beforeyoukillyourcomputer.com Saving computers one at a time from their owners

The Wii Fit, which comes complete with its own special balance board, is one of the new fitness computer games from the Nintendo stable, which already includes virtual games such as tennis, boxing and bowling…

Sophie, a publicist, shows me the new hardware for Wii Fit at her office in Soho. On the floor in front of a giant TV is a pressure-sensitive balance board about the size of weighing scales. In fact, what the new Wii does is to weigh you straight away. Along with your height and age, the computer then works out your body mass index. Mine is 29.36, somewhere between Medically Obese and About To Drop Dead. “It’s not 100 per cent accurate,” Sophie says, tactfully. “Muscle weighs more than fat.” “Thanks,” I say. “I can see why you’re in PR.”

[Youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=t3pfQdADxEs[/youtube]

Next, after some rudimentary balance exercises in which I am revealed to be fundamentally lopsided, the machine computes my “Wii age”. It is 65 (my actual age is 43). “Oh dear,” says Sophie. I have to choose a “Mii”, an icon to represent myself on screen. I go for a perky little chap with a side part and pot belly. He introduces himself. In Japanese. The English language version is not available yet, but if its success over there is anything to go by – more than a million copies of the game sold in just over a month – this game won’t be sitting on shop shelves for long.

I select an on-screen tutor, wondering if it’s morally or legally OK to lust after a computer-generated fitness instructor. She greets me with what I take to be a provocative pose. “She’s saying, ‘Hello, you fat bastard’,” the photographer says.

We know that Wii Fit is due out in America on May 19th, but today, Nintendo of America announced that it will be selling Wii Fit with the balance board for $89.99.

The game features over 40 yoga, aerobics, strength training and balance activities. The hope is to “provides consumers with a fun, easy and affordable way to incorporate exercise into their daily routines.” While it won’t make you fit and lose lots of weight, it’s better to do this than sit on a couch.

I’m sure we’ll start seeing studies of people losing weight on Wii Fit, but don’t be hooked into buying any books about it.

If you are in New York, you’ll get a special treat if you buy it from the Nintendo World Store. From April 18-20, the first 1,000 customers who place a $5 deposit for Wii Fit will receive a limited edition Wii Fit t-shirt featuring the image and reproduced autograph of Mr. Miyamoto.

EDIT: Oops. Sorry everyone. Wife double-posted this story. Yup, we’re getting one of these for sure. Guess that means I have to exercise more now, eh?

Source

the wife has already let me know that we’re getting one.

Wii Fit has already made waves in Japan, selling more than 1.4 million copies since December, and Nintendo of America has finally announced how much it will cost us to get in shape when the game finally hits North America on May 19. The Wii Fit package, which includes both the game and the wireless balance board, will sell for $89.99.

The title features more than 40 different games and activities, in areas such as yoga, strength training, and aerobics. Nintendo also announced that the first thousand people who pre-order the game from the Nintendo World Store in New York City will receive limited-edition t-shirts featuring everyone’s favorite tea-table up-ender, Shigeru Miyamoto.

While the game will be priced slightly higher than the $75 it was originally sold for in Japan, it is probably due to the sturdier version Nintendo had to make for bigger folks on this side of the Pacific.

Source