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]
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52 comments + 134338 views
i like being overweight, NAWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I bet this is nintendo's long term buisiness plan.
Not to make money off licensing 3rd party games but to sell gimmicky hardware
far surpassing those of Bandai or LeapFrog even.
i r so fat.
gimmie!
Do not want
what are unfat people like myself supposed to do?
i want a boogie board for my wii ;_;
Buy WiiFit and get a voucher for 10 free meals in Burger King.
Screw you, WiiFit. I can't even find a Wii anywhere and you will never claim my fat.
NEVER!!!
In my expereince, the overweight are notorious for falling for ads pushing a "fun" or "effortless" way to lose weight. My family has several expensive exercise machines in our basement, bought because they promised "quick" or "fun" results. This is, of course, entirely a lie.
We should all know by now from previous reports that Wii Fit isn't actually very good exercise at all. But Nintendo is going to sell it like it is, and the Wal-Mart crowd will buy it because they'll readily believe it will make their beer bellies just melt right off in one session.
Personally, I'll stick with my gym membership and eating healthy instead.
hahaha maybe it would make me do exercise.. no .. no wait.. it wont :p
Analyst Michael Pachter recently divulged that per Nintendo of America, the US Wii Fit balance board will be stepped on by "the biggest consumers in history."
Fixed.
But... I like being fat...
Sorry, DDR is still my fat-person game of choice.
'Its not a game. It Nintendo!'
I'm getting it, and I know it doesn't shave off anything substantial in terms of weight. It's the COMPETITION OF BEATING MY FRIENDS BMI LEVELS that will drive my physical activity once I get this.
I'm totally going to buy Wii fit. I'm pretty excited to see what kind of GAMES get developed for the balance board. We Ski looks nice.... kinda.
Yeah I can't wait to lose mad weight by leaning left and right.
Given that I go to the gym multiple times each week, I don't really need Wii Fit. That said, the fact I'm the size of an American football defensive tackle prevents me from playing Wii Fit, as even if I wanted to play I exceed the weight limit.
=(
I'll take it.
If I'm gonna exercise, I want to be outside running around or climbing a mountain or something - not sitting in front of my TV.
@grrza
You not sitting, your standing!
But really... This isn't gonna help lose weight.
Go play DDR or something.
Gen Eric Gui is right. Americans have always loved “lose weight fast” schemes, almost as much as they love “get rich quick” schemes. I’m sure this’ll be an impulse buy for obese yuppies looking to shed layers of fat by hopping on a board and comparing BMIs with their friends.
I play my Wii all the time, but it doesn't help me get into shape, as I play almost all VC games, and the non-VC games that I play, such as Galaxy Brawl and MP3, aren't the wrist-tilting type.
Fuck exercise for the win!
I'll get it probably, I lvoe these great weird peripherals...
Well, I'm probably going to end up getting it. Given my winter blubber, it'll probably shave off four or five pounds in a couple of months, and that's good enough for me. That being said, I'm getting it for the glut of snowboard/skiing/racing games that are going to jump all over it as soon as it's out globally.
Better than "Dr. 90210: The Game"
"Use the wiimote like a lipo vac!" - Susan, MI
"Mom used the Nunchuk to do a tummy tuck!" - Brian, PA
those who have eyes can see shit with sprinkles, is still shit.
Hey now, asshole, not all fat people are societal rejects and welfare fucks. How many fat homeless hit you up for your change? Lots and lots of skinny people on welfare. Well, about half of the skinny ones are fat for three months out of every nine, but that just means they're about to get a bigger check.
meh, im sticking to the old ways where a fat person earned his girth, proving he was wealthy...so wealthy ill buy wii fit and never use it, just like my wii.
can't wait for the Wii Fit Mountain Dew even if it defeats the point.
So you're saying this campaign is going to be "heavy"?
If only there was some way to lean left and right without buying an extra peripheral...
Granted, Nintendo are clever and stuff like Wii Fit, I feel, will cement their industry position even more than it already is. Sorry Sony, as sweet as PS3 is, Nintendo are going to make sure you aren't on top again.
What makes Wii Fit interesting is that you can plan a regime of regular exercise, and save all the data and your progress/or lack there of onto Wii. When the avearage person begins to see results onscreen, it will encourage them to keep going, something no exercise video or dvd can do.
Its all very well saying you'll go to the gym, but trust me, I used to go to a gym and they make exercise freaking boring (apart from the perks of checking out hot sweaty females).
Damn, you know something? If Ubisoft hook up their upcoming DS Pedometer to Wii Fit, both could sell lots and prove interesting.
Hey moms! Lose that fat and play Wii Fit? Wii Fit is a revolutionary form of gaming from Nintendo to lose that weight and keep it off. Look, just because you are a housewife, you're really just scraping off your husband's pay. Maybe if you dropped twenty or thirty pounds you could be bangable again without the usage of romantic pre-planned nights, pity, anniversary/birthdays, or with liquor (see pity). Seriously, what the hell happened to you? I could nail you like a floorboard and not have my junk get crushed like nowadays, and even then you have to wake up early? For what Susan? For Divorce Court? That show is on at 11:00 AM! Plus you have friggin' TIVO! The clothes are still in the hamper and all you do is say you're helping the kids, BUT THEY'RE IN SCHOOL! NOT TO MENTION THEIR ROOMS ARE DIRTY. I don't know why I'm pissed off the boss is breathing down my neck and if I have to take crap like this at home I'm gonna dump your ass and travel to bloody Cabo where some college girl is gonna do things to my pecker that can only be seen on my movie collection. Yeah, the other movies, the ones where I want you to be, and do. Do to me. Also ask me this, we live in a friggin' condo, WHY DO WE HAVE A BILL FOR A LANDSCAPER? AND WHY IS THERE A SMILEY FACE ON IT? YOU SLUT! YOU MISERABLE SLUT! I HOPE YOU DIE!
Wii Fit, from Nintendo. E for Everyone!
Damnit Nintendo, now I want to be fat.
I can think of a few people who could use this machine. It's Nintendo vs. Obesity. Talk about a steep challenge! Fatasses have feelings though, they might like being fat! Diabetes, heart disease, what are those? they don't matter, do they? Ask me when you're about to greet the reaper early, lardass!
This is the most useless periphrial ever.
What makes them thinking that stepping up on a white platform will make people lose weight? It wont. Hell walking to the fridge will make me lose more weight than this will. Not to mention you don't need this to do pushups or jumping jacks like everyone else already does.
For Nintendo's sake, the gimmicks better end this cycle. The wiimote, wiifit should be test-beds for the next cycle. I can't imagine even the casual market buying into this one than once.
Between the American tendency to buy anything that promises weight loss and the huge marketing campaign, be ready to wait in early morning lines or pay huge eBay mark-ups.
I still don't see this selling well.
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