Wii Fit Destroys The Competition - Over 1 Million Sold In Japan

Ok, so Wii Fit is now a success.

It's making some amazing strides considering...

1. It's more expensive because of the Balance Board

2. It's something completely new and untested

To put into perspective how well Wii Fit is doing let me break it down with images

This is Wii Fit...

This is other titles....

For the link to the story please click HERE

What competition?cablemodemx2

Exactly

Next to Wii Fit there is no competition.

I'm still seeing a 1080o snowboarding game made by NST compatible with the Wii Fit board. That's why Project HAMMER is canned.

This just shows how the Japanses market is changing for the worse. They leave the Zelda, Mario, and Metroid titles on the shelf but buy games like this. The hardcore market is dead in Japan.

I work out and exercise on my own, I do not need a game for that. I use games to relax. Not only that but most of the exercises are pathetic. It's mostly yoga type things and stretches. And from what I've seen most of the included "games" are just Wii Play type minigames.

Maybe I'll buy the balance board if a real game releases for it. Until then, I can exercise without staring at a TV screen.

Its not surprising that Wii Fit is doing so well, it wont sell quite as quickly in the US, espcially since those sells reflect the holiday rush. However it will do very well here in the US as well, and I expect it to move one million units at least within three months of lauch.

Also Rocky we went through this already, yes the Japanese are more open to things like this than the american audience. However things like Zelda and Mario still sell extremely well, I mean Galaxy sold nearly a million copies in two weeks over there. If you call that sitting on the shelf, I dont want to no what your estimation of poor sells is.

Ok, so Wii Fit is now a success.

It's making some amazing strides considering...

1. It's more expensive because of the Balance Board

2. It's something completely new and untested

To put into perspective how well Wii Fit is doing let me break it down with images

This is Wii Fit...

This is other titles....

For the link to the story please click HERE

Jaysonguy

LMFAO!!! Godzilla is destroying Tokyoz! oh noes! lol nice post

back to topic, i actually wanna check out Wii Fit. The balance board looks like a neat new way to play. despite what you guys might think, you gotta hand it to nintendo for coming up with something new (and random) that will not all be sold out everywhere...but is actually worth it! cant wait for it to come stateside

Nintendo can do no wrong in Japan. Not sure how successful Wii Fit will be here in the states, though.JustPlainLucas

Yeah, some things that do well in Japan also do great here, but many things simply don't. I honestly don't know about Wii Fit. It seems like it has the same sort of appeal as Wii Sports, but without simultaneous multiplayer (most people won't buy more than one balance board, I'm guessing). The difference is that Wii Sports was included with the console. Will people be willing to spend however much on Wii Fit? It's a tough one to predict.

[QUOTE="JustPlainLucas"]Nintendo can do no wrong in Japan. Not sure how successful Wii Fit will be here in the states, though.JordanElek

Yeah, some things that do well in Japan also do great here, but many things simply don't. I honestly don't know about Wii Fit. It seems like it has the same sort of appeal as Wii Sports, but without simultaneous multiplayer (most people won't buy more than one balance board, I'm guessing). The difference is that Wii Sports was included with the console. Will people be willing to spend however much on Wii Fit? It's a tough one to predict.

mabey nintendo will offer this game as another bundle with the wii get either wii sports or wii fit w/balance board (of course it will cost more but stll)

and this may be another way to move this game in america as when new wii owners get wii fit with the console then other wii owners will want to get it to who knows

With the big success of Wii Sports I'm actually not that suprised to see how well this sold but 1 million copies!!!! Damn that is one huge wad of cash for Ninty

I want to see how well it sales in America. The most interesting thing, I think, is that it brings many possibilities for future games, like skate boarding games, that can be easily made with the balance board.Thiago26792

I really don't expect anything great for the balance board for a long while (if ever). Devs are still failing to use the Wiimote to do cool things. There have been a lot of games with controls that are unresponsive or just don't fit the game. Even the big three, Mario, Metroid, and Zelda, have suffered from this problem. Mario Galaxy's levels based around tilting the remote (especially the manta ray levels) could've definately benefited from a tilt-sensativity setting. Metroid's interactive levers (pull, twist, push) where awkward and added nothing to the game. With Zelda, some of the sword techniques were a pain to pull off. More than once I was stuck being taught a technique because my actions weren't matching close enough. What made it worse was that I couldn't say, "F this. Just assume I know it and let me move on." So Link may have learned it, but I couldn't get it him to do it reliably.

These games weren't bad. And, for the most part I really enjoy what the Wiimote adds. Still, it's been very rare that I've played a Wii game and not experienced some downside that's directly related to the Wiimote. I realize that it's a relatively new periphial and that should be expected, but at this point I'd much rather see developers refining the use of it than wasting their time on a periphial not packaged with the system.

IMO, I don't see their being many games that use the balance board. I think it'll be like the Power Pad, Super Scope 6, or Maio Paint mouse.

I really don't expect anything great for the balance board for a long while (if ever). Devs are still failing to use the Wiimote to do cool things.Skie7

I agree. We've seen how long it's taken for most developers to get used to programming for the remote.... The balance board seems even more complicated (though it may not be.... who knows).

The other factor is whether or not developers will be willing to create entire games centered around an optional (and somewhat expensive) peripheral. I think the only practical thing for developers to do is offer balance board compatability as a control option, along the same lines as the Wii Zapper. If you own the peripheral, then you can get more control and presumably have more fun; if you don't own it, you can still play with the Wii remote.

But can we expect developers to spend the resources programming a superb control style based on the balance board alongside a superb control style based around the Wii remote? Most have a hard enough time programming just for the remote, as Skie7 mentioned. I don't think it'll be financially practical for most developers to program for both the Wii remote and the balance board.

Wii Fit has to sell unbelievably well world-wide for the balance board to see much more use from developers. Let's hope that happens, because the balance board has a lot of potential.

The other factor is whether or not developers will be willing to create entire games centered around an optional (and somewhat expensive) peripheral.

JordanElek

I think some will but it's going to be like everything else where many devs would rather strive to hit a wider audience.

The problem comes in with people saying it would be great for shooters and stuff. That's true but it also limits the devs ability to hit everyone. If you make a shooter (or any other kind of game) you need to then decide how to make the Balance Board work along WITH the regular controls or you just have to release it for the Balance Board owners and there goes the 20 million pool of Wii owners down to 1.

Now if a dev takes the Balance Board and makes a game that everyone wants to play on it so they're willing to fork over the extra 30 bucks? If a dev can do that and increase the Balance Board pool to even a quarter of all Wii owners then there's no telling what kind of games we'll get from it.

I wouldn't buy it until I see some great games come out for it. It's $80 right?AdRock92

Yes I'm pretty sure it's going to sell for 79.99 US

For that you get...

Wii Fit

Balance Board

The Wii Fit channel downloaded onto the Wii that tracks you without having to have the disk inserted all the time.

It's $80 right?AdRock92

The price hasn't been announced but I wouldn't be surprised if it was even more than that.

[QUOTE="AdRock92"]It's $80 right?Rocky32189

The price hasn't been announced but I wouldn't be surprised if it was even more than that.

It's selling for just about 75 dollars in Japan. So far all reports have been saying it'll be a 30 dollar add on, I think that's a doable price for people. Dance Dance Revolution's bundle was 69.99 so I can see the extra ten for the Balance Board. Also Japan pays slightly more then we do here for games and such so maybe they'll be able to do it for the same price as Dance Dance Revolution.

The main thing is that Nintendo gets the Balance Board to as many people as possible to help entice devs to build for it.

Either way I don't see it being more then 30 extra.

Either way I don't see it being more then 30 extra.Jaysonguy

Now that I think about it, that's a better deal than Guitar Hero, and people eat that up regardless of the price.

But will Wii Fit be as widely appealing as Guitar Hero? Something tells me NO, but it could take off if it gets enough publicity. The media loves the Wii, so it's possible.

$80 wouldn't be a bad price at all and it may succeed at that price. Seems very reasonable to me.

I just haven't seen anything about it that seems worthwhile to me personally. I do not need the exercise portion because I already do more intense workouts on my own. The included games haven't won me over either.

[QUOTE="Jaysonguy"]Either way I don't see it being more then 30 extra.JordanElek

Now that I think about it, that's a better deal than Guitar Hero, and people eat that up regardless of the price.

But will Wii Fit be as widely appealing as Guitar Hero? Something tells me NO, but it could take off if it gets enough publicity. The media loves the Wii, so it's possible.

Wel the thing is that it doesn't have the musical hook......yet.

Games like Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution have the music going for them also, Wii Fit doesn't.

On the other hand the Wii Balance Board is the one add on that doesn't have a guideline for how to use it. With the Zapper you're stuck with gun games to get the most out of it. Last gen with the bongos you had music based games to get the most out of them (even though they were bundled with a non bongo game, go figure)

The Balance Board doesn't seem to be able to locked down to only one genre.

I don't think it can be accurately compared to Guitar Hero and DDR. Those two games are just that, games, while Wii Fit is something different entirely. DDR and GH appeal to everyone. The casual gamer can jump in and have some quick fun while the hardcore gamercan master these games (and both take a long time to master).

Whether Nintendo wants to believe it or not, many if not most of Wii owners in America are hardcore or semi-hardcore gamers. I think it's safe to assume that many of these people will not buy Wii Fit (obviously some will though). So then that leaves the Wii owners who are new to gaming, or just plain casual. How many of them will purchase Wii Fit? We will soon find out I guess...

I don't think it can be accurately compared to Guitar Hero and DDR. Those two games are just that, games, while Wii Fit is something different entirely. DDR and GH appeal to everyone. The casual gamer can jump in and have some quick fun while the hardcore gamercan master these games (and both take a long time to master).

Whether Nintendo wants to believe it or not, many if not most of Wii owners in America are hardcore or semi-hardcore gamers. I think it's safe to assume that many of these people will not buy Wii Fit (obviously some will though). So then that leaves the Wii owners who are new to gaming, or just plain casual. How many of them will purchase Wii Fit? We will soon find out I guess...

Rocky32189

I agree with the point that the novice users are outnumberd to a laughable number by regular gamers.

The thing with the Balance Board is that it can be aimed to a certain demographic because it's so open ended (as I said above)

It doesn't really lock the dev into making a certain kind of game. If someone wants to make a game that appeals to the novice they can and depending on how many regular users of Wii Fit play mostly Wii Fit we could see devs go in that direction.

If the market hits a certain saturation point we could see devs start to make games that appeal to dual audiences like you mentioned in Guitar Hero.

The thing is I can't see real hardcore players NOT getting Wii Fit. It's such the new mountain to climb that people with the cash flow (plus a Wii of course) will be picking it up. If it hits saturation with experienced gamers I can't see any dev turning a blind eye because they know the audience is there.

Think of it this way. When you buy an add on you want to be able to use it now and also use it for more then just the game it came bundled with. Well that would also help sell whatever game a dev comes out with. (within reason of course)

I agree with the point that the novice users are outnumberd to a laughable number by regular gamers.

The thing with the Balance Board is that it can be aimed to a certain demographic because it's so open ended (as I said above)

It doesn't really lock the dev into making a certain kind of game. If someone wants to make a game that appeals to the novice they can and depending on how many regular users of Wii Fit play mostly Wii Fit we could see devs go in that direction.

If the market hits a certain saturation point we could see devs start to make games that appeal to dual audiences like you mentioned in Guitar Hero.

The thing is I can't see real hardcore players NOT getting Wii Fit. It's such the new mountain to climb that people with the cash flow (plus a Wii of course) will be picking it up. If it hits saturation with experienced gamers I can't see any dev turning a blind eye because they know the audience is there.

Think of it this way. When you buy an add on you want to be able to use it now and also use it for more then just the game it came bundled with. Well that would also help sell whatever game a dev comes out with. (within reason of course)

Jaysonguy

I definately agree with you concerning the possibilities the balance board offers in the future. But will the game ever reach saturation where a third party will develop games for it? I don't know if it ever will. We may get alternate control options with the balance board but if that's the case, won't they feel tacked on?

It's definately up to Nintendo to get this train moving (as it usually is). But will even they dare to develop exclusively for it? Only time will tell.

I'm definately not convinced of its widespread success in America. Although Japan is eating it up, that in no way predicts how it will fare here since the markets are completely different. Personally, I could see it going either way; being a widespread success or not doing well. It's up to Nintendo to market this thing correctly. The correct direction for them to take would not be to lure Wii owners to Wii Fit, but to use Wii Fit to draw outsiders to Wii. I'm sure that's their goal, but they must advertise this thing like crazy, more than they ever have before. It has amazing potential.

While Wii Fit does not currently appeal to myself, I could definately see myself giving it in and picking it up (at only $80) as I learn more about it.