NPD Group: Wii Fit has outsold Halo 3

by Griffin McElroy { Mar 21st 2009 at 4:00PM }

If you were still wondering how wide the mainstream appeal for Nintendo's hyper-successful Wii Fit actually is, here's a good example. The NPD Group recently confirmed to Kotaku that in addition to its first place finish in the February NPD charts, Wii Fit broke the 6 million sales mark, pushing it past Halo 3's 5.9 million copies sold. A fairly remarkable feat, considering Bungie's opus has been on the market 8 months longer than Wii Fit -- and for $30 cheaper, to boot. Pehaps if Halo 3 did more to help shed them chunky pounds, it'd still be in the lead.

Tags: bungie, halo-3, nintendo, npd, npd-group, sales, wii-fit

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)

treqie @ Mar 21st 2009 4:03PM

Pwned.

CantFlame (PSN MariusElijah) @ Mar 21st 2009 5:03PM

Killzowned...

LameDuck @ Mar 21st 2009 5:46PM

I've been setting here trying to figure out how Killzone fits into any of this. Mind explaining so I can get the lulz out of this?

Donald @ Mar 21st 2009 9:20PM

Killzone 2: Another FPS getting metaphorically teabagged by Wii Fit?

Ridgecity @ Mar 22nd 2009 1:46AM

"the biggest event in entertainment history" just got defeated by that "other biggest event in entertainment history".

esposch @ Mar 22nd 2009 3:21AM

I can't believe no-one's mentioned how Gabe Newell had to buy 5.8 million boards because of the 150kg limit.

Dan @ Mar 22nd 2009 12:22PM

How about you just hope that people don't ruin gaming.

Hoping to Christ won't do you any good CH3BURASHKA.

People change things, not "faith."

Markez @ Mar 22nd 2009 3:24PM

Unbelievable some twit rolls into this thread to point out that he doesn't believe in religion and "correct" someone. Good for you, buddy, good for you.

DrDMoney @ Mar 22nd 2009 11:15PM

You have to see it this way. The wii has sold much more consoles than the Xbox 360, and the wii fit is being bought buy non gamers as well as casual gamers... To me this is not really a lose...

tmacairjordan87 @ Mar 21st 2009 4:07PM

I don't really know how to feel about this, as I hate both with an equally vicious passion. I guess I'll just throw a meh out there then.

WINterfang @ Mar 21st 2009 5:00PM

Why?

There's no reason to hate neither of those games.

Gun Barrier @ Mar 21st 2009 6:35PM

I'm guessing WIInterfang got [-1] for having a double negative in his comment?

WINterfang @ Mar 21st 2009 6:39PM

it can be Tmac fans or either Wiifit haters,Halo hater and the occasional Sony Defense force.

Gehodra @ Mar 21st 2009 7:45PM

I'm sure it was the legions of tmac fans...

CH3BURASHKA @ Mar 21st 2009 7:47PM

I also am sort of confused. I just hope to Christ that this extreme softcore market push will influence the casuals to try new things, and in turn not ruin in 5 years what us geeks and nerds created over 2 decades.

Foetoid @ Mar 21st 2009 8:05PM

I'm a fan of Tmacs hate for Halo and WiiFit. Not a fan of Tmacs general anti-Wii bias despite the great games they do exist on the console. He's like that friend you can see in small doses, more than that and you wanna scoop out his eyes. Funny pic of Tmac tho:

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/01/16/npd-retail-sales-of-pc-games-fell-14-in-2008/

Maybe he NEEDS WiiFit.

Vcize @ Mar 21st 2009 9:06PM

Never underestimate the desperation of fat people looking for an easy (even if ineffective) way to get into shape.

Wiizer @ Mar 21st 2009 4:07PM

Wow... I'd leap for joy, but I'd break my Wii Fit Board.

flanker22 @ Mar 21st 2009 6:02PM

lol fatass.

Wiizer @ Mar 21st 2009 6:57PM

Let's just say some people have the cushion for some extra pushin'.

Josh @ Mar 21st 2009 4:09PM

Nice. They're both so successful.

aristokrat @ Mar 21st 2009 5:37PM

I agree, especially given that the more adults waste money on a Wii + Wii Fit board they will never use (spedning money doesn't make me lose weight automagically?!?!? who'd have thought?), the more opportunity there is for new people to start playing real games.

Josh @ Mar 21st 2009 6:02PM

What? Both are real games.

Markez @ Mar 21st 2009 8:23PM

Even reading your mentally retarded comment over and over again, I still don't get what you're trying to say, aristokrat. The more adults purchase Wii Fit they won't use, the more opportunity for people to play real games? What? I don't typically like to stoop to name-calling, but you're a real idiot.

Foetoid @ Mar 21st 2009 8:28PM

He's trying to say that adults will be buying the Wii with WiiFit as their primary purchase. He is then saying WiiFit is a fad that noone will stick to, meaning adults will try out real Wii games instead to get better use of the console.

My hieroglyphics translations came up with all that. Let me know if i got any wrong.

Josh @ Mar 21st 2009 9:30PM

Nah, I know what he's saying, but he's still stuck in the mentality that just because it's a game he doesn't like, it's not a real game.

So I chose to feign ignorance.

Foetoid @ Mar 22nd 2009 1:44AM

I honestly don't consider WiiFit a game. It's more like an at-home fitness instructor, kinda like the at-home Pilates kits you can buy. There is no protagonist, no storyline, no objectives (in-game of course, IRL objective seems clear) no puzzles/weapons of any kind. It doesn't at all fit the description of a game. It's a fantastic (?) piece of at-home workout software.

Josh @ Mar 22nd 2009 1:54AM

No, it's a game. Call it a non-game if you want, but it's a game.

And if you *really* can't even call it a non-game, call it interactive entertainment.

But, it is a game.

Jason @ Mar 22nd 2009 9:57AM

@aristokat
Adults won't use it? I shed 50lbs playing Wii Fit.

aristokrat @ Mar 23rd 2009 4:12AM

Jason: Good for you. I'm sure you could have done that countless other ways, but I applaud your conviction.

Markez: Glad to see you went beyond your normal non-name-calling attitude for me. Funny calling someone retarded when you're the one who didn't get the point, which many who followed you seemed quite capable of doing. True, it may have been poorly worded, but baffling it was not. To spell it out, if people buy Wii Fit, don't use, and then decide to use their Wii for other "real" games, we have more gamers in our midst, which can only be a good thing.

BUGz @ Mar 21st 2009 4:10PM

its understandable because alot of moms and dads buy for there kids, and Adults as well because obesity is the biggest disease in America so its not a surprise!

David @ Mar 21st 2009 4:43PM

Obesity is not a disease. To be a disease requires "abnormal functioning" of some kind, and gaining weight from eating food is about as normal as it gets.

Also, I think the Wii fit is pretty stupid if you ask me. Personally I'd much rather get exercise outside than by playing a horrible video game.

deaftly @ Mar 21st 2009 4:57PM

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5004431/Family-who-are-too-fat-to-work-say-22000-worth-of-benefits-is-not-enough.html

Arwing Ace @ Mar 21st 2009 5:06PM

Obesity is a disease, as a disease is any condition that causes abnormal functioning of the body. It doesn't matter if said condition, in this case obesity, is self-induced or the result of some involuntary malfunction in the body. It's like if you break a bone, it's still called an injury no matter if you purposefully did it, did it by accident, or someone else did it to you.

LaughingTarget @ Mar 21st 2009 5:26PM

When you break a bone, it isn't called a disease of the bone. Only in RARE cases is obesity a disease. The vast bulk of it (pun intended) is simply poor diet and poor lifestyle choices. Most people you'll ever run into that claim obesity is a disease are trying to make excuses for being flat out lazy.

whistlepig @ Mar 21st 2009 5:45PM

biggest disease in america are people wearing crocs and thinking its a good fashion trend

Paviel @ Mar 21st 2009 5:47PM

Quite a few diseases are gained by poor diets and poor lifestyle choices. Lung cancer, for example, is most definitely a disease caused (or at least made worse) by smoking, even though smoking is a lifestyle choice.

Then there are HIV, Herpes, Hepatitis, etc., most often transmitted through unsafe sex... again, a lifestyle choice.

Quattro @ Mar 21st 2009 6:52PM

Obesity is not a disease. You eat too much, don't get enough exercise etc. You gain weight. And then you can at the same time, cut down on what you eat, and work off the extra pounds. You can't compare it to cancer induced by smoking, or a sexually transmitted disease. If I stop smoking my lung cancer isn't going to go away, same if I have sex. Completely unrelated.

Lee @ Mar 21st 2009 7:18PM

of course obesity isn't a disease. Just like them suckers who say Alcoholism is a disease. its just lazy ass slobs who have nothing better to do than to drink or eat lots of burgers.

Just dont do it! most other people (country depending) manage to do so.

Bissy Boy (PSN johnnynumber5) @ Mar 21st 2009 7:42PM

Lee

There is one problem with saying alcoholism and drug addiction isn't a disease. The act itself is not the disease (i.e. drinking alcohol) but there is evidence to support the fact that a small percentage of individuals have a genetic pre-disposition to addiction and addictive behavior. For example, people who do not have this genetic pre-disposition can go to a bar, have a few drinks and stop when their body tells them to stop. There is an actual "genetic marker" / gene that has been identified as being common in addicts and not in people who are not as prone to addiction and addictive behavior.

So, in that sense obesity itself is not a disease but those same people (food addicts) also have the same genetic pre-disposition as drug and alcohol addicts. This is one of those things that you are simply born with. The addictive behavior can come through in a variety of avenues be it food, shopping, sex, drugs etc etc. One of the leading addiction specialists in the world, Dr.Rick Beach (who also co-invented a drug called Suboxone for opiate addicts) has said that great strides have been made in this arena.

Someone who suffers from obesity could have a number of contributing factors like stress, depression and other undiagnosed medical conditions like diabetes or thyroid problems. It's likely that its a combination of things as opposed to any one direct attributing condition.

LaughingTarget @ Mar 22nd 2009 9:06AM

For something to be classified as a disease, SOMETHING has to be malfunctioning. This is either caused by a foreign entity in the system (a virus altering the operations of cells, bacteria destroying cells) or some kind of mutation (cancer mutates the cell removing death mechanisms and rapidly increasing mitosis).

In something like the high 90% range, obesity has nothing malfunctioning. Our mechanisms are working just fine. The human body, like just about any other animal on the planet, is supposed to store excess energy over a daily use level as fat to prepare for lean times. However, in advanced nations, there simply aren't lean times. There is nothing malfunctioning at all in an obese person's body.

The issue comes from personal choice and self-control. In rare instances does this happen to be a real psychological problem, but the vast majority of the times an individual is obese, it is a result of poor lifestyle choices and just basic cultural effects.

Take the above-posted article about the family "too fat to work". They claim there is some genetic predisposition to get obese in the family. Frankly, that's a load of bunk because it would take a malfunctioning body to NOT get overweight by eating 1,000 calories above the normal resting metabolic rate on a daily basis. A laughable claim in the article is that "all that healthy food, like fruit and veg, is too expensive" (direct quote from the overweight family). Well, yes, it would be remarkably expensive to try and obtain 3,000 calories from only fruit and vegetable sources. However, that's not exactly the point of healthy foods.

Let's take my diet for example. I do not know what the prices of fruit and vegetables in the UK are (I suspect that their equivalent of $US 45,000 isn't exactly a poverty level allowance), but I rarely buy fast foods or anything that uses the microwave. I purchased 10 pounds of Perch (a very healthy fish, excellent source of protein, omega-3 oils, though doesn't exactly taste the best; lasts for two weeks) for $5 and get a week's worth of lettuce for $1, a week's worth of carrots for $1, broccoli for $2, 5 apples for $2.50, a gallon of skim milk for $2.99 (this one I know has varying prices, but not on such a level that will dramatically impact this analysis) and a 5 lb bag of potatoes for $8 (this lasts for a good month). My monthly cost for this healthy set of food runs me $56. I do have some other things like cooking oils (extra virgin olive is my oil of choice, good for the heart), teriyaki sauces and a huge list of spices, though these tend to last for a good year and most people aren't cooks so it has very little impact on the analysis. I don't know where you are, but short of being in a place like Rawanda, this is by no means expensive for anyone. I'll buy lean hamburger meat now and again and enjoy a steak, but that's because I've properly budgeted both my caloric intake and my wallet.

The only problem, as stated above, is that my base-line food budget of $56 a month is not able to produce a 3,000 calorie daily intake, which is why these people assume healthy food is too expensive. They're likely spending more than I am monthly on these "cheap" foods.

Then there's an issue of activity. We're dealing with a group of individuals that obviously don't work (they're stealing tax money) and don't do anything at all with their days. Why is this? Michael Phelps took in 8,000 calories a day when training for the Olympics and he looks like a skinny bastard to me. He didn't get overweight because he actually used those 8,000 calories (on a side note, his pot smoking episode was to get his appetite up to eat all that, honest). So, now we have these individuals sitting around eating 1,000 calories above and beyond the necessary calorie use, are not doing anything at all. This isn't genetic, this is someone not exercising. Why aren't these people chained to a treadmill if they aren't working? It's not like they have the "too busy to exercise" excuse that may obese people use.

What we have here is a major cultural problem. The UK made the mistake of classifying obesity as a disease and made the mistake of subsidizing the lives of people who claim to be "too fat to work". These people clearly do not need to be living on the taxpayer dole (I can make the case that no one does with a few adjustments to how governments work, but that's for other debates) and should pretty much be cut off cold turkey. Without the UK welfare system enabling this excessive consumption, they'll be literally forced to cut the excess kilos and get a job. With a little bit of hard life lessons (like announcing that weight related illnesses are no longer being funded in the health system), they'll be literally shocked into getting their lives under control.

This long winded post has one very basic concept if you chose the tl;dr method:

Being overweight is not a disease, most people are that way because they're lazy and refuse to give up a certain lifestyle choice.

Powaqqatsi @ Mar 22nd 2009 1:32PM

I love all these fucking wannabe doctors thinking they know what they're talking about because they look up a definition on the internet.

Ridgecity @ Mar 23rd 2009 2:58AM

I know, real doctors look it up on their Palmpilot.

LongshotX @ Mar 21st 2009 4:10PM

I can't believe you are comparing a casual game with broad appeal to a game with a smaller audience and a very high learning curve.

Jeff @ Mar 21st 2009 4:53PM

Was gonna say the exact same thing! Also, Halo 3 has been out how long? Talk to me in 2 years if people are still playing with their Wii"s.

Mr Khan @ Mar 21st 2009 5:04PM

Halo suddenly has a small audience and a high learning curve?

XD

Nadril @ Mar 21st 2009 5:29PM

Small Audience... Large learning curve?

I agree with Mr Khan.

Markez @ Mar 21st 2009 8:26PM

Seriously, you could likely teach a chimp to play either of these games. Trying to say that Halo is complex is funny.

Although a chimp doing the hula-hooping bit on WiiFit would be infinitely more adorable than seeing the bastard be a camper on slayer. Silly chimp.