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Wii Fit + Wii Fit Plus

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Poet

Poet

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you know - it was a perfectly good post until your second paragraph. Like stylus and waggle - the board is just another gimmick. Who cares though if it has relatively low long term value? Wii Fit is about changing the perception of gaming. In the month when another huge controversial 18 rated game comes out for the 'proper' consoles - we're getting a 'game' that is attempting to change peoples lifestyles, get them off their arses and try and improve themselves. It makes for a fascinating contrast and it's going to be interesting how it's perceived in the media.

There's no way that Wii Fit and Mario Kart are going to outsell GTA - but I'd hazard that Wii Fit has a bigger long term impact on gaming and the perception of gaming.

It was a perfectly good post, especially including the second paragraph. Just because you're up Nintendo's arse doesn't mean you know what you're talking about. This is NOT the same as a stylus or the nunchuk on the Wii (incidentally, holding up "waggle" as something that isn't a gimmick is an extremely poor choice). Those things are part and parcel of the consoles they're used with; this is a peripheral. The peripheral itself is not the gimmick per se but the software, as I said the first day we all saw videos of Wii Fit, looks relatively simple and not all that exciting to use, nor all that useful in any meaningful way.

And so it is the project in it's entirety that is the gimmick (again, as I said on day one). It's not going to be a particularly good "game" and it's not going to be useful to the vast majority of those who purchase it as part of a long term healthy lifestyle. Yeah, short term many people will give it a go. I said this already. Long term users? Well let's hope they bring out some additional, more useful software fast. That's the only way more people will be using this long term. And you ask who cares about the long term benefits after spending £70 on a device supposedly useful to increasing your fitness levels. I'd say a lot of people do. And as for your comment on changing the perception of gaming: it won't. This isn't about gaming; it's a "lifestyle" accessory. There isn't a huge overlap between those who play videogames and those who care about their fitness levels. Thankfully the Wii attracts those away from the crowd who would be considered videogamers, or it wouldn't do anywhere near the business it will do. This is very much a wonderful corporate strategy from Nintendo to make more money from the casual gamers and I very much hope it works as well as they hope.

Anyway, what isn't in any way interesting is how this is going to be perceived by the media. Only a moron can't see how the mainstream will be reporting this particular item. Quite how being told what you already know is going to be interesting or in any way a fascinating contrast compared to the likes of GTA4 I don't know.

As regards your last paragraph, I also don't think Wii Fit is going to have any significant impact on gaming. A few games may end up using the peripheral if you're lucky, and some people may get a lot out of the actual Fit part of it, but that's it. Where else do you see this going other than a few simple games and, if you're lucky, something actualy worth playing?

That all might not read too well... I'm in a rush to go do something, so no time to check. Cliff notes: I'm right.

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scottcr

scottcr

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I'm clearly a moran. :D

yes - I do think it's interesting that a massively casual game is coming out alongside GTA. Both are controversial. GTA is the gamers choice. It's hard. It's brutal. It's fun. It's expansive. Wii Fit is the complete oppositte of GTA. It's the gaming equivalent of the rocket chef or the toastie maker. Everyone will have one and after a while, chances are it won't get used in a few months time... lots of gamers already hate the thought of it and what it means for Nintendo and gaming as a whole.

Combined with games like Wii Sports, Wii Play - the obvious upcoming Wii Music and more 'crossover' games like Mario Kart, Mario Galaxy... it's another gear in Nintendo's machine that, in my opnion, can only mean good stuff for gaming. A rising tide lifts all ships.

More diverse range of people playing games leads to more diverse games being made and more unusual and interesting stuff coming out in the future. We're not going to be able to move for adverts featuring beautiful people in House Doctor rooms smiling at their TV's playing the Wii.... when we ask punters on the street what 'the big game' is - what are they going to respond with? It's about changing the playing field - it's about broading the definition of 'gaming'. It's about giving people alternative forms of entertainment.

Wii Fit doesn't appeal - don't buy it? I'm sure you won't. I'm not sure if I'm going to get it. I want Mario Kart, GTA and Pro Evo - there's only so much I can afford to spend on gaming. They all appeal to me more.

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Gorf King

Gorf King

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I'm increasingly not getting the perspective of some of these posts. Wii Fit is a game (or several mini games), just not the sort many here would play (me neither), just like Nintendogs or Brain Training is a game which I'd not play either. But they are games, and many people buy and play them. They're part of the market, like the people who buy Queen albums are part of the market for music sales as much as those who buy Fall or Squarepusher albums. They're video game buyers and players. That's it.

Like Wii Fit, I could call Brain Training a gimmick and quite properly state that it doesn't really improve your I.Q., memory, etc., although maybe in some tiny minority of cases it might spur someone on to do better things that'll have an actual, appreciable effect on how they use their brains. But for those that don't it'll have maybe a minor, transient effect and just make them feel a bit smarter/better about themselves, and that'd be better than having done nothing at all. That's true for Wii Fit just as it is for stuff like Brain Training. It doesn't matter much in either case, because really all that's happening is that people are playing a form of game on a video console that makes them smile, or exert themselves in some tiny way physically or mentally, and are getting some sort of pleasure from the experience. They're playing video games just like anyone else who plays video games (maybe differently, and maybe different games, but no less are they players of video games).

I don't think any of the 'it's not really a good workout' stuff matters all that much. Sure, you might think the 'game' has no long-term benefits. Sure, you might also think that as a game it's not that entertaining either. I'd agree that I'm not going to be entertained or gain any long term benefits either, which is also why I didn't buy Brain Training. But it is a game (+accessory), and it's going to be a hugely successful one.

The fact that it crosses into that market of people who pay hundreds of pounds for gym memberships and then spectacularly fail to turn up regularly - and who'll pay far less for something that they have no excuse for failing to turn up to - is pretty amusing, and a phenomenal piece of marketing by Nintendo. Some of them might just use Wii Fit as a springboard (ho ho) to move on to better, more worthy, fitness programmes. But for those who don't, they've got a new device that might just see them being weaned at some point onto 1080 Wii or another more 'worthy' game.

And even if they don't do either of those things, they're still gamers - crap gamers perhaps, but gamers nonetheless - people who own video games consoles and interact with them, and have at least the option of trying something else out if they want to. I find the thought of all those lapsed-gym-sub people being converted into potential 1080 players pretty funny myself, and that's the bit about media coverage that I find interesting (see the guy on the video linked a few posts back for a good example).

They're a big part of the market, just like Sing Star people are. And this is a great game for them to play. It's obviously going to be spectacularly huge.

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Poet

Poet

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I'm clearly a moran. :D

yes - I do think it's interesting that a massively casual game is coming out alongside GTA. Both are controversial. GTA is the gamers choice. It's hard. It's brutal. It's fun. It's expansive. Wii Fit is the complete oppositte of GTA. It's the gaming equivalent of the rocket chef or the toastie maker. Everyone will have one and after a while, chances are it won't get used in a few months time... lots of gamers already hate the thought of it and what it means for Nintendo and gaming as a whole.

Combined with games like Wii Sports, Wii Play - the obvious upcoming Wii Music and more 'crossover' games like Mario Kart, Mario Galaxy... it's another gear in Nintendo's machine that, in my opnion, can only mean good stuff for gaming. A rising tide lifts all ships.

More diverse range of people playing games leads to more diverse games being made and more unusual and interesting stuff coming out in the future. We're not going to be able to move for adverts featuring beautiful people in House Doctor rooms smiling at their TV's playing the Wii.... when we ask punters on the street what 'the big game' is - what are they going to respond with? It's about changing the playing field - it's about broading the definition of 'gaming'. It's about giving people alternative forms of entertainment.

Wii Fit doesn't appeal - don't buy it? I'm sure you won't. I'm not sure if I'm going to get it. I want Mario Kart, GTA and Pro Evo - there's only so much I can afford to spend on gaming. They all appeal to me more.

I really don't see what you could possibly glean from the reaction the mainstream press is going to give, other than that warm glow you'll feel as the company you love is talked about positively by people who don't know what they're talking about. It'll be almost all hyperbole, I'm sure, while some will recognise it's only slightly useful qualities. And Gorf King, I do recognise it's lot of minigames and some fitness stuff which will be of limited use, but the reason I don't think it's as cool as it could be is due to it being touted as something it really isn't. That's the fault of Nintendo, the software and my reasonable expectations from something marketed as a fitness device.

I have absolutely nothing against Wii Fit at all, certainly in concept if not in execution. I'm actually really interested in the possibilities of where this sort of thing could go. I wanted to start more coordinated clients using DDR nearly 10 years ago (back when I was a Personal Trainer), but it simply wasn't feasible given both the initial outlay and the time you have to invest to get good enough to make it a more aerobic workout. Plus of course it's only good for the most basic of cardio anyway, so aside from it being fun if you're good enough, it's all lose for a personal trainer wanting to get their clients to exercise. But I knew something like this would be coming along sooner or later, and I hoped for sooner. Now that this product is here (nearly at least), it's not what I would want, and I think that it would be so very easy to make a far superior fitness product out of the peripheral simply making different software. I find that disappointing but absolutely unsurprising. No, I do not want a product that will turn you into the next Ronnie Coleman (look him up - imagine Arnie in his prime but big), but I do want something that doesn't masquerade as a fitness product while simply being what looks to be a rather cynical way to keep all these new gamers using the console, or at the very least having them spend £70 more.

And you're talking about diversity of gaming, but again I just don't see much happening here in terms of gaming at all. Yes, you can use it as a game, but then what? Where's the next step coming here that's going to make it useful elsewhere in games? In that arena, it feels more like an evolutionary dead end than where anything truly exciting is going to come about. Other than that, I'm not talking about gaming here, which is where your (and Gorf King's) argument lies. That's cool. But for me this is about a product that looks to have far inferior software to what you could quite easily expect, being marketed as something far more useful than it will actually be. Treat it as a piece of frivolous fun, I'm sure it will live up to your expectations. Treat is as it's (in parts rather cynically) marketed, as what you would expect from a lifestyle accessory that costs £70, and it begins to feel more like something you'd buy late at night while drunk watching Chuck Norris in an infomercial.

So Nintendo, make the software for Wii Fit 2 already, but make it properly useful, and I'll be ready with open arms. Until then, I'll bide my time playing decent games when I want to play games and exercising properly when I want to exercise.

Again, I kind of repeated myself but I'm feeling too lazy to go back to edit as it's 1am and this is a forum, not something I'm getting paid to do.

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Sarlaccfood

Sarlaccfood

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For God's sake Poet, it's not aimed at fitness trainers and it's obviously not aimed at gamers, so it's no surprise you don't think it's the best thing in the world. It's aimed at mums and fat geeks. Who either have little knowledge of games or little knowledge of having proper exercise.

Of which there are a lot of.

I think what Scot is getting at about positive press is that (one aspect anyway) the general public will look at these disgusting stories of Videogames turning kids into killing machines and instead of jumping on the "ban this sick filth" bandwagon, they might stop and think "hang on, I play Videogames on my Wii and they're not bad, games are great" we all love seeing our beloved media format getting good inches in the mainstream press and being talked about in the same regard as a big film release or a new album from a big artist.

Despite your claims of being interested in Wii Fit I've not seen somebody so anti a game they haven't even played since I used to visit GamesRadar.

Anything that gets people off the sofa nowadays is something that should be applauded and generally it has been. What's the beef yo?

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Gorf King

Gorf King

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I wanted to start more coordinated clients using DDR nearly 10 years ago (back when I was a Personal Trainer), but it simply wasn't feasible given both the initial outlay and the time you have to invest to get good enough to make it a more aerobic workout. Plus of course it's only good for the most basic of cardio anyway, so aside from it being fun if you're good enough, it's all lose for a personal trainer wanting to get their clients to exercise. But I knew something like this would be coming along sooner or later, and I hoped for sooner. Now that this product is here (nearly at least), it's not what I would want, and I think that it would be so very easy to make a far superior fitness product out of the peripheral simply making different software.

I get your take on this, Poet, but you're coming from a fairly serious and specialist angle to what is, essentially, a game. I could take the same stance towards Brain Training; I mean, I'm a right brainy bastard as you'll know, and I think it's shocking that Nintendo markets its DS software to plebs as if it'll somehow make them the next Gorf King. The day they release a version of Brain Training that can train a pleb's brain to the level of that of a Paxman or a Fry - let alone a King - is the day I'll stop reporting Nicole Kidman to Trading Standards, the cynical-yet-not-MENSA-worthy hussy.

Treat it as a piece of frivolous fun, I'm sure it will live up to your expectations.

I think that's the idea for most people, especially those who don't believe everything they see implied in adverts - even those gym club adverts you see in the local press.

(I would recommend applying the same outlook you suggest to this post.)

It *is* a game. Lighten up - I bet you'd be pretty good at it. You might even enjoy it.

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GGSolid

GGSolid

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I'm actually approaching Wii-Fit from the 'other' end of the spectrum then. :s

Since the start of this year i've altered my lifestyle to include less food and more exercise and have lost quite a lot of weight. I'm looking forward to Wii-Fit because as most people know lifestyle changes fizzle out after the initial buzz wears off and it gets much harder to keep up with your amazing fotness regime.

I know for a 'fact' that Wii-Fit will at LEAST keep accurate records of how much is gained/lost and the actual excerise 'games' are more for variety (for me) and toning up other parts of my body than what my usual excerise is (cycling during the week and then a 90 min football game at weekends)

Theres some excellent points on both sides here, 'fat geeks' are unlikely to keep at something that they find actually exhausting while people are are regular 'fitness peeps' are more likely to go to the gym. It may well spur the middle gray area people to try some excerise though and break through a lot of mental perceptions that excerise is something you do when you're a kid or that it has to be 'no pain no gain' or its not worth it.

Also if I'm lucky my brother can get this on his Gamestation discount [cha-ching!] :)

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Rudderless

Rudderless

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For God's sake Poet, it's not aimed at fitness trainers and it's obviously not aimed at gamers, so it's no surprise you don't think it's the best thing in the world. It's aimed at mums and fat geeks. Who either have little knowledge of games or little knowledge of having proper exercise.

Of which there are a lot of.

I think what Scot is getting at about positive press is that (one aspect anyway) the general public will look at these disgusting stories of Videogames turning kids into killing machines and instead of jumping on the "ban this sick filth" bandwagon, they might stop and think "hang on, I play Videogames on my Wii and they're not bad, games are great" we all love seeing our beloved media format getting good inches in the mainstream press and being talked about in the same regard as a big film release or a new album from a big artist.

Despite your claims of being interested in Wii Fit I've not seen somebody so anti a game they haven't even played since I used to visit GamesRadar.

Anything that gets people off the sofa nowadays is something that should be applauded and generally it has been. What's the beef yo?

Very good point. I do think that some people that have been so dismissive of Wii Fit will be surprised by both how enjoyable and how effective it can be. And if it's merely a stepping stone to more strenuous exercise then that's no bad thing either.

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Poet

Poet

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For God's sake Poet, it's not aimed at fitness trainers and it's obviously not aimed at gamers, so it's no surprise you don't think it's the best thing in the world. It's aimed at mums and fat geeks. Who either have little knowledge of games or little knowledge of having proper exercise.

Of which there are a lot of.

I think what Scot is getting at about positive press is that (one aspect anyway) the general public will look at these disgusting stories of Videogames turning kids into killing machines and instead of jumping on the "ban this sick filth" bandwagon, they might stop and think "hang on, I play Videogames on my Wii and they're not bad, games are great" we all love seeing our beloved media format getting good inches in the mainstream press and being talked about in the same regard as a big film release or a new album from a big artist.

Despite your claims of being interested in Wii Fit I've not seen somebody so anti a game they haven't even played since I used to visit GamesRadar.

Anything that gets people off the sofa nowadays is something that should be applauded and generally it has been. What's the beef yo?

I'm well aware who it is aimed at. Doesn't mean it can't be more useful that is it though, which is the rather obvious point I was making.

And my god I am so not anti this game at all. It's a step in the right direction, for sure, and a great concept, that I think will fail spectacularly for what it is marketed as. Jesus... you say stuff against something and it's not only not enough that you say I'm not interested in it (yeah, I get involved in the conversation here because I'm totally uninterested in the game and the ideas here... what sort of fucking tool does that, eh? I'm here presenting a different set of ideas about the game rather than trolling in any way) but that it's akin to being part of the GamesRadar forums. You cheeky scamp.

I get your take on this, Poet, but you're coming from a fairly serious and specialist angle to what is, essentially, a game. I could take the same stance towards Brain Training; I mean, I'm a right brainy bastard as you'll know, and I think it's shocking that Nintendo markets its DS software to plebs as if it'll somehow make them the next Gorf King. The day they release a version of Brain Training that can train a pleb's brain to the level of that of a Paxman or a Fry - let alone a King - is the day I'll stop reporting Nicole Kidman to Trading Standards, the cynical-yet-not-MENSA-worthy hussy.

I think that's the idea for most people, especially those who don't believe everything they see implied in adverts - even those gym club adverts you see in the local press.

(I would recommend applying the same outlook you suggest to this post.)

It *is* a game. Lighten up - I bet you'd be pretty good at it. You might even enjoy it.

Brain Training is simply a cartridge with a load of fun little minigames on it to keep you busy. I don't think anyone believes reading out loud or doing the most basic mental arithemetic is going to increase your IQ by 30 points. This is a £70 peripheral and game which could very easily make a difference (and it will to some people) but I feel it could be significantly better for it's intended use. You don't need to dumb something down to make it enjoyable for everyone concerned, and for it to work properly. But yes, basically I want a hardcore mode. So WiiFit(FORSERIOUSPPL) would be nice.

Anyway, as per usual, my tone is way offline compared to how I actually feel about the product. I'm totally chilled about it all, as I am with everything gaming related. I just want to put forward a valid and justifable second opinion rather than tow the line. I do think it will be fun and if there ends up being other decent software for it, I have little doubt I will be purchasing it.

And I will be *awesome* at it.

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Dynamo Nath

Dynamo Nath

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So is there anywhere actually taking pre-orders for release day? All the major sites seem completely sold out already. I hope we're not talking Wii Zapper levels of unavailability here.

Game seemed to be taking them instore yesterday, although that may just have been my local branch...

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zxcvbnm

zxcvbnm

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I pre-ordered it from Gamestation last night - it's amazing the amount of places that aren't even taking pre-orders on this yet, and everywhere that is are charging the same price, but gamestation are throwing in a free bag so I went with them.

Oh, and it was the missus who insisted on getting this ordered! She only ever plays brain training on the DS or wii sports, so that's probably going to be the main market for this game - thirty something women with gamer husbands!

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