Wii Fit sells out on Amazon, 2.5 units sold every minute
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ May 6th 2008 at 4:00PM }
Expect the mainstream hype train for Wii Fit to only gain steam leading up to the May 19 US launch. The "game" is already conquering the UK and Europe, it's being added to Westin Hotel exercise rooms and Wal-Mart's pushing the thing for Mother's Day. We're just waiting for Oprah to give one to everyone in her studio audience or Ellen to goof around with it on her show. You know it's got to happen.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Huey2k2 @ May 6th 2008 4:03PM
One day I'll figure out the appeal of this.
ComicShaman @ May 6th 2008 4:09PM
I'd be interested in your findings.
Actually, I'm replying to you to shamefully admit that I am such a geek that the first thing I thought when looking at your avatar was that it's a shot of Heather "Vindicator" Hudson's chest.
PojoMofo @ May 6th 2008 4:15PM
Yeah, when you figure it out, please fill me in as well.
cold school @ May 6th 2008 4:50PM
"Because in a year or two when that person who bought Wii Fit wants to try something new....."
In a year or 2, that thing will be collecting dust in the back of closets, just like every other exercise gimmick machine thats come along.
also, other things selling great on amazon: Madonnas album, oprah's magazine, and 'P.S. I love you' DVD
jcd @ May 6th 2008 6:11PM
Very agreed, Wii fit is nothing but a glorified version of the "powerman 9000" sold by infomercials at night. bleh!
tyecies @ May 6th 2008 6:27PM
A scene I forsee happening often in the near future
Joystiq user sees wee fit at mall kiosk, thinks "FU WII FIT YOU'RE DESTROYING ALL GAMING DIE DIE DIE"
Joystiq user tries wii fit at kiosk to see just how stupid it is
Smile slowly spreads across users face, begins to cackle gleefully, remembers the glorious days of running pad and all the fun that one might actually have with a non game controller input.
In all honestly guys, running pad was glorious, and if this allows for many games with alternative styles of input, it could be fun, even if the whole getting fit from it is crap
Worst Review Ever @ May 6th 2008 4:07PM
I know that all the self-proclaimed "hardcore gamers" out there are going to decry Wii Fit as the death knell of gaming as we know it, but I'm having a hard time seeing the success of the Wii as anything but positive for gaming as we know it.
Huey2k2 @ May 6th 2008 4:14PM
I disagree, Wii Fit isn't actually a "game", so I don't really see how this could be good for the gaming industry.
tmacairjordan87 @ May 6th 2008 4:17PM
Stuff like this doesn't help the industry. It helps nintendo make more money that they won't use to develop new IPs that are actual games, and their customers aren't moving on to real games on other systems.
Now I don't think it's crippling the industry, but it sure isn't helping anyone other than nintendo.
samfish @ May 6th 2008 4:35PM
Of course it's not.
Because in a year or two when that person who bought Wii Fit wants to try something new and is ready for a step up and finds a nice, more casual RPG or something, it will be helping no one other than Nintendo.
If you guys can't see how this helps the industry, you're all missing the forest for the trees.
That said, gaming as you guys know it is pretty much done for. By the end of the next round of consoles, there will likely have been a paradigm shift in gaming and by and large the type of games you buy today will be released few and far between.
Don't feel bad. It's inevitable...Ask any of us who still yearn for the day when platformers and adventure games (which may or may not have been in 2D) were on top of the world.
Sir Fidlious Wong (Zeon Defense Force) @ May 6th 2008 4:55PM
With COD4 selling over 9 million, GTA IV looking to achieve that goal, and many other companies seeing huge success on hardcore gamer games, I don't see how the more in depth experiences are going away. In this or any other generation. Facing facts, human nature is highly competitive and enjoys the challenge or in depth mechanics. Having said that, I don't see why both markets can't exist.
But having said that, Samfish, the core aspect of adventure (read: point and click) games had going for them were the story. The gameplay was alright but mainly an artifact that twitch gaming wasn't feasible in early computers (It was possibly, just hard to accomplish with keyboard only and joysticks back then on computers were too rare to be counting on as a primary input). As we saw the rise of twitch gameplay, Adventure games started to lose their importance. As twitch gameplay started getting stories, capitalizing on the last hope Lucasarts had, we saw them drop to obscurity.
However, Adventure games have has a resurgence lately primarily due to how well the even better stories were advanced. If you saw Adventure Games are dead nowadays, my mother who's currently borrowing my Phoenix Wright collection and Hotel Dusk will bop you one on the head. And you'll be forever banned from playing Sam & Max or the Homestar Runner wii games.
samfish @ May 6th 2008 5:12PM
'eh, by adventure games I meant more along the lines of what Nintendo Power used to call 'Action RPG', I suppose.
Anyway, even if you don't like that example, feel free to substitute it with beat 'em up, shmup or any other long-dead genre.
BigD145 @ May 6th 2008 5:13PM
It's bringing adults back into the fold, which I see as a good thing (being the adult that I am). Nobody will buy a Wii just for the Fit. The Wii Fit is a "stepping stone", pun intended, to get parents into interacting with their children.
Sir Fidlious Wong (Zeon Defense Force) @ May 6th 2008 5:30PM
Well, beat em ups aren't dead nowadays. They are just critically panned everytime they release. Trust me, I play em all the time. My favorite series is Dynasty Warriors.
Schmups are likewise making a resurgence brought on by their grandfathers triumphant return known as twin stick shooters.
As for action RPGs, well, we still have em. It's just that they are taking the fantasy roots a lot less nowadays. If you take the core elements of the action RPGs of old and apply them to todays games, I don't really see how games like Assassin's Creed, Prince of Persia, and even to an extent, GTA, cannot be considered in that genre. That's even if we ignore the obvious additions in the genre like Crisis Core, Children of Mana, or Kingdom Hearts.
No genre ever truly dies, it just goes into hibernation (see: fighting games). The biggest example I can whip out is RTS games. Remember just three short years ago? RTS games were dead, never going to make a comeback. Now? Plenty of gaming podcasts regularly mention Company of Heroes, Starcraft 2 is on the horizon ready to explode, and games like Demigod not only look promising, but are still being made.
As I said, there will always be a place for every type of gamer. However, as revealed during an interview on the full moon podcast a few weeks ago, Bionic Commando is going to be Capcom's last 2D push. If people don't buy this wave of PSN titles, Capcom's officially out of the 2D race.
ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ May 6th 2008 8:53PM
What is wrong with WiiFit naysayers?
Despite how much the core crowd spends on games per capita, it's only thanks to the mass market that we actually have an industry. Nintendo's efforts to attract mass market gamers is actually beneficial (oh dear the surprise!) because it's converting that mass of people who only buy 1-2 games a year into real videogame consumers. (This is a chapter taken out of game design class)
You bunch of "hardcore" gamers keep on downtalking on these efforts, but on the long run, it's thanks to these efforts that you guys WILL have more friends to play with. Heck, without the persistent efforts of trying to make gaming mainstream, you wouldn't have the same kind of luxury you're having now.
zuburi @ May 6th 2008 4:09PM
Shit, you gotta do something with that thing besides Wii Sports.
please @ May 6th 2008 4:16PM
Maybe they have learned there lesson not to buy something that they play for a couple of hours. Hardware plus minigames has got to be saturated market.
bigmac375 @ May 6th 2008 9:19PM
hello, ron.
Mike @ May 6th 2008 4:09PM
I pre-ordered Wii Fit then came to my senses and transfered the money over to pre-order Fallout 3 SE.
PojoMofo @ May 6th 2008 4:17PM
You my friend, are one fart smeller, I mean smart feller
Sesur @ May 6th 2008 7:07PM
good man!
xFenixKnightx @ May 6th 2008 4:09PM
"We're just waiting for Oprah to give one to everyone in her studio audience or Ellen to goof around with it on her show. You know it's got to happen."
You bet your ass it is, unfortunatly.
Oh and you forgot Tyra ;)
TheOverlord#2 can has Mario Karts?(MK:2578-3517-9859) @ May 6th 2008 9:15PM
Tyra would probably kill herself in one play time of Wii Fit.
syrik zero @ May 6th 2008 4:12PM
I make that Oprah joke all the time hahaha, that was awesome
please @ May 6th 2008 4:12PM
Just buy a bathroom scale that tracks your progress
tmacairjordan87 @ May 6th 2008 4:14PM
And jog a bit every day, it's more effective and free!
samfish @ May 6th 2008 4:37PM
Hey, you could also learn to play real guitar rather than play a $90 dollar plastic guitar! It's also more effective and if you borrow an old guitar from a friend, ALSO FREE!
tmacairjordan87 @ May 6th 2008 4:47PM
More effective at what samfish? No one's buying guitar hero to learn how to play guitar. Many people are buying wii fit thinking it will get them in shape, when in fact it's one of the more useless ways at doing that.
People have looked for years for an easy way to lose weight and get in shape but there is none. It takes work and effort to accomplish anything, specially in fitness.
LaughingTarget @ May 6th 2008 5:04PM
Better yet, drive around the mall parking lot at night in your Civic instead of blowing money on a racing game. Those chumps think they actually know about cars by buying Gran Turismo (insert laughable comment about stage 3 turbos).
Microswirl @ May 6th 2008 5:43PM
Yes, and instead of GTA, you could simply drive around in real life, fucking and murdering hookers. This activity comes with the added benefit of burning away the calories while you're running from the cops. It's a win-win!
Joeshie @ May 6th 2008 8:31PM
@samfish
Your argument would work if there wasn't a glaring different between playing a guitar and playing Guitar Hero.
Getting good enough to play songs like "Jessica" and "Freebird" require strong devotion and tons and tons of time to actually learn to play and get right. You can play them instantaneously on Guitar Hero.
There isn't anything simulated in Wii Fit that you can't do yourself without much prior learning.
The only thing good about WiiFit is that it tracks your progress and that's it. Then again, you could also use a pad and paper to track your progress in real life.
ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ May 6th 2008 8:56PM
You could all just play games on analog mediums, crunching stat points by head or calculator.
I think that the appeal of Wii Fit is by making the experience more enjoyable: as long as you have fun, it doesn't matter what the heck you're actually doing in a game.
OTAM @ May 6th 2008 9:02PM
Yeah,but scales won't sell your system to soccer mom's and casual gamers. You need to put a blue LED in the scale at least.
Markez (MKWii 4339-2878-5120) @ May 6th 2008 9:53PM
A few of you are really, needlessly, and obviously knowingly and purposefully nitpicking the hell out of Samfish's argument, which is spot on.
It's a very apt comparison, don't be a dumb WiiFit hater because you're proud of being a conceited gamer.
IrishArmos @ May 6th 2008 4:17PM
Nintendo sold out? What a shocker! When is someone going to call Nintendo out on this strategy of shortening supply to increase demand? Its so evident that they know their product survives on nostalgia and not pure fun.
Grog @ May 6th 2008 4:46PM
So what you're saying is that the only reason why the Wii is selling VASTLY more than the 360 or PS3 is because they're selling them slower? But shouldn't MS and Sony be selling tons then, since they sell fewer systems per month?
Riiiiight.
PojoMofo @ May 6th 2008 4:16PM
You my friend, are one fart smeller, I mean smart feller
Co @ May 6th 2008 4:21PM
Joystiq: Wii Fit sells out on Amazon, 2.5 units sold every minute
Joystiqers: HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE!!!
LOL love it!
HighFiveJesus @ May 6th 2008 4:30PM
Nintendo's drinking from their victory drink that they are sure somebody spit in.
Vidikron (FU) @ May 6th 2008 5:25PM
Yeah, yeah.. and more Nintendo ass kissing from Co. It's the same story every day on both sides.
OTAM @ May 6th 2008 4:22PM
I hate humanity.
verymetal @ May 6th 2008 4:24PM
Just wait for the Microsoft and Sony announcement that they actually had this idea for a long time and are putting out versions of their own.
Sir Fidlious Wong (Zeon Defense Force) @ May 6th 2008 4:59PM
Well, there ARE photos about the internet of Shigeru Miyamoto playing EyeToy: Kinetic at some convention or another....
And both Xbox and PS2 had their own versions of You: Fitness.
OTAM @ May 6th 2008 4:24PM
Because it panders to the casual audience.Game developers see how much money you can make doing that and then scrap potential projects directed to hardcore gamers in favor for Fishing Wii because of the cash flow.
Quality indeed.
samfish @ May 6th 2008 4:28PM
And your evidence of this occuring iiiiiiiiiiiiiis..?
Mr Khan @ May 6th 2008 5:49PM
This just in: Konami has announced the cancellation of Metal Gear Solid 4, they redirected the resources of Kojima Studios to the more bankable: Mei Ling Ware: Mega Codec Game$, where users compete by yelling "Snaaaaaake!" into the headset
Jhongerkong @ May 6th 2008 4:28PM
There must be a DS in that balance board, cause it seems to be printing money
syrik zero @ May 6th 2008 4:30PM
Since a few months after the Wii release (when I bought my own Wii) I haven't bought a 2nd game. Other than Wii Play to get a 2nd controller because they were unavailable EVERYWHERE. And they never release the games I would actually enjoy on VC
Grog @ May 6th 2008 4:51PM
If you haven't bought a second game, why did you buy the system in the first place? At this point almost all of the games that were expected to make an impact on the Wii (from launch) have come out: Brawl, Mario Kart, Zelda, Mario Galaxy, Metroid. Add to that the games we never would have expected to be good: Zack & Wiki, Boom Blox, etc.
So basically you just bought the system for Wii Sports and you're whining now? Or are you just a troll?
MariosInferno @ May 6th 2008 5:08PM
"Since a few months after the Wii release (when I bought my own Wii) I haven't bought a 2nd game."
How many times are people going to spew this nonsense????
So, you're basically telling us you're a complete f***ing idiot???? Cool. Gotchya.