Wii fit is selling like gangbusters in Europe

Nobody really expected Wii Fit to be a flop, and obviously the rampant success in Japan should've tipped us off, but it looks like the little exercise-centric peripheral is really doing alright for itself over in Europe. Dixons.co.uk says it sold a Wii Fit every four seconds on Friday, and Amazon.co.uk says they sold out within 24 hours. No word on overall sales yet -- they've sold over 1.8 million units in Japan since the December launch -- but we'd recommend you get yourself a preorder or a nice spot in line if you plan on working that flab off anywhere near the May 21st launch date in the US.

[stefan @ Apr 28th 2008 11:17AM]

someone at Nintendo will get a nice bonus.

[lettcco @ Apr 28th 2008 11:42AM]

don't you mean boner?

[Ransomite @ Apr 28th 2008 5:24PM]

Aren't you the fucking business man

[retro77 @ Apr 28th 2008 11:18AM]

So when can we Americans get our fat ass hands on this?

[NHAnimator @ Apr 28th 2008 11:54AM]

As long as someone is going to deliver it to me... I ain't getting off my couch and driving all the way down to Target, then walking to the other side of the store and back, then waiting in line, then driving all the way home again, etc.

And I'll be damned if I'm gonna bend over to plug it in, either.

[retro77 @ Apr 28th 2008 11:58AM]

@ NHAnimator: my point exactly. UPS guy better be ready to upack and install this thing.

[srw985 @ Apr 28th 2008 12:07PM]

america can has wii fit when europe can has rock band
stop complainin you had to wait another month, ive been waiting 6 months more than you for rock band

rock band > wii fit

[Javi0084 @ Apr 28th 2008 12:09PM]

I'm gonna have Best Buy deliver it and install it for me since they seem to install 360 games:

http://consumerist.com/381845/let-best-buy-professionally-install-your-xbox-games

[KC @ Apr 28th 2008 12:39PM]

I don't know about you but I put my feet on them to play. Would be interesting to see video of people playing wii fit upside-down on their hands....

[richard knights @ Apr 28th 2008 5:30PM]

well I reckon the nintendo boffins are working on a special reinforced edition for the US market

[dazepro @ Apr 28th 2008 11:19AM]

Console War...what console war, Wii blew everyone out of the water. ( = I love Nintendo! And don't go posting crap about how it lacks power, we all know that, the fact still remains it killed every other console in sales hands down.

[Frankenstein Black @ Apr 28th 2008 11:36AM]

Um, PS2?! Now be still you wig wearing hump.
Lol, (I kid, I kid ;^)...

[Lowest Ranked @ Apr 28th 2008 1:25PM]

You're claiming the way the Wii 'won' the console war was because it sold the most?

Why do you think more people drive Hondas than Ferraris?

It all boils down to price... the cheaper it is, the better it sales and that is directly proportional to the current console standings.

Apples to Oranges.

[deyanimay @ Apr 28th 2008 3:20PM]

Video games are meant to be fun not look nice. Graphics aren't everything you know.

[Adam @ Apr 28th 2008 5:08PM]

I really wish people would stop worrying about "console wars" or who "won". The Wii has good games. The 360 has good games. The PS3 has good games. The games I play on the Wii are drastically different then the ones I'll play on the other two consoles.

[smasher_marques @ Apr 28th 2008 11:34AM]

Here in Portugal WiiFit is at the top in most of the shops.
And we don't have a very big installed base of Wii's.

And we're buying it at 99€! Nintendo's owner in Portugal sucks a lot

[Warhorse @ Apr 28th 2008 11:24AM]

Wii fit is fine and dandy but tell me this, what exactly is a "gangbuster"?

[frontpage @ Apr 28th 2008 11:26AM]

I think Paul was going to say "hot cakes"

[Blaine Oliver @ Apr 28th 2008 12:30PM]

I wouldve said gutbusters wouldve been a joke on entirely a different level, as in cakes bust gut rumbles, and also the excersize will bust that gut :P

[Galley @ Apr 28th 2008 1:12PM]

That phrase is right up there with having to "piss like a Russian race horse". What does that even mean?

[JonJon @ Apr 28th 2008 3:39PM]

The phrase is actually "Piss like a rushing race horse" but over the years it has been bastardized into "piss like a russian race horse"

[jasen @ Apr 28th 2008 11:28AM]

I'm torn between pre-ordering and waiting to see what Costco's supply is like. I picked up GHIII from Costco for ~$10 less than everywhere else when it was first released.

[venom @ Apr 28th 2008 11:29AM]

well you know....wii started out as a small console for kids and now the whole population uses it. Whoever can get their hands on it..they use it and nintendo is getting a good ass profit

[jvandervalk @ Apr 29th 2008 9:21PM]

yes, but Nintendo users buy less games, read this:

"The average Wii owner buys only 3.7 games a year, compared with 4.7 for Xbox 360 owners and 4.6 for PlayStation 3 owners"

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/technology/21wii.html?ref=technology

[TheNomad @ Apr 28th 2008 12:49PM]

Maybe buy less games than the other console users, which goes to show that the Wii games are much more enjoyable, as well as not hurting Nintendo at all with regards to profits as they make a profit on the hardware itself!

[Rob @ Apr 29th 2008 1:48PM]

Actually the Wii on average has 6.07 games per console

http://press.nintendo.com/articles.jsp?id=15039

[Ty @ Apr 28th 2008 11:30AM]

People buy gangbusters?

[josh @ Apr 28th 2008 12:25PM]

They won't buy gangbusters when I unleash the gangbuster-buster.

[chickenator @ May 14th 2008 3:09PM]

or if i open my can of whoop-ass

[Froggy @ Apr 28th 2008 11:35AM]

talk about instant gratification. heck, I do want my game AND exercise in one. Damn you Nintendo and you're smart planning!!! damn you!!!

[Raheem @ Apr 28th 2008 11:40AM]

I have Wii Fit, and I will testify that it is one of the best things I've seen on a console. It truly isn't just running and press ups like a lot of people think. There are great balance exercizes, yoga, muscle workouts and more. It keeps you playing too, coz there are rewards for doing more work. Seriously, people - buy it! (Love from Mario)

[Stem $ell @ Apr 28th 2008 11:51AM]

Ironically, when you discover they're back ordered for months, you can still get a fantastic workout *throwing* a Fit!

[gabe @ Apr 28th 2008 11:58AM]

I might jump on this. Hopefully it has more software support than did my less fortunate friend Giromite :(

[Jesse S @ Apr 28th 2008 12:00PM]

Is this the thing that doesn't really cause you to burn any calories or something?

Wasn't there a story a month or two ago about that?

[Raheem @ Apr 28th 2008 12:08PM]

I'd question your body if running, push-ups and squats burns NO calories.

[Jesse S @ Apr 28th 2008 7:28PM]

How can you run on this? How is it healthy to do push-ups on an uneven surface? Don't you do squats with weights?

[Harvey @ Apr 28th 2008 12:15PM]

Did you folks at Engadget ever dream that you still be writing about shortages when the Revolution (Wii) was first announced?

[Farzad @ Apr 28th 2008 12:24PM]

I need to find a store that actually sells the Wii before I can get the fit

[stonedhippy @ Apr 28th 2008 12:31PM]

I presume the reason they're being released in Europe and Japan first is that they're desperately trying to reinforce the damn thing before subjecting it to the American market?

Or are they just presuming that anything to do with fitness, and indeed with "Fit" in the title isn't worth launching in the States in a rush?

Oh yes, I went there. Watch me hit Low ranked in record time!

[Low Ranked @ Apr 28th 2008 1:33PM]

What did I ever do to you?

[Richard @ Apr 28th 2008 1:09PM]

Our Wii Fit arrived today from Amazon - too busy with Mario Kart to get it out of the box though. ;)

I was surprised to see how many Wii Fit packages were available in the UK over the past few days.

There was much talk of how pre-orders were sold out and shops would be the same, but you could walk into any shop (that sold them) in the city I live in and several were stacked in each.

[stefan @ Apr 28th 2008 1:38PM]

*thinks*

and you are sure that the WiiFit is not among the dozens of controller options for Mario Kart?

Now back to finishing all the 150cc cups.

[nathan.wong @ Apr 28th 2008 12:53PM]

So will this be in short demand for 2 years too?

[Graham @ Apr 28th 2008 1:02PM]

Amazon.com has wii fit's for preorder right now, $89. I just got three :D

[db2 @ Apr 28th 2008 1:16PM]

Congratulations, Nintendo. You've successfully marketed "standing on a sheet of plastic" as a video game.

[rlynd3 @ Apr 28th 2008 1:38PM]

and did they successfully market "holding a piece of plastic?" or "playing a plastic axe?" or "inserting a piece of spinning plastic?" or...

[Raheem @ Apr 28th 2008 3:09PM]

db2, you're an idiot. I have an idea where you can shove a piece of plastic.

[deyanimay @ Apr 28th 2008 3:26PM]

i second that

[Tyson @ Apr 28th 2008 1:32PM]

I seriously wish I knew what the japanese one is telling me what to do but my language skills are not that great i guess. What I can get it to do is some of the tests and i know they better reprogram it for America. 1st. the weights scales say you are fat if you are about a buck 60 (160 for all of those who missed it) and further 2. your Mii gets fat - tubby- chunky- avg- skinny depending on your weight and how you do in the tests. I can see someone crying intentional infliction of emotion distress in a lawsuit already because Nintendo hurt their self esteem because they only weigh two bills.

[Low Ranked @ Apr 28th 2008 1:39PM]

They've been doing that since the 80's