Who’d have thought an exercise game – one with decidedly sub-par graphics, goofy mini-game based gameplay and an incredibly bland Yoga section would sell through the roof? Well, obviously Nintendo, since they made Wii Fit; but seriously – a few years ago, would anyone have believed this sort of thing would sell at all?
When I first heard about it, I was genuinely excited. I remember watching Nintendo’s 2007 E3 press conference and thinking “a game about fitness. Man, that’s perfect – marketing genius for this new casual demographic”. I also thought, “If this thing is for real, I have to get it.”
Let me explain – I’m a bona fide fitness freak. I’m one of those crazy people that go to the gym or goes on runs everyday. Yes, I realize this makes me insane. It also meant that last spring when the game came out, and all my non-gamer friends heard about it (you know how everything Wii related is automatically mainstream press material), they all said, “You have to get it. It’s made for you”. The idea of a workout game was something akin to my ultimate fantasy device – something that combined both my passions into one glorious uber-activity.
Well, I decided to try it out first. I heard a few glowing reviews from gamers, but when I started hearing reports that no one was actually losing weight with it, and that fitness experts were skeptical, I benched my Wii Fit dreams. “Maybe the concept would be made into a real fitness game someday,” I thought to myself, hoping that the insane popularity of the fad would translate into my little fantasy coming true. It went off my radar (as it did for most people) and other things came along.
Then a good friend of mine decided to purchase a Wii and Wii Fit. I recently came over in the middle of one of her ultra-intense yoga sessions. Her eyes were focused entirely on the blocky man-thing giving her instructions for the next pose. I’m pretty sure she said hello at some point, though it was definitively after a Warrior Pose or two.
She’s in love with this game. Can’t get enough of it. In fact, her parents are the same way – they play every day and call each other with progress updates. We were watching TV later that night, and The Biggest Loser came on. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s a reality show for obese people in which they compete to see who loses the most weight. It’s genius, since it combines several national pastimes – the mean-spirited “oh my god, they let themselves go!” factor with the culture of body obsession and the All-American love of competition. Seriously, it’s genius.
Anyway, we were in the middle of watching the show, me surfing away with my laptop and her focused on the TV, when I casually remarked that one of the trainers – Jillian – would be getting her own fitness game on Wii - Fitness Ultimatum. It was as if I had announced the second coming. “Really?” she remarked, ignoring the dramatic weigh-in onscreen. She immediately got on the phone and called up her folks – I could actually hear screams of joy on the other end. These people are really, really excited for it, chunky graphics be damned.
Of course, they’re all in the target demographic here, and Nintendo – and Jillian, are quite smart to play on that. Women and older people in this country tend to be interested in exercise and weight loss – that’s a fact. Maybe they aren’t all “gamers” in the traditional sense, but hey, the Wii is a gateway drug, right?
