Wii Fit for fun

By Candice Jones, ITWeb online telecoms editor

Johannesburg, 24 Apr 2008

Nintendo`s third-generation gaming console, the Wii, has again captured significant local market share against competitors.

According to Matthew Grose, GM of Core Gaming, the official local distributor of the Nintendo Wii, in the first two months of this year, the gaming device secured 54% of the third-generation console market in SA.

"Compared to Microsoft`s Xbox at 23% and Sony`s PlayStation 3 (PS3) at 24%, this is significant growth for us," he says.

These figures are up from the last quarter of last year, where the console held 46%, the Xbox 29% and the PS3 took 23% of the market.

Nintendo`s Wii is selling like hotcakes globally and one of the company`s most anticipated games, Wii Fit, was launched yesterday in SA. The Wii Fit will hit local shelves on 5 May and will retail at R999.

The game sold 1.8 million units in the Japanese market, and reports from Europe show pre-sales of the game have already been sold out. The US market will have to wait until later in the first half of this year to receive the Wii Fit.

25-day regime

The game comes in the form of a balance board, the size of two scales, which is placed in front of the TV and interfaces wirelessly with the Wii. The pressure-sensitive board senses weight and adjusts picture on the screen to suit the movements made by shifting balance on the board.

The Wii Fit is intended to encourage gamers to include physical activity in their daily gaming regiment. "We are not looking to replace real exercise; however, a little exercise each day is better than nothing at all. Lack of exercise is a growing phenomenon in SA," says Grose.

He listed some figures around research done on obesity in SA. "One in three men, two in three women and almost 20% of SA`s urban children are considered obese." These figures are higher than in any other African country and the statistics are only growing, he says.

At yesterday`s launch function, Nintendo, through Core Gaming, challenged journalists to take a 25-day fitness test using the Wii Fit. The company said it will donate the review units of the five journalists who improve their body mass index the most, to the charity of their choice.