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British Medical Journal study: Wii Sports doesn't replace exercise
A British Medical Journal study finds UK gamers playing Wii only used 2% more energy than gamers of other consoles. Obviously the UK study needed the US version of WiiFit with Jackie Warner, she'll push them from 2% to 200% -- no crying. The BBC reports on the most "captain obvious" qualities of the report like "time spent in front of television and computer screens has been linked to physical inactivity and obesity." We'd like to point out that so has reading and eating.The comprehensive study of -- wait, is this right? The comprehensive study of six boys and five girls between 13 and 15 years old found playing Wii Sports expended 60kcal per hour compared with other consoles. Two things we learn from this report: 1) Parents should tie a leash around their kid and stick 'em on a treadmill if they are too afraid to let them outside. 2) All the BBC reporters have left for holiday already and the interns have taken over the news division.
Wii Fit's yoga demonstrated by comfy person
WiiFolder's Josh Thomas is back again, playing Wii Fit on camera so we can all see what we're missing. And no, he still hasn't bothered to change out of his pajamas. Blogging in jammies is fairly standard procedure, but we think that, as a rule, videoblogging requires pants. It could just be that Josh required comfy, roomy pajama pants for optimal Wii Fit stretching, we guess. It could also be that we've spent too much time talking about this dude's britches and we should start talking about Wii Fit now. Basically, in Wii Fit's yoga program, you're required to hold one of 15 poses to a pretty severe degree of precision (indicated by a dot inside a circle) for 30 seconds. It looks really damn hard. We anticipate busting our faces on the Balance Board within hours. Or getting an awesome workout.[Via GoNintendo]
GT5 Prologue scores third place in Japanese charts
You know times have changed when the top three spots in Japan's software sales chart are no longer occupied by traditional fare, but rather a miasma of Mario mini-games, a balancercise board and a glorified automotive demo. Gamasutra runs down last week's top ten, highlighting Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo 5 Prologue which made its debut in third position with approximately 116,000 units sold. Professor Layton bully, Wii Fit, found itself parking off in second position with 124,000 units after having switched places with Mario Party DS and its 180,000 attendees. Nintendo proved the overall wii-ner, with six first-party titles accounted for in the chart -- in fact, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue was the only game not to be found on the Wii or DS. The two systems are expected to enjoy continued good fortune in the hardware sales chart due for release tomorrow.%Gallery-4884%
Anti-skid pads for your grandparents' Balance Board
Just like at the bottom of her bathtub, she's now got some anti-slip pads she can toss down on her Balance Board. And, we know for certain that falling down while in the shower makes up over 67.629% of senior citizen mortalities* in the United States. Considering how popular the Wii is and how popular Wii Fit is (and is certain to be over here), this accessory is bound to save many lives.*We only can be expected to research information regarding video games. Everything else we'll probably make up.[Via Go Nintendo]
Make like Pel with Wii Fit soccer
Soccer is the world's most popular sport, and we can see why -- in what other sport do a line of hydrocephalitic kids take turns throwing balls, shoes, and panda heads at your dome piece? We're just happy that the soccer mini-game included in the Wii Fit bundle is faithful to the sport, panda head dodgery and all.However, we are somewhat concerned about the terrible score of the player in this video -- is this another example of game previewers being bad at their own games? Or is the balance board not as accurate as some gameplay videos make it look? We'll just have to find out when the chubbiness informer comes stateside early next year.
Wii Fit step, step, steps its way atop Japanese charts
Brawn has finally triumphed over its nerdy nemesis brain, with Nintendo's balancercise board bullying Professor Layton away from the top spot in the Japanese software sales chart. In its second week, Wii Fit sold 150,000 units at retail, making for a grand total of approximately 411,000. Less easy to calculate: the amount of damage Japanese exergamers have incurred while knocking things over in their teeny tiny apartments. Another notable entry in last week's chart is Hironobu Sakaguchi's post-Final Fantasy Xbox 360 epic, Lost Odyssey. It debuted in seventh position with 55,000, a number pointed out by Gamasutra to be over 25,000 less than Blue Dragon's opening week last year. Though the JRPG still fared much better than most Xbox 360 games (what with it actually breaking into the top ten), even Assassin's Creed managed a modest 41,000 units during its first week.
Japanese hardware sales, Nov. 26 - Dec. 2: If the Wii fits edition
As you may or may not have noticed, depending on your reading ability and tolerance for vaguely irrelevant yet alluringly foreign sales charts, the Nintendo Wii enjoyed a surge in Japanese retail popularity last week. If you're looking to blame something, be sure to point your gnarled index finger at Wii Fit. That's the balancercise board, mind you, not the phenomenon perceived by someone watching you play Wario Ware: Smooth Moves.We can't comment on the quality of the product yet, but the illustrations on the box make it seem like the perfect toy for the posers among us.- DS Lite: 124,591 7,897 (6.77%) - Wii: 74,764 20,402 (37.53%) - PSP: 74,626 401 (0.53%) - PS3: 37,092 13,472 (26.64%) - PS2: 13,703 1,172 (7.88%) - Xbox 360: 6,632 485 (6.81%) - DS Phat: 36 36 (N/A) - Gamecube: 32 12 (27.27%) - Game Boy Micro: 20 22 (52.38%) - GBA SP: 9 22 (70.97%)- GBA: 4 5 (55.56%) [Source: Media Create] See: The energetic archives
Professor Layton spoils Wii Fit debut
Even the allure of a balancing beam sim couldn't keep Japanese gamers from gobbling up another helping of brain benders carefully wrapped in an adorable adventure starring Professor Layton. Layton Kyouju to Akuma no Hako (call it 'Professor Layton and Pandora's Box'), the second installment in Level 5's self-published trilogy for DS, topped weekly Japanese software sales, selling an estimated 294,000 units in the face of Wii Fit -- not that Nintendo's latest outside-the-box concept didn't attract strong sales. Reports of long lines and retail sellouts have been confirmed by Wii Fit sales figures: an estimated 261,000 units, supporting a combined weight of nearly 40,000 tons. Just below the top two earners, Namco Bandai's strategy game SD Gundam G Generation Spirits accounted for an estimated 252,000 copies in its first week proving PS2 still has legs, while Square Enix's Dragon Quest IV remake for DS continued another impressive week of sales with an estimated 135,000 units sold. The Xbox 360 version of Assassin's Creed even made an impression, moving a modest 41,000 units to become the eighth best-selling title of the week. Next week: Lost Odyssey takes a crack at the charts.
Nintendo's Wii Fit unboxed
Our bosom buddies over at Engadget Japanese got ahold of Nintendo's new Wii Fit and ran through the unboxing ritual for our sake -- they're all too busy burning the carbs to bother with such nonsense otherwise. Nothing much to see in the box, but we're sure you'd rather get started on some yoga than play with a bunch of doodads anyways. %Gallery-11268%
Hot Wii Fit unboxing action
Cheapy D over at CAG got his hands on one of the recently-released Wii Fit packages and did what any responsible gamer would do: filmed himself unpacking it. In opening the bad boy up, he reveals that the components are a lot smaller than we would have imagined. In all, though, it's a sweet video that should give all of you the look at the device you want and need.[Via Go Nintendo]
Wii Fit stretches its legs today in Japan
While American gamers still have some more time to wait before making themselves into contorted, balance-challenged fools, Japanese Wii owners can now pick up a copy of Wii Fit and stretch their way to reportedly fitter lifestyles (although deviance has been proven to work).The game's official street date isn't until tomorrow, but that isn't stopping a handful of prominent online retailers from already accepting orders (that surely won't arrive until after tomorrow). U.S. gamers who don't feel like dealing with the hassle of importing will have to wait until early 2008 for their copy of Wii Fit. [Via Engadget, Wii News]Read - Buy at Play-AsiaRead - Buy at Amazon JapanRead - Buy at Success-HK
Japan preorders 300,000 Wii Fit, printing of money to surely follow
As we type, the world's crazy time differences mean that Wii Fit has been available in Japan for, ooh, a few hours at least. How will it fare? We don't know for sure, and as our closest friend isn't a De Lorean-owning, wavy-haired scientist, the best we can offer is a guess. That said, the 300,000 preorders reportedly taken by Japanese retailers prior to the game's release tell us that Nintendo has probably just conjured up another mass appeal mega-hit. If all of those preorders are honored, that would also make Wii Fit a bigger opening week success than a certain other title, but we won't dwell on that, as it's proven a touchy subject recently. Check back with us next week for the full lowdown on precisely how many Japanese people are precariously poised on their Balance Boards. [Via The Tanooki]
Wii Fit hits Japan today, America's still fat
Doesn't Nintendo know we've got a bit of a weight problem going on over here Stateside? The company just released its highly-anticipated Wii Fit in Japan today, which will most likely sell like gangbusters, while simultaneously symbolizing the death of the hardcore gamer in Nintendo land to a small portion of the faithful not completely won over by Miyamoto's latest charming contraption. Unfortunately, the Wii Fit won't be crossing any oceans until early next year. Nintendo's official Japan street date for Wii Fit was December 1st, but it seems that at least a few online shops are disregarding that pesky fact.[Via Wii News]Read - Buy at Play-AsiaRead - Buy at Amazon JapanRead - Buy at Success-HK
Nintendo robot ladies demo Wii Fit for us
Look at them. Cool, calm, expessionless; the cyborgs models in the latest Wii Fit videos just find the non-game an absolute breeze. To an almost disconcerting degree, in fact.More doughy types such as ourselves won't look quite as graceful while negotiating Nintendo's fitness title -- we doubt anybody but these women could achieve that -- but that doesn't mean we won't enjoy ourselves as we perspire, pant and grimace our way through ski-jumping, heading soccer balls, and spinning hula hoops. Perfect for the post-Christmas weight loss drive.There's another five videos after the break, jam-packed with some very serious Wii Fit action.
Wii's lead in Japan getting narrower
The Wii outsold the PlayStation 3 by 2-to-1 in Japan during October. No biggie, right? Happens, like, every month. That's just how the Wii rolls. But here's the thing: the console's lead in its homeland appears to be steadily dissolving.Back in June, you may recall how Nintendo's box outsold its bigger and blacker rival by 6-to-1. Such a resolute thrashing didn't bode well for the competition, but a cheaper PlayStation 3 has since nibbled away at the gap, and now Japanese information well Enterbrain has revealed that October saw 110,415 Wii sales, compared to 47,183 for the PS3. Those figures, fact fans, mean October was the fourth consecutive month in which the Wii's lead was snipped.Sure, it's not time to hit the panic button and head to the bunkers just yet, and we appreciate that such statistics can be manipulated to suit alternative perspectives, but there definitely seems to be a steady shift occuring in the attitudes of Japanese consumers. Needless to say, we await November's figures (not to mention the impact of Wii Fit in December) with bated breath.
Tony Hawk talks Wii Fit board as a controller
Tony Hawk knows a trick or two on them there wheelie boards. That's probably why he got a whole line of games bearing his name. And, following the release of his latest title, Tony conducted an interview with Eurogamer to discuss the new game and, more interesting to us Wii-loving folk, the new Wii Fit peripheral and Channel coming from Nintendo. As if you didn't think about its use for skateboarding titles yourself ...So, Tony thinks it could be done, using the Wii Fit board as a control device for his game. "I think it's possible to incorporate the Wii Fit board into one of our games, but it would change the control scheme dramatically and we'd have to figure out how to make that work," he comments, further adding "So I don't know yet."While we'd argue that performing ollies and navigating a skater's route in the environment could easily be done with the device, we wonder if we would have the ability to successfully bust big chains using the Wiimote in combination with the board, as we can easily do so with a more traditional controller setup.
Wii Fit boxed, screened, and put in motion
It's been a while since we've seen anything on Wii Fit, but Dengeki Online has an update that includes several screens, a shot of the boxed set, and a video preview of the fitness title. The Japanese release date is getting closer and closer, and we can't wait to gauge public reaction to the title. Critically, of course, the nongame continues to be lauded; Popular Mechanics recently named it one of the top ten "gadgets" of 2007, and it's not even out yet!Jog on past the break to get a peek at the box -- but to see the video, you'll have to head over to the source. %Gallery-4745%
Wii Fit gets price and release date for Japan
Wii Fit received a price and release date for the Japanese public today, following suit with the rest of the updates Nintendo dropped on all of us. Requiring an entrance fee of 8,800 yen, which comes to $75, we're sure most of you will see this as a fair price for the new peripheral and software. Hey, you can't put a price on your well-being, right?As for the question of a release date, the title will hit retail shelves in the region in time for the holidays on December 1st.
New channel blowout: Everybody's Nintendo, Mii Contest, and more
If you've been wondering what to do with all that space from Wii channels you don't use so often, you can stop -- you're about to start spending a lot more time clicking around the home screen. This latest enormous press conference unveiled an avalanche of channel-related content that will should satisfy even the pickiest of Nintendo fans.From DS demos to strutting around with your Miis, channel content is about to blow up ... at least, in Japan. We can only hope that the new channels are soon to follow for Wii owners in the rest of the world. Until release dates are confirmed, however -- or even rumored -- we'll have to settle for checking out what's to come, and we've got a ton of information for you after the post break.
Nintendo's Wii Fit December 1st for $75 (in Japan)
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]
