Nintendo
Advertisement

Wii Fit is a video game for the Wii console created by legendary video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto and developer Nintendo. The game was officially announced at Nintendo's E3 video game conference in 2007, and the game was released in Japan a few months later on December 1.

It is an installment in the Wii video game series, which also includes Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wii Music and Wii Sports Resort which are considered "bridge" titles that connect the hardcore gaming world and casual, or rather new, players. Each copy of the game comes with a Wii Balance Board, which is used as the primary mode of control.

The game is perhaps Nintendo's most successful video game of all time, generating a revenue of $1.26 billion. It had a follow-up, Wii Fit Plus, released in 2009.

Gameplay[]

The Wii Balance Board acts as a sort of scale for the game though features two separate sections for each foot. It can calculate the players' BMI and their center of gravity. The game's multiple activities, which reach almost 40, test the players' ability by making them perform tasks such as push-ups, jogging and trying to keep a perfect balance.

While the Nintendo DS video game Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! calculated how mentally fit you are, this game calculates how physically fit the player is.

Development[]

Wii Fit was basically announced long before its official announcement at E3 2007. In September 2006, Miyamoto announced the game as Wii Health Pack. The premise was the same, and it was also included in the Wii series of video games just as it is now. The actual idea of the game came to Miyamoto when he took an interest in weighing himself daily. Once the game was announced at E3 2007, Miyamoto revealed that the game had been in development for over a year.

Sales[]

The game was released in Japan on December 1 of 2007. Within a month and a week, the game managed to sell an astounding 1 million units despite not yet being released in any other regions. Within a year, the game went on to sell 3.5 million copies in its home country. The game, however, would be even more successful elsewhere. The next location to receive the sales juggernaut was Europe. In the United Kingdom retailers all across the country quit taking pre-orders and within a week the game sold out altogether, which explained why it was absent from the top 40 the following weeks. Nintendo UK explained that they were hard at work on creating more units, and soon enough the game would climb back up on the sales charts.

Legacy[]

According to Nintendo, Wii Fit has the largest promotional campaign ever done by the company. It has been featured on nearly every major news station and is thought to sell more than any other fitness product, which includes fitness DVD's and special equipment. The game is the first to include the Wii Balance Board, which has since been used with various other video games, usually as an alternative control option.

In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, various jokes relating to Wii Fit were made throughout the title.

In WarioWare D.I.Y. for the Nintendo DS, one of the microgames had the player making sure the Mii wouldn't fall off a tightrope by touching the appropriate sides of the Balance Board. An almost identical minigame was present in Wii Fit. The game could also be played on the WiiWare game WarioWare D.I.Y. Showcase.

In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the Wii Fit Trainer appears as a playable character in both Male and Female variants.

Music[]

The tracks "Plaza", "Hoop Dance", "Staff Roll" and "Step Rhythm" (composed by Toru Minegishi) are available with the CD Touch! Generations Soundtrack.

Minigames[]

  • Soccer Heading
  • Ski Slalom
  • Ski Jump
  • Table Tilt
  • Tightrope Walk
  • Balance Bubble
  • Penguin Slide
  • Snowboard Slalom
  • Lotus Focus
  • Hula Hoop
  • Basic Step
  • Basic Run
  • Super Hula Hoop
  • Advanced Step
  • 2-P Run
  • Rhythm Boxing
  • Free Step
  • Free Run

Gallery[]

  Main article: Wii Fit/gallery

External links[]

Advertisement