Nintendo's fitness-themed title soars in Japan despite an $80 price tag.
Wii Fit, the latest title from Nintendo that has been designed to appeal to non-traditional consumers, has just become the Nintendo Wii's latest hit. According to an Associated Press report, Nintendo announced that its fitness-themed video game has sold more than a million copies in Japan in a little over one month. This news comes in the midst of traditionally strong holiday sales for Japan during which other titles have also benefited, like Nintendo's own Super Mario Galaxy which sold twice as many units in the sales week starting December 17 than it did the sales week starting December 3.
Unlike other games, Wii Fit is controlled via an included Wii Balance Board peripheral instead of using the Wii Remote. By simply detecting a users weight and stance, the device allows users to engage in more than 40 activities including skiing, hula hooping, and yoga. In Japan, the entire package sells for 8800 yen (approximately $80 US), which is 3000 yen more than most new video game releases.
Currently, Wii Fit has no confirmed release date or price information in regions other than Japan. It is known, however, that Nintendo is thinking about redesigning the Wii Balance Board to allow heavier players to use it since the Japanese Wii Balance board only supports users up to 300 pounds of weight.
Thanks to BlackNMild2k1 from the forums for the tip!