Nikkei: Nintendo's Wii Fit plus coming to make weight loss competitive, Internet fun
By Thomas Ricker 
posted May 31st 2009 4:35AM
posted May 31st 2009 4:35AM
Wii Fit not cutting the fat fast enough? Don't sweat it, the house of Mario is getting ready to make your weight loss competitive. According to Japan's Nikkei business daily, Nintendo will be launching its Wii Fit plus in autumn that will let users compete with friends and family over the Internet to "lose weight and other activities" -- the latter presumably hinting at cruel taunting Miis with the ability to point and laugh at the fatties. The new balance board is said to feature more precise measurements to better hone your sense of embarrassment and shame. E3 kicks off next week where we'll undoubtedly hear more if the rumor is true.
Go to Gym ppl, wiifit is marketing BS
If by any other company, I'd normally agree.
But Nintendo actually cares about their products.
People who use this just don't go to the gym. Either laziness or lack of time/money.
This is the best exercise they'll get and it's better (albeit just a little better) than sitting on the couch.
Now all the accessories that go along with it ... like the mats, socks, water bottle... yeah, marketing at its best.
Well, you actually don't even have to go the gym. Walking and a cheap bike will do. Hell, just using the stairs and and not using the car for any small ride will do.
WiiFit is a lot cheaper than going to a gym, more convenient, more private, and more fun. I lost a lot of weight using it, not so much because of what it can do, but how it made doing it fun and kept me motivated.
I wouldn't buy a new balance board though, so this better just be a new game.
Personally, I am in the middle on this subject. I look at this product and see that it is not adequate for my needs (I lift on a regular basis), but my needs are certainly not everyones needs or wants. And it is good in that sense: it is a good way to start working out. This makes it fun and not monotonous, something that is very important with any sort of exercise program
I would have rather R&D put money into a new WiiMote including the motion Plus and a built in microphone.
But hey, I never got WiiFit, so now i guess I will.
Cool, I was joking to my friend when I heard about this earlier, there will be push up test death-matches!
Does anyone think that Nintendo's strategy of jerking out minor, incremental improvements and charging big bucks for them is a great big pile of ass?
They're an innovative company, I wish they'd just... innovate more.
It's normal.. look at Apple.
Dear Lord. I can't even go to an unrelated post to get away from the Apple hateboys.
1) We don't know how much this will cost. Or how different this will be.
2) Don't like it? Don't buy it.
3) Nintendo is innovative. The overwhelming demand for the Wii proves it. (Apple is also innovative. s/Wii/iPhone/)
I don't have stock in any company. I'm just one of many consumers. Anything that pushes the competition is good for us... I hope that Microsoft and Sony, etc., make a big push back.
Innovation would be Wii Fit having its own system to design a workout for the user based upon their statistics. Wii Fit takes in a lot of factors while it judges you and it could use those to create a customized workout to help you achieve personalized goals.
Why the hell it didn't have this to begin with is beyond me...
That picture makes feel dizzy, or like if I'm about to fall! :S
That picture makes me feel like we still haven't gotten Ryan Block's "month of Wii Fit" training blogs and weight results...
Losing weight is for losers.
is the actual hardware updated then or just the software?
I'll only buy it if I get the socks. Then I'll be the coolest kid on the block.
In reality the only thing nintendo were missing is online support, I dont really care about the lack of HD.
Thats what drove me to buy an xbox anyway, but i still keep my wii in my living room for red steel 2
Dude, we just stinkin' got a wii fit last week. Don't be telling me it's about to be obsolete!
Dont tell me you thought that Nintendo deliberatly wated for you to buy a WiiFit to announce they are updating it? Its been out for about 2 years now lol
You are incorrect. Wii Fit was released on May 21st, 2008 in North America. That's just over a year ago.
I bought one a few months ago once they were actually available at any given time. It makes me a little upset because now I am to believe my Wii Fit is not as precise as it could have been. Also a new game will be required for something that games have been doing for years, connecting to the internet.
Dude, I feel for ya. I bought a Wii Fit... in HONG KONG and carried it all the way back for my family for xmas. To think that they're making this obsolete is frustrating. In fact, it should have been a networked game from the get-go. At the very least, they should just make this an update to the current software or something.
They're going to be releasing a new balance board with this? You've got to be kidding me.
In the year 2000 ................. Nintendo will trick people into buying the power pad, again.
Slim, healthy, wealthy, and incredibly smart Japanese men are laughing their asses off so hard right now; all the way to the bank.
Way to tap in on Americas number one resource - fat, dumb, people. Hahahahaa.
For those wondering: yes, it is a little weird seeing one's legs/feet popping up in your feeds.
You sir promised us a month of Wii Fit and then disappeared. You are forgiven this time.
It's true. The reason? Wii Fit is an absolute pain in the ass to use IMO (not to mention the fact that it required more living room space than I originally anticipated). I wound up buying a gym membership instead, go figure.
@Ryan
Good to hear from you.
Does this mean you'll be posting often or that you out of guilt of the sight of your broken wiifit board, eh fatty?
EA Sports Active is much better if you want a real workout. Wii Fit is child's play.
Glad to see Nintendo wasting development teams that could be developing games for consumers that made the company originally and would continue to support it... if they made actual games anymore.
Feh.
It's funny how the same article gets comments on how bad Nintendo is for not innovating enough and comments on how bad Nintendo is for making new products.
Wii Fit socks. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat.
Thanks for the info.... I needed something else to be pissed off for today!!
I bought TWO wii fits on the day it launched in the USA (before I knew it was only capable of using one board at a time!!) I still have one sitting under the bed... NIB!!
Ah well... at least I'm keeping the economy going!!
The irony of the picture because that the Wii Fit doesn't work that well on carpet :)
err.. because = being
So Nintendo have basically given us a machine to tell us about what we have done for centuries and will continue to do for centuries; compete with our mothers, best friends and work colleagues about how, on a good day, "fabulous" we look and, on a bad day, how dreadful we feel because it's one of our friends turns to feel "fabulous". the only difference being that Nintendo get to make millions out of us becuase somehow we feel this new machine will give us the leading competitive edge on weight loss. Well, that's just wonderful. I'll have ten of them.
I've always looked forward to this. thanks to wii fit I lost so much weight that I though could never come off. today I look and feel great. nintendo is making healthier gamers/ kids which I think is fantastic. the youth shouldn't be on the couch eating cheesy poof and chocolate cupcakes while playing games that only excersice their fingure. I said finally something more active, more educational, and they still kept the high fun factor. I'm living proof of the wii fit success I only hope that when I purchase wii fit plus I can keep my piggy bank which holds my time spent on wii fit. huge tip for those who want to lose their gut, jacknife, and plank challenges every morning and night and one yoga pose. of course you have to avoid the sweets and high carbs as much as possible but this will always be common sense.all other types of wokouts such as weight lifting, or running I would do out doors or in a gym. accessories for the wii fit is marketing at it's best so the only requirments is a wii board, game, and the wii. honestly this device is great for keeping record of your weight, and activity. the wii fit plus however is going to be able to do awhole lot more, but online accessible? how are we going to know if others aren't cheating online? cheating is really simple with the wii board in excersice games. If I ever wanted to I make myself look like a perfect guru on all the yoga pose.same goes with the others. but everyone ask yourselves this, since when have a NINTENDO game ever not amazed you
I will be totally upset if they don't offer this as an upgrade in the shopping channel.