I have discovered a bug in Step to the Beat/Walk it Out which means that I cannot complete a game.

Basically, I built everything on the island but the game still thinks there are some things left unbuilt. It also thinks that I have not done the capsules for 12 pm. The problem is that, using the magic clock, I have gone to every hour, save 12 pm, and found, looking at the map, that there are no capsules - either construction or time - that are waiting to be built. I visited the island at noon and found the same thing. This puzzled me; it was not beyond possibility that I had missed clicking on a construction capsule somewhere, although they are not considered built on the map until one does, but time capsules either exist or they don't - one has either paid for them or not.

The answer lies in the fact that I had played one session with my husband in the multi-player mode. The program built the items we had done for on that session, and it kept them built for my single-player sessions, but it does not count them as being built even though they are. This is frustrating, to put it mildly, as there is nothing I can do about it.

It's not a big deal for me because I just created another user name and started another island walk from the beginning, but it might be a problem for someone who just wants to complete the island then move on to some other, different game. The only solution of which I can think is to never play a game in multi-player mode, or if you want to play in that mode sometimes and in single-player mode other times, then set up a different user name for each mode.

lajoggeuse, believe me the reward for finishing the entire island wasn't very exciting. Rest in the fact that you know you did it. I really think something exciting should have happened or a reward won but sadly nothing

I recalled that you had said that, but still, I wanted to at least see for myself. At any rate, I will, eventually do so when I finish the island (again).

It's a pity about the lack of a reward. Game designers should be well aware of the fact that rewards are required to make games fun. I suppose they think that the reward of getting in shape is enough, but everyone likes a little something extra.

If it were up to me, I would have designed the game such that when one finished the island, all the Miis came out and held a great big party and that an 'extra area' opened up with all sorts of fun construction capsules in it. Or even better yet, now daily capsules would come out and, as you walked around the island, you could click on them to create all sorts of fun events, much like that of the daily rainbow. It would have meant that walking around a completed island would have still been fun.

I agree totally and they could make millios in the process!!

In fact, there's more that they couldshould do. I'm currently reading a fairly erudite book on the theory of game design, and it talks at some length on the importance of rewards, but also of other aspects of user-experience.

There are things I find I'd like to do often when walking in this game, specifically looking at the map and changing the magic clock time to gain access to other capsules. Neither of these can be easily done from the live screen, and a couple of buttons somewhere on there that give access to those features would be really good. Changing what music is available is also interesting, but less frequent, so it should not be on the live screen, as you run the risk otherwise of making the screen too cluttered. On a computer RPG, the player has very tight control of the position of the pointer (through the mouse), so the game's UI designer can add many small intricate controls. On Step to the Beat, that is not true, even more so than on many other console game titles, because you are literally pointing at the screen while walking, so you lack the same degree of fine-grained control over the movement of the pointer, even if you are using a WiiMotion+. This forces the on-screen controls to be larger and further apart, so the designer cannot put so many on there at once.

Another issue is the fact that some of the capsules wind up hidden behind built objects, especially trees, and are therefore hard to click. There are even some that hide behind other unbuilt capsules. That's annoying. And why do the frisbee players continue to play at two in the morning, when it's dark because there is no street lighting in the park?

There is street lighting in the park, actually. That still doesn't mean it isn't crazy to be playing frisbee there at two in the morning, though. Or, for that matter, selling hotdogs. It would be great if you could somehow buy one of those hotdogs, wouldn't it?

I've been thinking about this matter of rewards in the game. I had said in my previous comment that while getting fit is its own reward, everyone likes a little something extra. I have now revised that thought. What I said before made it sound as if the something extra wasn't all that important, but it is. It is extremely important. Why? Because, let's face it, if many of the people using the Wii were satisfied with the 'getting fit is its own reward' philosophy, they probably wouldn't need Wii fitness games. The fact is, though, that quite a bit of exercise is boring. People are not satisfied with going to a gym and sweating, for instance, on an exercise bike, while staring at a wall. Sure, one can go out on a real bike, but not everyone has the weather to do so or, even, somewhere good for cycling. Anyway, not everyone likes cycling.

The point of the Wii fitness games is to make exercise interesting and fun, so that you get the exercise you need without being bored to tears. For that reason, fitness game developers should build in loads of rewards into their games. They should strive to make the games as interesting and varied as possible. They should remember that they are trying to sell these games to people who aren't interested in or are bored with traditional exercise methods.

You should check inside the stadium, there are some extra items in there at midnight

Did you go into the stadium and clear all the capsules in there? The map will not show you the items inside the stadium - unless you go into the stadium and then it will only show you a map of what's inside the stadium. Three of the 12 PM clocks are inside the stadium at 1 AM, 3 AM, 6 AM and 8 AM (I think - pretty sure those are the times). Here's a guide from Konami's website:
http://konami.parature.com/ics/support/ ... ptID=15044

I can't complain about Walk It Out since it kind of saved me after I had to quit biking. I've now built the Island 4 times completly and have 3 games in progress. To keep it interesting I play to get the rainbow every day without looking on the map to see where they are. And then if I have time I play on another mii to get another rainbow. But now with the weather improving hopefully most exercise will move back outside!!

Has everyone figured out that the calories and miles are realted strictly to time played - if you play on faster songs vs. slower songs you still end up with the same number of steps, calories and miles per hour. But you get way more points (perfects & greats). If I play on only fast songs I can cover the entire island without missing any parts in about 13,000 steps, but if I play on more of a medium playlist it takes me 15-16K steps. But still good.

So that's what happened! It wasn't a bug after all! Unfortunately, I deleted the game because I thought that I could never finish it. I started another one, though, so I'll definitely make certain that I go back into the stadium. It's all good exercise, anyway.

Thanks for the info and the link.

I now realise that I should have done this. I didn't rush right off to do it after I read your post because I thought this was a belated April Fool's joke.

Next session, it's off to the stadium.