Though you can just take your Wii Fit out of the box, plop it on the floor and go, there are accessories out there that can make the experience much more fun. We’ve brought together some accessories that are out there for the Wii Fit and the Wii Balance Board…We’re going to try them out, and then let you know what we both think. You can also enter to win one yourself, and try them out too.
Before we get started, have you entered our Wii Balance Board skin giveaway? Awesome!
Thanks to Company X Accessories, Ema and I both were able to try some Wii Shadow Boxing Gloves. Here’s what we thought of them:
What Mika thought: I got to try out the Wii Shadow Boxing Gloves during my workout tonight. A few days ago, we gave them a go as a family playing the regular Wii Sports Boxing, but tonight I tried them out on the Rhythm Boxing with the Wii Fit Plus. As someone who isn’t a huge boxing fan, I was pretty skeptical.
At first glance, they look pretty cool! They got me all geared up and ready to punch things, really made me feel “professional” and motivated. Hey ya’ll, I’ve never said I’m not a geek, and I’m a seriously uncoordinated geek at that! The material is a bit scratchy which was a bit uncomfortable since I have some mild texture issues with what touches my hands. Once I got them on though, it was fine. I have SMALL hands, as in, my 10 year old son who is on the small side has hands bigger than mine. The gloves were a bit big until I worked on adjusting them. I didn’t realize that you could actually adjust the length of them (which was the biggest issue for me, you could barely see my pinky peeking out!), but the wrists did tighten down really nice and small so they were comfy. Tonight I realized that those grey X’s you see in the picture above are actually where you can adjust the length, so when I adjusted them as small as they went, they fit pretty well!
On the inside of the palms are the little sleeves for the Wii-motes. It’s rather awkward getting the remote and nunchuck into those sleeves correctly. I tried it both before I put on the gloves, and after they were on. Both ways presented their own challenges and I needed help to finish the job either way (please note, I’m uncoordinated!). Once they were in though, it was really nice. I obviously didn’t have to grip the remote and nunchuck, and I could more fully concentrate on NOT tripping over the balance board or my feet during my workout. Eventually they did start to slip out of the sleeves a little bit, but I just pushed them back down and they were fine.
Overall, I really do like these and I’ll be using them every time I do any boxing games. My husband tried them on, and they fit him fine, but he commented on the scratchy material as well. The kids tried them on, and they didn’t care about the material, they just thought they looked awesome! It was really nice for the kids to use these though because we didn’t have to worry about them throwing the remotes into the TV (they are very exuberant boxers, and that HAS happened before!).
I’m normally not much of an accessory and frills kinda girl, but these are ones I would totally spend $20 on (even if just for TV insurance alone!), they really are worth it! Although I must say, I would spend the $20 on the pink pair!
What Ema thought: I really like Wii Fit boxing…even more, I like Gold’s Gym Cardio Workout. Its more challenging, and much more of a workout. When the boxing gloves came, I thought they were neat, but not something that I would use regularly. I really didn’t expect to like them at all.
When I got them out of the box, the first thing that impressed me was the compact size, with some weight behind it. They knuckles have gel packs in them, giving these light gloves some heft…which comes in handy, I’ll explain later. I have small hands, not as small as Mika’s, but still…I wear kid size gloves normally…Mens small is usually too big. These were marked as a Medium, so I wasn’t expecting these to fit well at all. Surprisingly…they do fit, and they fit my hands nicely. The shadow boxing gloves seem to be made with women in mind. Instead of me having to ratchet all the straps down to make them work for me…the opposite is true. They are made on a smaller form factor, and my husband is the one that has to let the straps out a little for the gloves to fit his hands. This makes them a very comfortable fit for me. Having ‘adjustable sized’ gloves that fit me this properly is kind of a shock!
The palms of the gloves have pockets to fit the remotes in. Now, with Gold’s Gym Cardio, you use both remotes (instead of a remote and a nunchuck) so its a little bit of an awkward dance to get them both in the palm holders…but once in, they are comfortable and the remotes are secure. I really like this feature! With the Wii Fit Rhythm boxing, you don’t get going for very long…but with Gold’s Gym Cardio you are moving fast, sweaty and sometimes flailing madly in order to keep up. These gloves take out the “don’t throw the remote at your TV” factor. Which is really nice. I like that I can keep my hands relaxed, and I don’t have to clutch the remote.
The controls register pretty consistently on the games I’ve used the gloves with. Since the gloves are small, they don’t really hinder any communication with the Wii. I do think the straps press buttons occasionally, and then it won’t register anything when you punch. When that happens you have to wiggle them a little to get the remote back in the ‘sweet spot’.
The knuckle pads of the gloves (the yellow part) have ‘EverGEL’ in them. I didn’t really understand this at first, as there’s warnings all over the package that you’re not to use these gloves for hitting anything…so why is there padding?!? Well, when you get into a challenging and fast routine you discover why. The gel acts as a bit of a backstop. Its hard to explain, but it gives your knuckles a bit of something to smack into when punching…so it just makes the movement a lot more ‘real’. My punches felt more solid with the gloves.
The Wii Shadow Boxing gloves really impressed me. They were not an accessory I would have ever thought I needed, but now that I have them, I won’t box without them. They are comfortable, fit well and really aid a boxing workout. If you are a cardio boxing addict like I am, check out these gloves!
At a glance
| Pros | Cons |
|---|
| mental motivation, you don't have to grip the wii-mote, adjustable fit | scratchy material, remotes slip a bit |
| Verdict | anyone who loves to box exuberantly |
|---|
And now for the giveaway!…
Need to have a pair of gloves now? Head on over to Amazon.com and grab some Wii Everlast Shadow Boxing Gloves for yourself now.
Want to win your own pair? One lucky reader can win a yellow pair of Wii Everlast Shadow Boxing Gloves. Entering is easy: Leave a comment below telling us what you think of cardio boxing. Want extra chances to win? Do the stuff below and leave a comment for each task:
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You must comment here, on this blog post, to receive credit for additional entries. Contest open to US residents. Giveaway ends May 11th @11:59PM PST. Winner will be announced in a separate post by 5pm on May 12th. Winner will be picked via Random.org and notified via email. Please respond within 48 hours, or a new winner will be chosen. Good luck!
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Post authors were each provided a pair of gloves to use, review and keep. Gloves were provided for the giveaway as well. This blog uses affiliate links within posts. To read more, view the terms and disclosure policy here.
