Hands on: Mad Catz Wii Fit peripherals

You have to applaud Mad Catz for its unerring ability to jump on any console bandwagon and provide the peripheral equivalent to a tarpaulin and a puncture repair kit.

So when something of the magnitude of Wii Fit and Nintendo’s balance board comes to market, you know that Mad Catz won’t be far behind with everything you could possibly need, and some things you probably won’t.

The company sent through three Wii Fit peripherals for TechRadar to have a look at: the travel/storage case, the protective silicon cover and, last but not least, a ‘rechargeable battery pack’.

Can you really review a cover and a carry case? Probably not, but both are (Wii) fit for purpose.

Protective silicon cover

The silicon cover looks slightly disturbing when you pull it out of its packaging, but it’s simple enough to put on and will no doubt keep your balance board safe from harm.

It’s probably still not advisable to do your Wii balance in high heels however, even if it does make your calves look good…

Carry case

The carry case has a single shoulder strap and comes in tasteful matching blue and white – although we would probably suggest that it doesn’t look the most manly of cases.

We carried our balance board around for a while and, although the strap isn’t particularly padded, it proved comfortable enough.

And finally…

Finally, the battery back – something that will actually prove very useful to the majority of Wii Fit users.

Charging direct from the USB port on your Wii, the battery back fits into the battery slot and should save you a fortune in AAs.

All in all it boils down to how often you use the board, how often you want to carry the board around with you and how often you are likely to change the batteries.

So for massive Wii Fit fans, take a look. If you don’t even own a Wii then you probably won’t be opting for any of the above.