It looks like this is going to be like Mario Galaxy where its available at NWS on Sunday and then trickles out to everywhere else throughout the week.

Also, anyone gonna try to pre-order and get the shirt?

Hopefully the balance board will lead to an announcement of the next 1080 game. :)

My god this is expensive. I was thinking about picking it up but at 90 bucks ... I'll pass. Maybe if it was around $70 I would consider it, however at this price there is just no way, especially considering the fact that the board is the only part of it I was interested in.

If you break it down, Wii Fit itself is worth about 30 bucks (at most) which makes the Balance Board $60 which is freakin' crazy.

Don't forget it's the BIGGER amerikan board.

Ah yes that's right, because we are fatter.

Reparation for keeping game prices at $50.

Price=idiocy. No-buy for this gamer.

back in the N64 days this would be considered a bargain.

Pressure pads don't come cheap!
People will be buying it anyway. I mean, they got Guitar Hero, right?

Add another dissenting voice, some of the minigames seemed fun, but at that price no way, I'll spend my money in okami and maybe mario kart. Unfortunately Nintendo won't care and it won't hurt the sales one bit.

I was going to buy this just for the fitness, but apparently Prizefighter uses the board as well...

I can still justify this at $90. It's innovative, applies to a healthy lifestyle, and will prob make for a great discussion piece. Plus there are actually third party games in the pipeline for it. It's everything I can justify a higher price tag for.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y267/n64/wiifit.jpg

That picture is WIN.

LOL @ Reggie

This is what the kid is saying:

IT'S OVER NINE THOUUSSAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNDDDDDD*

*cents, if you include tax.

Guitar Hero fulfills everyone's fantasy of being a rockstar.  It's air guitar in videogame form.  Wii Fit doesn't exactly have the same fantasy appeal.

The pricing makes it look like a forced bundle.  $50 for the game and $40 for the board.  That's probably not how the actual costs divide up but it looks that way.  In comparison Wii Sports looked like a free pack-in with the console.  Wii Play and Link's Crossbow Training looked like deals.  You got an accessory and a pack-in that worked almost like an expanded demo.  The upcoming Mario Kart is the same way.  It all seems very value-oriented.  None of those cost more than a regular game with no additional hardware would cost.

Value is tremendously important with selling non-games in North America.  Non-games have a very deliberate lack of depth so they work better as budget titles.  After all we're not bored of "real" games over here.  This is expensive, regardless of how much the board is actually worth.  It's a luxury game like Guitar Hero or DDR or Rock Band.  Those three games are popular with the same casual audience that Wii Fit is being targetted at.  With this price point those games become direct competition.  And Guitar Hero is a million times cooler than Wii Fit AND it's also a well established brand.  I don't see too many people picking an exercise game that's borderline edutainment over a guitar themed rhythm game that appeals to both casuals and hardcores.

Remember that Wii Sports is a SPORTS GAME.  It simulates something people find FUN that they can't normally do in the comfort of their home.  Most of Wii Fit's activities can be done at home for FREE.  I think there's a big difference.  No one fantasizes about exercise.  They do it or they don't.  The fulfillment of fantasy is largely the POINT of a videogame.

Fantasy will take a backseat to poor self-image.

Wii Fit is not a game.  Quit pitting it against games.

Maybe I should take advantage of the $132 from Activision and return my Guitar Hero III for this.

but if you're over weight fantasizing about exercise and actually exercising are two different things. I agree this is too much for me to consider this game, but compared to other diet plans, its a bargain.

My temporarily fat a$$ is buying this thing.  $90 works for me.

I want the original picture Stevey.

Yea, I'm gonna bite on this mainly because i'm a whore for peripherals. Its reasons like that why I have two sets of bongos, a myriad of Guitar Hero/Rock Band accessories and the Wii Zapper.
I was hoping for $80, but expected $90

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/1052/n6321727902927934372kq4.jpg

The Wii Fit version is a thousand times more brilliant though...

Guitar Hero is destructive, Wii Fit is productive. People wont feel "guilty" buying Wii Fit. In Wii Fit you can't pretend to be awesome, you have to be awesome.

and that's just plain weird LOL, but to each his own

Well, I waited 4 months to buy GH3 until i found it for <$70. When I find Wii Fit for <$70, only then will I buy it.

I agree with Ian's "value" comments. Nintendo set out to make a price-friendly system - they cut corners and held back the horsepower in order to deliver the least expensive system of the three. And now they're going the exact opposite direction with over-priced mini-game compilations bundled with one-off controllers.

I'm not made of money, nor have I found any trees/shrubs that grow money. UNTIL EITHER OF THESE THINGS CHANGES, I won't buy Wii Fit at this price.

*Joins the "Wii Fit is too expensive" train of thought bandwagon

Wii Fit isn't aimed at the hardcore audience, its aimed at the casuals, families and non gamers. The hardcore will shell out any amount of money to get a very popular game (Rock Band), but families are on a budget and would rather spend their money on important stuff than on a silly game, no matter how innovative it is.

The Japanese ate this up, but I think the real test should be in the US and Europe, where tastes differ greatly.

If the game passes AT LEAST 400,000 units sold I'll be surprised...

"The Japanese ate this up, but I think the real test should be in the US and Europe, where tastes differ greatly."

I heard the same kinds of statements about the DS and the Wii.

Ahahahaha, you people keep whining about 90$. That's what a NORMAL game costs elsewhere. Wii Fit will be 90 Euros here, that's 140$!

I have to disagree. $10 WiiPlay is a pretty hot value proposition, if it wasn't people would've just bought regular Wii remotes like I did (still don't own Wii Play, prob never will). Same goes for $20 Link's Crossbow Training + Zapper, which I do own.

Of course, Wii Fit is $90. It's not cheap, yes. But in terms of value... much like the Wii itself, it offers an experience and utility that are truly unique. I think that Japanese sales have proven that this is an extremely appealing value proposition to more than 1.5 million consumers.

Nintendo's giving us an expensive product here, there's no doubt about that. But I believe that they're also offering a product that makes a compelling argument to justify that price.

Meh, it's almost double that price everywhere else in the world.

Don't forget that Wii Fit lasts more than an hour, which is more than most $60 games run for, so really, Wii Fit shoud be about eighty grand by itself.

I tend to be cautious when dealing with the Nintendo World Store- they often offer exclusives for people who preorder games, but then gives the item to everyone who goes to the release regardless of if they preordered or not. I'll just get it when they have it for sale.

If I recall correctly, in Japan the $-¥ cost equivalent for the game was about $70. (could be off on that, though). At that point, I WOULD buy it... so it was comparatively cheaper in Japan, and I bet that had at least a little to do with the great sales.

As for people saying, "Suck it up, games everywhere else cost more!" Well, to me it's a matter of perspective, what I'm used to. If I'm used to games costing $70, I just deal with it. If I'm used to games costing $50, and one costs $90, NEARLY DOUBLE, I'm going to have to really think about that.

I don't care about the price (i gots the money yo) i'm just mad the pre-order gift is.. well sorta lame. Don't get me wrong I love shiggy but wearing a tshirt with his funny face on it will make me look like i LOVE shiggy, ya know?

besides manhattans too out of the way just for that, especially since most of my friends dont work there anymore. PASS (on the gift, i'll probably still get the game)

Well here is how I see it, the $90 price tag may be TOTALLY justified if other games take amazing use of the board. Otherwise, I don't see the draw to the game itself. It seems pretty shallow and isn't really of interest to me.

Does any one honestly think that anyone (outside of Nintendo) will make "amazing use" of the board?

3rd parties barely get the wiimote right whether its lack of skill or their just lazy. There's no hope in the balance board :(

Well, I hope that the next boxing game makes more use of it. Prizefighter's use of the board only with the training mode seems sort of lost, but I'll play it just to make sure. I'm excited about the board since I've had lots of great ideas about and for it; I"m sure that once we all get standing around on it more ideas will come about and if Wii Ware seems as accessible as Nintendo wants us to think it is I am hoping for some quirky balance board based games.
No worries, if it gets boring you can always marry it yo your toaster or something.

I don't know, with Wii Ski, All-Star Cheerleaders, and Prizefighter already using it, I'm actually a little surprised at the number of third parties adding support for it.

LOL.

I'm pretty happy that there is support for it already and I think the immense success it has seen is encouraging to developers. For me to really consider it, I just need 1 solid title that makes such good use of the board that I need to own it. Unfortunately, I'm not sure any of the games currently supporting it are going to do it for me.

Yeah, but Wii Fit is different. Its a non game designed around fitness. You can say the same about Brain Age, but it was priced at 20 bucks, which made it very easy to recommend and pick up.

I will say, however, that Wii Fit's concept is more prominent in the US because of how Health conscious we are (those miracle pill and diet ads running after midnight should tell you something), so it might be a health if sold using that angle.

We'll see, though, if people bite the 90 dollar lure.

I've never heard of any of those games... does the cheerleader one have hot chearleaders??????????

There is no question, people will eat this up. Everyone wants an easy solution to weight loss, what better than a fun videogame that costs a meager $90 (in comparison to the cost of a gym membership)? Nintendo is sitting on pure gold, and they have built a user base around the Wii that will without question love to have something like this.

And that's the part that sucks the hardest, people will buy up a bunch and Nintendo will never be motivated to lower the price because it will inevitably sell very well.

And I will gladly contribute to the problem!

Guilty here too!

I won't be buying it for myself that is for sure, but I plan on getting my parent a Wii for Christmas along with this game and Wii Play.

That's what I keep hearing from people, that they're gonna buy this for their parents.

We should be proud. We're subsiding it for the rest of the world. Rejoice!

THIS POST HAS BEEN CENSORED FOR YOUR PROTECTION

--Bureau of Internet Morality

I think it'll sell well, too, which is scary. And to me, their pricing it at this point is the Nintendo execs showing their greedy side.

Enforcing bad behavior is only going to worsen the problem, and that's what's bothering me.

Of course, economics says that price should be set by where supply meets demand. So, if it's still sitting on shelves at $90, maybe they'll change their tune. If not, then I guess I'm just on the wrong part of the curve.

decoyman - you assume it's greed, but has anyone did some research on what the cost of simply making the Wii Fit board is (part wise)?

Add to that the R&D that went into the board - for something that may completely flop.

I'm sure Nintendo put a lot of thought into what they're charging for the product.  I like to think that they've priced the package at a point where they can recover their cost and make a profit while not gouging us for it.

At least we're not paying $140 for it.  (Thanks Europe!)