There's just something so defiant about this "Power Up" charging stand from Mad Catz -- it seems specifically designed to take up as much cubic footage as possible, and even the name is domineering. The stand is bizarrely formed in the likeness of a miniature Wii Balance Board, with a replacement battery pack included in the kit with contact charging points to take out all the exertion of flipping the B-Board and swapping out batteries. A foot pedal release mechanism pops the Balance Board out of the stand, and there are a couple of free-spirited USB ports on the thing for charging up whatever other awkwardly-shaped gadgetry you might have around the house.

[Via Unplggd]

Oh c'mon, just admit it -- you rationalized that Wii Fit purchase like so: "Oh, I can't afford this, but it's totally something to make me exercise! So, I'll buy it!" Fast forward two months later, and you're struggling to find space to hide the case. All kidding aside (sort of...), you can't deny the facts, and the facts are that the Big N managed to ship 15 million Wii Fits units in just 13 months. For comparison, it took right around 2.5 years to move 50 million Wii units, so it seems this here title is well on its way to hitting the same milestone in around the same amount of time. Unfortunately, you can't lose weight by simply handing over wads of cash to Satoru Iwata -- feel free to try, though.

We'd heard rumblings that Tony Hawk was working on something with motion controls -- which seems only natural after EA's Skate hit the scene with its intuitive Flickit control scheme, and Shaun White's game put the Wii's Balance Board to good use, both making the Tony Hawk method of arcade-style button mashing feel a little dated. Well, Tony's new Ride is looking to change all that, with a skateboard peripheral that looks like... a skateboard. It's hard to tell from just looking at it how precisely interactive the controller will be -- it seems basic balancing and leaning would be in, while Christ Air-ing your little sister in the face wouldn't go over so well. According to the man himself, Hawk is quite good at the game, and skateboarders should find the transition easy. A promo video is after the break, and apparently on June 2nd we'll be seeing this thing in action.

Update: We added another video after the break, including video of the actual board in action. Turns out the motion controls are quite detailed, and in advanced modes even allow for in-place 180s, but nothing seems to involve lifting the board actually off the ground. Grabs can be performed by actually grabbing the edge of the board, with infrared sensors picking up your hand position, and pushing is performed by running your foot along the side of the board. Ollies and flip tricks are obviously going to be a bit different than the real deal, while manuals and steering are pretty much spot on, and apparently there's a lot of choice as to how much "realism" you'd like in controlling the thing. Tony Hawk also sees the controller as a "standard," which could work with snowboarding games, surfing games, exercise games and other assorted cash cows for Activision.

[Via Joystiq]

The Wii Fit's slab of a peripheral is called a Balance Board for good reason: it's fine if a little yoga and pilates action is all you need to keep in shape, but, sturdy as it is, jumping up and down is liable to form cracks before toned thighs. If you need some high impact aerobics to be rid of that spare tire you'll have to go custom, like the SwiitBoard from a cardio-loving Wii aficionado called frits. It's just a durable wooden plank propped up by foam blocks on either end and a Wiimote zip tied to the front. The magic happens in the software, converting the up/down impacts of jogging in place into forward motion, with left or right roll turning the avatar in the simple game he worked out (video below). It's perhaps a bit crude, but would you rather have a board that looks good or a bod that looks good? Yeah, we'd pick gadget aesthetics too. If you want your own, frits will sell you the software for €10 -- money that will fund another of his projects: a site that fights global warming via pictures of scantily clad, eco-minded ladies.

[Via Hack A Day]

So you've got a spare Microsoft Surface and Wii Balance Board laying around, whaddya do? Well, you could try stacking them on top of each other and hope that big-ass table doesn't crush your little plastic Nintendo toy, and with some code slapped on what you'd end up with is pressure-sensitive surface computing. This clever little concept was cooked up by Josh Santangelo from "Stimulant." In his demo, featured after the break, he rocks Surface from side to side while colored spots roll back and forth, using a physics engine he developed for MS Silverlight. It's a great start and we would love to see this resourceful hack put to good use -- beyond that of a totally awesome yet ridiculously expensive tilt-a-maze game, minus the maze.

For Roomba hacking extraordinaire longjie0723, it's just another day in the office. Grasping for one more way to control the circular vacuum with something video game-related, he keyed in on the Wii Balance Board. Granted, he's already had success controlling the Roomba with a Wiimote, so we assume that whipping this one up was a lesson in simplicity. We still can't really understand why this here hack is necessary, but unlike decisions made by publicly traded companies, independent DIYers don't need no logic to get their mod on. Video after the cut.

[Via Nintendo Wii Fanboy]

It looks like Nintendo will finally be getting some challengers to its balance board monopoly... or one at least. Cheapo Wii accessory-maker Njoy is set to introduce its own version of the Wii Fit's footboard come September 12th for the weirdly more-expensive price of £64.99 (or about $130). Of course, Njoy's model does have a built-in LCD display (presumably for checking your weight even when the console is off), though it won't come bundled with any software, virtual trainers, or the assurances of a thorough Mario and Luigi inspection process.

[Via Balance Board Blog]

Wii Fit, out in December. Great news huh? Thing is, the ¥8,800 (about $75) Wii Fit is only announced for Japan so far. The kit features the Wii Balance Board which enables gamers to interactively head soccer balls and ski jump while partaking in other activities like yoga and aerobics typically thought to be cigarette-free. But you're at home moms, so feel free to sneak a few while pulling into a Downward-Facing Dog, we won't tell.

[Via Joystiq]

We got to get on a little, um, feet-on time with Nintendo's new Wii Balance Board. Besides the humbling experience of feeling like an uncoordinated, chubby remnant of your former self, we were surprised with the accuracy by which the device was able to detect even subtle muscle movements that affect balance and position. It definitely felt heavy and sturdy for a pre-production device. Oh, and the weight / balance sensors aren't just left / right, either, some games require you to stand in the middle on one foot. Check out the gallery, it's time to get physical like ONJ. (If you're still left wanting more, hit up Joystiq.)