14 DAY TRIAL // The Nintendo Wii has always put emphasis on different and sometimes quirky gameplay over the classic game recipes. The control scheme of the Wii rewards those developers who create games that do not follow already existing patterns. And who's better prepared to take advantage of this than the Wii's creators, Nintendo?
Wii Fit was released to the Japanese market last December and sold more than 1 million units to date. Which is pretty much, considering that the Japanese Wii population numbers around 5 million units. It seems that a game about loosing weight and exercising can be a hit with some of the most self conscious people in the world.
The Wii Fit uses a unique platform peripheral from Nintendo called the Wii Balance Board that can measure a user's weight and then pinpoint their center of gravity thus calculating their body mass index when told the user's height. The game offers about 40 different activities that a player can access, including yoga poses, push ups, and other exercises from sit ups to jumping. The Wii Fit allows its players to compare their fitness by using Wii Fit's own channel on the Wii Menu. The social aspect of the game cannot be underestimated. Where's the fun in exercising if you can't really brag about it?
If one in five Wii consoles in Japan has the Wii Fit then the North American market could prove an even bigger opportunity for the game. There are more than 9 million consoles in North America and a lot more people that would like to exercise and loose weight. Analysts are predicting that more than 5 million copies of Wii Fit could be sold on the North American market in 2008, making the game a hit comparable to 2007's best selling games, the likes of Call of Duty 4 or Halo 3.
The fact that Nintendo is preparing a 40 million dollars marketing campaign will also boost sales considerably. So look out for Wii Fit in May when it hits North America.