16 core exercises for you to follow. Included are cardio training, strength training, and balance training superset routines.

You can tailor your workouts to your specific abilities by adjusting the difficulty settings. Jillian gives you feedback while you’re working out so you can see if you are doing the workouts correctly or not. If you want to (I don’t know why you wouldn’t), you can work out on tropical beaches or in exotic jungles.

Don’t want to train with Jillian alone? Challenge family and friends in multi-player competitions.

My Fitness Coach

In My Fitness Coach, you get to work out with a virtual personal trainer named Maya. The game is designed to fit your personal goals. It tests your fitness level, sets your goals in the form of a calendar, and takes you through workouts that allow you to build routines.

There are over 500 unique exercises in this game, including yoga, pilates, kickboxing, cardio fitness, strength training, flexibility, and weight loss routines. You can choose which areas you want to work on if you have a particular need.

If you don’t know how to do one of the workouts in the game you can pause it and view a tutorial. You can workout in 9 different environments and customize the game’s music to your liking. You have 4 types to choose from: hip hop, 80’s, Latin, and dance.

Conclusion

The number one thing you need to get in shape is determination and focus. OK, that’s two things, but you need to set goals for yourself and stick to them if you want to reach your ideal fitness level. Be committed! Get motivated! Perhaps making a game out of it will help you get going. Put your Nintendo Wii to some good use, and above all, have fun!

Did you find this article useful? Is your favorite game not on the list? Let me hear it in the comment section below!

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Utilizing the Wii’s built-in 802.11b/g Wi-Fi or connecting through a USB-to-Ethernet adapter, you can gain access to the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service. From there, a slew of great online connectivity features are available, including the Virtual Console for downloading games, Friend Codes for connecting with other players, WiiConnect24 to stay connected to the Internet while on standby, and various channels like Forecast for weather reports and News for current headlines.

All that and much more is up for grabs, but first you’ll have to get your Wii online. With access to your broadband connection, there are currently two ways to connect your Nintendo Wii console to the Internet: through a wireless router or a wired access point using the Wii LAN Adapter.

Ready to get more out of your Nintendo console? Let’s get right to it and find out how to connect your Wii to the Internet.

Wireless Connection — Search For An Access Point

Probably the easiest method to get your Wii online is through a wireless router. Nintendo has information on choosing a router compatible with the Wii here.

First, you’ll need to search for an access point. On the Wii main menu, click on the Wii button, located on the lower right-hand corner, to get to the settings screen. Then, hit Wii Settings and click on the blue arrow on the right side to go to the second page.

Select the Internet button and go to Connection Settings. Click on one of the buttons to create a new connection.

From there, click Wireless Connection and then hit Search for an Access Point. The Wii will start searching for any access points nearby. Once it’s finished, click OK to continue and view the found access points.

Choose your access point from the list. The closed padlock icons mean that a security code is required and you have to input the password or key.

Continue to save the settings and the Wii will test the connection and then perform a system update if available.

Wired Connection — Wii LAN Adapter

Since the Wii doesn’t have a built-in Ethernet port, you’ll need something called the Wii LAN Adapter. Available from Nintendo and third parties, the USB-to-Ethernet adapter is used to connect the console to your home router.

First, plug in the Wii LAN Adapter to a USB port in the rear on the console. Connect an Ethernet cord from your modem or router to the Ethernet port on the LAN Adapter.

Then, turn on the Wii and follow the same steps of going into Wii Settings and clicking on Internet. Go to Connection Settings, create a new connection, and click on Wired Connection.

Click OK to initiate a connection test and you can then perform a system update if one’s available.

Using either of these two ways to get your Wii online, you should be all good to go. It should be noted that there’s also a device called the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector. The accessory establishes a Wi-Fi connection via a broadband-connected PC, but it has since been discontinued. You can learn more about it on Nintendo’s site.

How do you connect your Wii to the Internet? Let us know in the comments.

Image Credit: Apeture

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Agreed, cheating is an honorably questionable thing to do, but for those who are absolutely stuck, a little pointer can do wonders.

That’s why we’ve got walkthroughs, gaming guides that’ll take you by the hand and tell you what to do. Just don’t overuse them, because they can be incredible spoilers.

Nintendo Wii Game Walkthroughs

Most Wii games don’t need as many pointers as their PS3/Xbox/PC counterparts, but that doesn’t mean they’re not needed. A lot of people still get stuck in puzzles or adventure games and need someone to point the way.

Below, we’ll be taking a look at the best sites for you to find Nintendo Wii game walkthroughs.

IGN Guides

If you’re serious about gaming, you should’ve heard about IGN. If you haven’t, I’ll tell you all about it.

IGN is one of the top sources for everything related to gaming – and has been so for a while. It’s a great place to grab a hold on the latest gaming reviews, news items and overall know-how, but it’s also one of the best places to go looking for a review.

Unlike the other sites we’ll be discussing, IGN offers a separate direction of walkthroughs – no useless searching, it’s there or it isn’t. Many of the more recent guides are extremely high quality, and written by, or in order of IGN themselves. This site should definitely be present in your bookmarks – it’s the first place to look for a more-than-decent walkthrough.

GameFAQS

GameFAQS is a project of GameSpot. For a long time GameSpot enjoyed a much more prominent place as a game source as well. It still does, although it has been under fire for some time, on the grounds of accepting money for improving their reviews.

Even if you don’t trust their reviews anymore, you can’t look past the sheer quality of GameFAQS. You’ll find a ton of info here, including planned release dates and – of course – Wii game walkthroughs.

You can browse games by alphabet, or use the search box. If there are any – and most of the time there are plenty – your walkthroughs will appear on the game’s overview page. The biggest batch of guides are written by users, and although extremely helpful, aren’t on the same level as the official IGN guides.

For plenty of games, however, you’ll also find an official GameSpot walkthrough.

MyCheats

MyCheats is the cheating/walktroughs part of 1UP, our third major (print and online) gaming sourcebig UP, you’ll be referred here for all yo. Whenever you’re browsing games on the ur less honorable gaming needs.

Again, you won’t be able to browse an index of walkthroughs. Instead, look up the game you’re interested in – alphabetically, or through a query – and see if there’s one present.

Still nothing? – Google is your Friend!

Tried all three sites and still couldn’t find anything? Don’t despair just yet, you’ve still got Google!

Nothing fancy like index pages or game overviews, but if it exists, you’ll be able to find it on Google. Just hit up the search box and be sure to use the right keywords – title, ‘Wii’ and ‘walkthrough’ or ‘guide’. If your search returned blank, you can finally let go of all your hope and start to despair.

Hopefully this guide was of help to you, and you’ve made some fresh bookmarks. What walkthrough sites do you use for the Wii? Tell us in the comments section!

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If you are a believer that a game is only fun if you beat it without any help then save your time and move on to the next great Make Use of article! Here comes the cheating!

The first website up is called CCC Cheat Code Central but they also have other sites for other systems so keep that in mind when you are looking for XBox 360 cheat codes.

Once you find yourself at CCC’s website you will see 6 menu options: Cheat Codes, Reviews, Videos, Game News, Release Dates and a place to trade games. Today, we are only interested in the first item.

The Cheat Codes menu will either list All Games for you by alphabetical order by hitting the link that says All Games. Or you can click on the letter matching the first letter of your video game’s title. In this case, I was looking for Zelda Twilight Princess so I hit the link labeled Z.

Z only returned 2 entries and the second one was what I was looking for. I clicked on the Zelda: Twilight Princess link and was taken to a page for just that specific game.

Once I was on the game’s sub-page, I could scroll down and find cheats and hacks galore! Zelda does not have Cheat Codes per se but there are lots of awesome tips, tricks and ways around things here.

Next up is a game called The Simpsons Game – it is no secret that I love me some Simpsons! Matt Groening is a genius! This game does have a cheat code along the lines of that old contra code. Here you see you can get Infinite power for all characters’ by hitting Plus Left Right Plus Minus and then you will hear a tone and blamo – full power and it won’t deplete!

I normally do not go a’looking for cheat codes until I have beaten a game or otherwise given up! Don’t ruin your fun but you can add to it when you would be bored of it and would not normally pick it up. Think about Grand Theft Auto.

The second website on my list is called GameSpot and their Nintendo Wii game cheats are available for you at this URL.

There is a search feature at the top but they have links on the Wii Cheat Page’s home screen for the hottest games with cheats. You will probably see a few you want to click on. Under each title, they break down what they have for your cheating pleasure. They can be unlockables, glitches, easter eggs, secrets, FAQs and more. Check them out.

I clicked on through to Super Smash Brothers Brawl and scrolled down to some awesome unlockable features from the game, as you can see below:

They tell you what the feature is and how to unlock it. Next up is their easter eggs which are always cool! Here are some mid-battle conversations key combinations – say that 3 times, fast!

Then we have our full on password cheats. They open some new exciting places for you to check out!

What sites do you use to find Nintendo Wii game cheats? We would love to hear from you. Do you use Homebrew? What are you favorite Wii Applications? Share with us in the comments, young gamer!

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However, what is the point of having all this sweet content at your fingertips if you can’t watch it on that nice big TV you’ve got sitting in the living room? The makers of TVersity Pro have the answer. Today, I’m going to walk you through adding feeds and shows to your TVersity library, and how to connect your gaming system to your home PC in order to watch these shows. TVersity will also stream most types of audio and video files from your My Documents folder. The extensive list of supported devices includes Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, and Nintendo Wii; TVersity’s interface is also accessible through any Web browser.

Before I proceed, I should explain something very important. There are two versions of TVersity, the Free and Pro versions. The Pro version supports many premium-video websites including Hulu, Joost, and TV.com, which are not supported in the Free version. Both versions of TVersity are free to download. However, if you enjoy your experience with the Pro version, I highly encourage you to pay for a license in order to support development of future versions. Payment again, is optional but encouraged.

First up is to download and install the Tversity Media Server. You’ll need to provide your email address in order to download the Pro version. After installing and opening the program, you’ll be at the Guide. From the Guide, you can add the feeds for many suggested shows. The real meat of the program is in the Library, which is where you can add feeds and shows as Media Sources. You’ve already likely added two media sources, your Hulu queue and YouTube channel, during the installation.

In the first example above, I’m adding a Hulu search for “daily show” as a Media Source. You can also add lists of popular videos and videos about to expire. Adding a Joost show isn’t quite as simple. In the center screenshot, I’m on Joost’s page for Transformers and using Firefox’s auto-discovery to obtain the show’s feed address. I’ll use this address to add a “Video RSS” media source. In the last example, I’m adding the This Week in Tech podcast feed. Watching this show on my TV wouldn’t be very satisfying, however it’s handy to have audio feeds for streaming via the PSP.

For streaming audio and video to the Xbox 360 or PS3, the console should recognized the TVersity server as a network-attached device. You’ll be able to browse TVersity’s menus through the console’s native interface. For streaming to the Wii or PSP, you’ll need to use the built-in browser and connect to your PC’s server. Follow the instructions here for the Wii, and here for the PSP.

TVersity, in both Free and Pro versions, is an excellent piece of software for accessing audio and video throughout a networked home, but there are alternatives. If you have a setup such as this, let us know about it in the comments.

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