Santa Monica (CA) - Wii Fit is essentially the brain child of overzealous fans that turned the Wii into a virtual workout machine.

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In pictures: Wii Fit (9 slides) ...

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During an interview, Nintendo's senior director of PR, Beth Llewelyn, told us that using the Wii for serious fitness training was never a main idea in the development of the console.  When owners of the console started this new trend, a light bulb went off inside Nintendo.

"It's certainly become a phenomenon far beyond what we ever anticipated," said Llewelyn.  After Nintendo saw people getting really active with Wii Sports and other movement-intensive titles, "It sort of started a germ of an idea there...and it just took off."

Wii Fit uses a new controller called the Balance Board.  Instead of measuring points and high scores, the "game" keeps track of the player's body mass index.

Llewelyn attributes the spark of self-prescribed Wii workout regimens to the mass appeal of the console.  "A lot of it has to do with how we've gone after this broad audience," she said.

The Wii began spiraling into headlines of fitness publications within weeks of its launch.  A personal trainer from the UK even uses the console in his workout routines.

Llewelyn would not comment on the price of the game, which will include the Balance Board, but said it will be available "in the first part of 2008".

This bodes well for Nintendo

Jul 12, 2007 02:58     

It is the kind of behaviour I like to see from a gaming company: they looked at how the gamers were using their product and ajusted their lineup based on that. Giving the consumer what he wants is what the gaming business is about, and I think any company that does that is bound to success. Ironicaly sony released it's kinetics line of physical exercise games for the PS2, however they did not look as much fun as Wii sports and met more limited success. Now nintendo need to get better on the online front (something they seems to be working on) and they will cement their success. It may sound weird but the Wii reminds me a lot of the PS2 of a 2 years ago: cheap, small, silent, with fun games and original accessories (Eyetoy, buzz, singstart, guitar hero). Sony droped the ball and Nintendo picked it up. Sony should re-focus on delivering what gamers want and original content instead of pushing their own agendas (like Blu-ray, the cell and UMD).

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Video Games Can Be Healthy?

Jul 12, 2007 07:19     

With so many people playing video games, having people exercise while doing so is gaining the best of both worlds.
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Sounds good but

Jul 12, 2007 09:15     

I hope they do not take the fun out of it or screw it up in some other manner. Seen that happen many times from console makers and game developers. Here's hoping and good luck Wii.
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Really?

Jul 12, 2007 13:08     

This was pretty much the first thing to cross my mind after hearing about the Wii's controller (ok, maybe after using it as a lightsabre).
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