The general consumer never even saw the Wii coming. They were all sucked in by the clean white gleam of Nintendo's Wii and those irresistible little Wiimotes with nary a breath of warning. Even if they hadn't played a video game since the days of Ms. Pac-Man, they suddenly found themselves reliving some glimmer of those days in their own living room, laughing aloud, calling their parents in to come join them, experiencing the pleasure of sharing a family activity.

Wii Fit is next on the horizon of Nintendo's grand plan, and it's aimed directly at the very consumer I speak of above -- call it gaming that isn't quite gaming, if you will. Regardless of what Nintendo's long time fans think about Wii Fit, this peripheral is primed to be a huge hit: in fact, analyst Michael Pachter recently divulged that per Nintendo of America, the US Wii Fit launch will be supported by "the biggest marketing campaign in history."

Wow -- even if you were unconvinced when Wii Fit was announced, you may magically be convinced soon enough, even if you had no intention of buying the thing. Hell, I may even end up with one, because if Nintendo can rock anything, it's producing irresistible marketing. I still close my DS after gaming and admire its glowy smoothness once in a while.

While Pachter couldn't confirm for sure, he did advise that WedBush believes it is more likely that Nintendo will market the product heavily through retailers like Wal-Mart and Target, who "notoriously attract couch potatoes." Wow again. Is Nintendo intentionally marketing to fat people? I can see why, but I can't help but wonder what Wii Fit has up its sleeve that will motivate the lazy.

[Via Aussie-Nintendo -- thanks, Jonathan]