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Wii Fit: You decide!
Click for larger image There's every chance you'll already have made your mind up on Wii Fit, but hopefully one of our perspectives will have influenced those of you who are undecided. So what's it going to be, folks? You decide!%Poll-14730% Lovin' Wii Fit Back placeholdertextthisis
Aussie gamers prefer smashing their guns over getting shot
Speaking with the local paper merchants, Nintendo Australia's Rose Lappin seemed to like Wii Fit's chances against the current everywhere-but-Wii juggernaut Grand Theft Auto. After starting out with standard banter concerning the Wii and DS dominating Aussie sales charts, Lappin confidently talked up the ability of Wii Fit to snag the majority interest of gamers over the long-term.A bunch of sweaty Australian fitness fanatics have already been doing push-ups (read: smashing guns) for almost three weeks now using Wii Fit. During that time, the Balance Board of Justice stole the top sales spot away from GTA IV (irony is funny), and it hasn't been able to reclaim its crown. Lappin reassures us that Wii Fit will be supported for a long time, and is also pleased to see some physical education programs in local schools using the package to transform John Q Kid into Lil' Rambo. We're sure this is music to the ears of many parents in Australia, who would love to keep their chil'n away from Niko Bellic and his array of misadventures.%Gallery-4745%[Via Aussie-Nintendo]
Wii Warm Up: Carpet troubles?
In the early days of the balance board, there was some concern about what would happen when the board's power button met carpet. With the board extensions in place, however, we haven't noticed any problems on carpet. Anyone out there have particularly plush carpet that is rebelling against the presence of a glorified scale? Has your board mysteriously turned itself off during a session? If so, we want to hear about it.
Wii Warm Up: Balancing Act
Okay, new Wii Fit owners: here's the embarrassing (and, of course, totally optional question): What was your initial Wii Fit Age? You may have found the sudden need to micromanage your balance surprisingly difficult (and a source of fun) like we did. In the end, this sort-of-overweight blogger prevailed heroically over the introductory tests and came out with a Wii Fit Age of 30. That seems pretty good, which is why I felt bold enough to make this topic. If I had fallen off the board or something, today's discussion topic may have been something like "How awful is Wii Fit: 'totally' or 'brutally'?"
Namco hosting We Ski event at the Nintendo World Store
The folks at Namco Bandai have announced that they'll be hosting an event in celebration of their title We Ski. It all goes down at the Nintendo World Store in New York City this Saturday, between 12pm and 4pm. Demo kiosks will be available to demo the title, either with the Wiimote and nunchuk or using the Balance Board. There won't be much in the way of goodies available, but the first 500 people to pick up the game will get a free poster.%Gallery-17418%[Via press release]
Five quick Wii Fit factoids
At long last, Wii Fit hit shelves in the U.S. this week, bringing with it the sleek new Balance Board. Seldom have I been so interested in a game; usually, one has something of an idea what to expect. But trying Wii Fit is an experience that videos just can't quite get across. How does it feel? What's it like to really stand there on the board? After lingering over the unboxing -- which you can check out in the gallery below -- it was time to readjust the living room and get in the game. The baby daddy decided to play along, and serve as guinea pig and unboxing assistant. After a little time with the title, a few things became abundantly clear ....%Gallery-23454%
Wii Warm Up: On board?
Wii Fit is now out in the three major regions, which means it's time for us to ask: are you (literally) on board? Some folks we know are waiting for shipped preorders to arrive, so they're not yet Balance Board owners. Others are happily hoopin' it up ... and others have shunned the release, claiming disinterest in a fitness nongame. How about you?%Gallery-4745%
Metareview: Wii Fit
Excluding those who went over to the Nintendo World Store on Monday, today is the first day that U.S. gamers can purchase Wii Fit for themselves. It's clear that Nintendo's fitness game is going to sell like hotcakes, but is it worth fighting through crowds and waiting on lines in order to pick one up? Here's what the critics have to say:IGN (80/100) thinks that Wii Fit isn't a perfect workout tool, but was ultimately impressed by the title: "To its credit, the device is no joke. It very accurately measures your every subtle movement and momentum nuance as you step and shift to and from on the Balance Board. It's much more accurate than the WIi remote and it independently analyzes the input from your left and right foot, compiling the data into something meaningful and potentially encouraging within the context of the challenges, whether you're doing yoga poses, push-ups, or partaking in a host of mini-games created specifically for the device.1UP (83/100) thought the game offered a good workout, but didn't necessarily make exercising fun: "A couple of days into the game's workout regimen, I didn't want to keep playing -- it is exercise, after all. But I persevered, and eventually I improved at the minigames, felt physically challenged on some exercises, and generally felt better after racking up 15 or 30 minutes a day of Wii fitness. But I never really wanted to play. Which, I suppose, is the rule of exercise -- it's exhausting, but keep it up, and you'll feel great at all other times of the day. That's mostly how Wii Fit is."GameDaily (80/100) was somewhat bothered by the fact that Wii Fit isn't multiplayer friendly: "The most noticeable omission is serious multiplayer or a party mode. Like DDR or Wii Sports, it's actually fun to watch other people play and would be great to be able to switch off trying out different activities without having to retreat to the Wii Fit main menu and load a new profile. Furthermore, the fact that games only accommodate one balance board at a time seems almost anti-Nintendo. Isn't this supposed to appeal to the whole family?"%Gallery-4745%
Wii Warm Up: Starting a regimen
We already asked who had plans to pick up the Wii Fit bundle, but with its release today and all, we were wondering how many of you were planning on making a big life change with it? Do you plan to start a workout routine with Nintendo's newest title, confident it will build a healthier you? As gamers, we're usually not presented with an opportunity to tune our body, because so much of gaming is kind of just sitting there, holding a controller. Well, maybe it's just this blogger. But, with Wii Fit, we suspect many of you are confident in its ability to enhance your life. Or you just want to play the hula hoop minigame.Again, maybe that's just this blogger.%Gallery-4745%
Wii Fit gets people on their feet (to wait in line to play Wii Fit)
Nintendo's Wii Fit launch event in Central Park drew a crowd of interested onlookers and Balance Board tryer-outers yesterday. They could just walk over to the Nintendo World Store to buy the thing, but the rest of us chumps have to wait until tomorrow at the earliest. Oh, well, pacing is exercise too.To entice the crowd to make that purchase, Nintendo offered live demonstrations of the game as well as personal Wii Fit sessions with trainers (who probably trained people to take their shoes off and follow the instructions on the screen). The event also served as an American Heart Association fundraiser. We've got Nintendo's own pictures in our gallery below; for more, check out Engadget.%Gallery-23307%%Gallery-4745%
More puzzling details about Tetris and Bomberman surface
A recent Siliconera interview with Hudson Japan's VP, Kentaro Murayama, has revealed quite a few interesting details about some upcoming Hudson games. For one, we were a bit startled to hear that the company's WiiWare rendition of Tetris might incorporate the Balance Board. Right now Hudson is just "tossing around the idea," but even so -- that sounds like crazy talk. We're sure regular controls would be offered even if the game ended up utilizing the board, but we can't help but wonder how it would even work. Murayama also cleared up some of the confusion between the disc-based and WiiWare versions of Bomberman. The disced game will include a tutorial mode, a "deep" story mode, thirty-nine stages, thirty-one different enemies, and five bosses. The Bomberman for WiWare, on the other hand, will (clearly) cost less, which seems to be its main advantage.Both titles will include battle mode, but the Wii version will have twelve stages and twenty "appeal motions," while the WiiWare one will have just ten of each. Fortunately, you can battle with friends no matter which version they own, as the battles can cross between the disc-based and WiiWare games.To check out more details about Hudson's upcoming lineup, just click on the "Read" link under the galleries.%Gallery-18122%%Gallery-18349%
Nintendo's Wii Fit gets official, set to launch in just two days
If for some reason you've been so far outside of the natural world that you were unaware of Nintendo's impending Wii Fit firestorm, this should get you back in the swing of things. Today the big N has made the forthcoming release of the exercise / gaming sensation officially official in the States. The device is available exclusively at the Nintendo World store in New York City starting today, but will hit other shelves on May 21st, will run you a thrifty $89.99, and launches with software containing more than 40 activities. Of course, you'll never get to experience any of those activities, as there's already a run on stock, and if you haven't pre-ordered then you're pretty much left to the whim of eBay sellers and their inflated prices. Thanks Nintendo!
NGamer: Boogie Superstar is Balance Superstar
For a while, we've been hearing that EA planned to support the Balance Board in the sequel to their rhythm game Boogie. According to Cubed3, NGamer magazine is reporting that this functionality has been confirmed for Boogie Superstar, possibly to add difficulty for toddlers. What is interesting is that, if NGamer's description of the game as a "board-based dance-a-thon" is accurate, Balance Board support may be more than just an optional extra.It's no surprise that EA is supporting the new controller: their recently-announced Skate It simulates a skateboard with the Board, and there's some kind of exercise game on the way that will use it extensively. But if EA really is building a sequel to an existing (if somewhat unloved) franchise that requires $90 hardware the previous game didn't, they must really like Wii Fit money the Balance Board.
WRUP: Not one, not two, but ten whole sports edition
Looking over this week's releases, we're pretty dead set on wanting to get some quality time in with Deca Sports (previewing it got us intrigued). Sure, there's We Ski, but until the Balance Board releases (well, until Wii Fit releases, we should say), we're not down with it. Almost all of the appeal for us is the Balance Board support, but, hey, maybe we're alone in that.So what will you all be playing this weekend? Checking out WiiWare titles? Got another game you've been working on? Picking up one of this week's releases? Interested in Deca Sports, like us?%Gallery-7109%
Nyko reveals Energy Pak for Wii Fit [update]
Update: Sorry, got our dates confused. The post has been fixed.Nyko wants you to know they've come up with a solution for the Balance Board's power consumption, making sure they get in on the cash cow others think it will be. It's a rechargeable battery pack that will release on May 19th, for a MSRP of $19.99. The cool thing about this rechargeable battery pack is that, in order to recharge it, you won't even need to unplug it from the Balance Board. You can charge and play at the same time.Hit up the gallery below for some screens of the accessory at work.%Gallery-22504%[Via press release]
EA plans Western-style exercise game for Balance Board
EA Sports' new "Freestyle" brand will feature more casual sports games than the Madden-type stuff found under the main EA Sports brand -- think EA Sports BIG, but in 2008. The first game to come out under the brand will be FaceBreaker, the cartoony boxing game. EA Sports president Peter Moore has already revealed a second Freestyle game, though an official announcement has yet to be made. The new exercise game will support Nintendo's Balance Board peripheral in much the same way that Wii Fit does.To differentiate between Wii Fit and the new project, Moore describes a "Western," cardiovascular style of exercise, as opposed to the tai-chi-like anaerobic "holistic fitness" in Wii Fit. Which sounds like a great idea.
Nintendo to hold Wii Fit event in Central Park
If you live in New York City, take note: Nintendo is set to hold a large launch event for Wii Fit on May 19th, the day of its release. The event will take place at the Merchants' Gate of Central Park, from 8am until 5pm. At the event, famous personal trainer Ashley Borden will be providing a personal training session with the Balance Board and Nintendo's software.Unlike the recent Mario Kart Wii event, there won't be any kind of tournament or prizes. But, that doesn't mean you shouldn't show up, because Nintendo has pledged $5 (up to $25,000 total) to the American Heart Association for every person that gets on a Balance Board and tries Wii Fit out. Exercising while helping people? Sounds like a winning plan to us!%Gallery-4745%
Amazon sells out of Wii Fit preorders
For those of you who did not preorder Wii Fit and think it won't be a problem picking the bundle up on release date through walk-in at your local retail spot, know this: Amazon has cleared through their entire preorder stock in less than a month. It comes out to about 2.5 units sold every minute, according to an Amazon representative that spoke with Joystiq.It looks like the grim picture painted by Michael Pachter is coming true. Wii Fit fever has caught on, thanks in part to the software and Balance Board, as well as the mainstream media coverage and marketing push from Nintendo. Our advice? If you haven't planned on how you're going to get Wii Fit by now, there's a good chance you won't be able to nab one on release day.%Gallery-4745%[Via Joystiq]
Raving Rabbids + Wii Fit balance board = YOGAAAAAAAAAH?
In the above teaser video, which Gametrailers has labeled "Rayman Raving Rabbids 3," you'll note the appearance of one of Ubisoft's lovable and inherently demented hoppy things. While that is often amusing in its own right, this particular Rabbid appears to be figuring out how to properly operate a Wii Fit balance board. While his time with it ultimately results in weight gain, we get the feeling he's trying to tell us about some new use for the peripheral in his next mini-game miasma ...[Thanks, StarFoxA]
The rabbids show us how to use the Balance Board
Love 'em or hate 'em, Ubisoft's rabbids are quite the characters. From this little teaser video that the company sent to IGN, it's also not hard to believe that the bunny-like critters will soon be back on the Wii for Rayman Raving Rabbids 3. Whether the unconfirmed (but likely) game will use the Balance Board, or whether the rabbids are just spoofing Wii Fit remains to be seen.We'd guess that there's a high possibility for inclusion of the Balance Board in the next RRR iteration. Since the rabbid titles are generally full of minigames, the Balance Board will add a lot more possibilities in that regard. As IGN points out, Reggie also said that there were ten games using the board currently in development.We're sure it won't be very long before all is revealed, though, so stay tuned.[Via NeoGAF]
