The Nintendo Wii has a lot of accessories aimed at making your gaming experience more realistic. Some succeed quite well, while others fail miserably, becoming a complete waste of time and money. The CTA Wii Rowing Machine definitely fits the bill in one of these categories, but before we go throwing our judgment out there, let’s have a look at what it is and how it works.


The CTA Wii Rowing Machine is made up of two separate parts. There is a base with two pedals for your feet to strap into. Right off the bat, you will notice that these pedals aren’t adjustable. The straps are adjustable, sure, but the pedals themselves are not, so if you have large feet, you aren’t going to have a comfortable fit as you will most likely have your feet hanging off the ends of the pedals.

The second part is the rowing bar, which is just a short plastic handle with a cradle in the middle for your Wii-mote to snap into place. This bar is far shorter than the bar on an actual rowing machine. Sure, it is fairly common for Wii-mote attachments to be smaller than their real life counterparts, but in the case of exercise equipment, this is a very bad thing as it leads to improper form, which anyone who knows anything about exercise will tell you takes away from the benefits of your workout.

CTA claims that this is an ideal exercise attachment, giving you the rowing ability, complete with a knob for adjustable tension, which is good we suppose, and that it is a perfect station for doing sit-ups. 

Furthermore, this attachment doesn’t really give you any benefit whatsoever. It basically gives you a tiny, form restricting bar to hold onto and a place to put your feet, which there is a good chance that your feet won’t even fit into properly.

If you insist on looking completely silly while changing your workout form and wasting your money (and go to your favorite video sharing site to view the infomercial for this accessory if you don’t believe just how silly you might look,) then by all means, go purchase the CTA Wii Rowing Machine. However, we would recommend taking the $34.99 and buying a new game, different accessories, or pretty much anything but this accessory.

If you absolutely insist on spending $34.99 on this accessory it may wind around collecting dust or taking up space in the back of your closet.

As you have probably gathered by now, the bottom line on the CTA Wii Rowing Machine, in our opinion, is a “don’t buy.” 

More Gaming Accessories here.