Wii Fit

[kashikomarimashita]

The Wii Fit launched in Japan on Dec. 1st. For about $80 you get the Wii Balance Board and a disc with all sorts of games/ exercise modes on it. Here are some of the main ones:

-Yoga exercises

-Push Ups

-Step aerobics, including a game in which the player must step on and off the Wii Balance Board

-Board in rhythm to the background music

-Hitting on-coming soccer balls and avoiding other objects by leaning forward and back

-A ball-rolling mini-game

-Hula hooping

-Ski jumping, whereby the player squats as low as possible, whilst maintaining his or her balance, and then quickly stands as fast as possible in order to gain a good jump

-Snowboarding, where the player rocks back and forth on the Balance Board to move a snowboarder down a course.

-Jogging

Anyhow, they are running tons of commercials on Japanese TV right now, and are obviously trying to appeal to people of all ages. I think it is very innovative of Shigeru Miyamoto to launch such a thing. Nintendo seems to be really pushing the envelope when it comes to what video games are capable of. However, there does remain a big question. Will the Wii Fit be successful? Or will it end up like the Virtuaboy.

I personally wont buy it. But I got a feeling many people will, at least enough to make it a commercial success. What do you think?

 

[CHAOSDRAGON88]

They are going to have more support for this thing and for it to be successful in america they need to have greater weight limitations. I am 6'4 and i weigh over 300 pounds also i wear a size 15 in mens shoes. Americans are larger than asians (I AM BLACK), This is not a racist comment but is it supposed to be designed for people with a smaller body frame. By the previous comment i dont mean to offend anyone.

 

[kashikomarimashita]

They are going to have more support for this thing and for it to be successful in america they need to have greater weight limitations. I am 6'4 and i weigh over 300 pounds also i wear a size 15 in mens shoes. Americans are larger than asians (I AM BLACK), This is not a racist comment but is it supposed to be designed for people with a smaller body frame.

Hmm..Im not sure what the restrictions are on the Balance Board. But Im sure it has to max out at a certain weight. Anyone got an answer for that? If I find out Ill post the info.

 

[CHAOSDRAGON88]

It is approximately 300 pounds also the optimum foot size is like 12, i dont really look that heavy in person. People always think i am some athlete, forgive me if you sensed a shred of bias toward asian people as it was not intentional and i hate no one, except for people that use the c-stick and people who cheese .

 

[Wiseguy]

C-stick users... I hate them so much....

As for Wii Fit, it doesn't really appeal to me. But for the Brain Age/Wii Sports crowd, it's clearly destined to be the Halo 3 of casual games. Between this and Brawl, I expect the demand for Wiis won't die down until around 2010.

 

[CHAOSDRAGON88]

C-stick users... I hate them so much....

As for Wii Fit, it doesn't really appeal to me. But for the Brain Age/Wii Sports crowd, it's clearly destined to be the Halo 3 of casual games. Between this and Brawl, I expect the demand for Wiis won't die down until around 2010.

I myself am a pessimist so that whole placebo effect thing does not work for me. But i must tell you that brain age does sharpen mental accuity and wiifit should have some health effect up its sleeve, the only one i can think of is balance training.

 

[kashikomarimashita]

Im thinking Wii Fit might actually sell mor Wiis. So many people want to lose weight nowadays. And if they can be convinced that it can be done in the comfort of their own homes, who knows who will get one.
Nintendo better have a good advertising campaign lined up.

 

[CT Chia]

im surprised this game didnt sell as well as everyone thought it would. japans gaming market is so unpredictable right now... it should sell like crazy tho in the US is marketed right (and theyr on the right track)

 

[Talwind]

im surprised this game didnt sell as well as everyone thought it would. japans gaming market is so unpredictable right now... it should sell like crazy tho in the US is marketed right (and theyr on the right track)

254k in two days is alot..what you be talkin bout?

 

[Deception]

I might buy this so I can perform better in my Tae Kwon do classes ( my long legs leave me a little bit uncoordinated). Plus it might get my mom into gaming( yeah right).

 

[Red_Maniac]

When will this come out in the US? Looks interesting.

 

[Deception]

I think it comes out Jan. 1. But you can't always trust wikipedia, can you?

 

[KirbyForAll]

it looks pretty cool

http://wiifolder.com/

this is a video tour of some of the games from a man who already owns the game

 

[Vicious Delicious]

Hm, so it does or does not incorporate the Wiimotes and/or Nunchucks for the exercises?

The yoga and snowboarding look interesting, but the rest seem kind of bleh. Maybe I'll change my mind if I try at a friend's house or if they rent it somewhere, but I won't be buying this one right away...

 

[S2]

They are going to have more support for this thing and for it to be successful in america they need to have greater weight limitations. I am 6'4 and i weigh over 300 pounds also i wear a size 15 in mens shoes. Americans are larger than asians (I AM BLACK), This is not a racist comment but is it supposed to be designed for people with a smaller body frame.

This isn't the first type of situation like this.

Controller sizes have been an issue before. American's seem to have slightly bigger hands (bigger hands/feet going with bigger overall body size). Japanese gamers seemed to dislike the N64 controller because it was too big, didn't seem as much of a problem in the West. But I know plenty of people with big hands who think certain Japanese items (controllers, etc) are uncomfortable because they are too small to grip.

The original Xbox "S" controller was designed because MS thought the original controller was too big to appease the Japanese. The only reason we got it here was because the original controller was garbage, it was too big even for Americans.

 

[CHAOSDRAGON88]

This isn't the first type of situation like this.

Controller sizes have been an issue before. American's seem to have slightly bigger hands (bigger hands/feet going with bigger overall body size). Japanese gamers seemed to dislike the N64 controller because it was too big, didn't seem as much of a problem in the West. But I know plenty of people with big hands who think certain Japanese items (controllers, etc) are uncomfortable because they are too small to grip.

The original Xbox "S" controller was designed because MS thought the original controller was too big to appease the Japanese. The only reason we got it here was because the original controller was garbage, it was too big even for Americans.

Thanks for the feedback. I hope they change it.

 

[Tryptomine]

Ideally Nintendo would like to launch a same-sized Balance Board worldwide, although after receiving feedback from Wii Fit's Japanese launch Nintendo may decide if an "American-sized" Balance Board is needed, as the japanese model is designed to support people weighing 136 Kg (around 300 pounds) at most.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_Balance_Board

Wii Fit doesn't interest me at all, but it is a fantastic concept that I'm sure will sell like mad. Especially since many, many people are already using the Wii in their exercise regiment, at least here in America.

 

[CHAOSDRAGON88]

^ I agree its getting praise from the medical community almost everywhere and casual gamers will be sure to like it.

 

[kabloodysun]

I personally will probably buy it. It all depends on the price. I have seen sites with it going from $70 up to even $100.

 

[CHAOSDRAGON88]

People are always going to scalp you on prices, make sure you purchase from reputable stores.

 

[kashikomarimashita]

The Wii Fit is sold out everywhere in my town. It only took like a week before they were all bought up. And Wiis and DSs are just as hard to come by. Nintendo is slaughtering the competition out here.

 

[Cless]

I'm sorry but I don't play games to stay in shape. I play soccer and various other sports to stay in shape.