Wii Fit has become something of a global phenomenon since its launch, with consumers from around the world eager to get the product into their hands and homes. This popularity comes despite the new health and fitness game from Nintendo, the brainchild of Shigeru Miyamoto, being dogged with supply constraints from the get go.

It seems that even Nintendo did not anticipate the warm welcome the game would receive. According to Matthew Grose, General Manager of Core Gaming Systems, Wii Fit sold out in the UK within a week while Europe’s stock was cleaned out in two weeks. South African stock disappeared off the shelves within three to four weeks and both retailers’ stock and Core Gaming’s warehouse stock is now exhausted.

Grose estimates that roughly 8 000 units have been sold in South Africa to date and attributes the higher sales figures in the UK and Europe to pre-ordering and internet sales, a phenomenon which has yet to take off in SA. You have only to read numerous media reports to know that the US was not exempt from the problem, with most retailers selling out of stock within a few hours of it arriving at stores and many gamers still not able to locate a copy today.

Grose believes that sales figures in PAL territories were driven by the fact that the game was launched in Europe before the US. However, Nintendo soon switched the manufacturing supply over to the US, leading to rising demands across Europe and the UK. He reassured us that the manufacturing has just been switched back to PAL, so we should see more stock hitting the shelves soon and a greater continuity of stock as well.

Grose also pointed out that the attachment rate of Wii Fit is currently about 20% (ie. 20% of Wii owners own Wii Fit), something which Core Gaming expects will increase to 40% once there is a continuity of stock here.

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Earlier in the year Core Gaming (Nintendo’s representatives in SA) launched Wii Fit across South Africa. Not content to just see us in action at the Wii Fit launch event, Core Gaming challenged media to participate in the “25 Day Wii Fit Media Challenge.”

Journalists left the event with a Wii and a copy of Wii Fit, which includes the new Wii Balance Board, determined to put the latest health trend to the test. The challenge was simple, improve your fitness and Body Mass Index (BMI) in 25 days, but the rewards were great.

The four media who most improved their Wii Fit Age and their BMI rating would get the chance to donate the Wii review console, a copy of the Wii Fit game and Wii Balance Board to a charity of their choice.

“The plan was to put Wii Fit to the ultimate test,” says Matthew Grose, General Manager of Core Group. “We asked journalists to complete their Wii Fit workout, a programme tailored to their individual fitness needs, for the challenge period, and to report back to us with their findings. We were certain the proof would be in their overall fitness improvement.”

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Yesterday Core Gaming held a launch event for Mario Kart Wii in Johannesburg.

Matthew Grose, General Manager of Core Gaming Systems, said a few words about the success of Wii Fit since its launch across South Africa roughly a month ago.

He confirmed that Core Gaming has now sold through its stock of Wii Fit and predicts that the stock retailers have will be sold out by the end of the weekend.

Wii Fit launched in Europe on the 25th of April and according to Grose sold out within two weeks. Stock problems have also been reported following the launch of the game in North America on the 19th of May.

With this in mind, my advice would be to head off to a shop today if you want to get your hands on a copy of this game.

Head over to our previous coverage of where to buy Wii Fit or check out our Wii Fit 25 Day Challenge for more information on the game.

First up apologies for not having kept you up to date on our progress in the Wii Fit Challenge, I was never good at writing in diaries!

As you can see we are well into our Wii Fit Challenge, over halfway in fact. In a way it is going to be disappointing to finish the challenge since it has served as a great motivator to step on to the Wii Balance Board and fit exercise into my busy daily routine. However, with that being said I will admit that it is much easier after a hectic day to start up the Wii and engage in some heart-raising (although it can sometimes be hair-raising as well) activity than head off to the gym in the chill of early winter.

I have been a bit more adventurous of late, trying a few more of the yoga poses and cursing at my wobbly stomach in the process. There are some very interesting names for yoga poses including Palm Tree, Warrior and Downward Facing Dog. The Balance Board keeps on asking me if I am noticing that my tummy is firmer, it really is a bit direct that board, especially when it asks me if I find myself tripping often.

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Despite Nintendo stamping the 19th of May as the official launch date of Wii Fit in the US, it is being reported that retailers will not have stock of the game until the 21st of May.

Nintendo’s highly anticipated fitness game launched across Japan in December last year, followed by Europe on the 25th of April and South Africa on the 5th of May.

According to GameSpot, the confusion over the US launch began when Nintendo started a nationwide advertising campaign stating that Wii Fit would go on sale on Wednesday the 21st of May.

Apparently this was done due to delays in shipments but the launch date was confirmed by a Nintendo representative to be the 19th of May. Yesterday Nintendo held a Wii Fit launch in New York City but only a select few were lucky enough to get a copy of the coveted Wii Fit.

Nintendo later announced that the May 19th launch date only applied to the Nintendo World Store in New York City, where the game is reported to have sold out in under an hour yesterday.

Numerous retailers have confirmed with GameSpot that the game only goes on sale tomorrow. Nintendo has not yet commented on the confusion surrounding the launch date and reports that stock shortages will plague North Americans wanting to get Wii Fit.

For more information on Wii Fit, check out El33tonline’s progress in the Wii Fit 25 day Challenge.

Core Gaming have been working tirelessly to launch Wii Fit in South Africa and more. We caught up with them this week to discuss what is in the pipeline for this rapidly growing gaming region.

Wii Fit is flying off the shelves since it was launched across South Africa on the 5th of May. The Nintendo Team has revealed that they have sold through 1/3 of their stock to consumers in the two weeks since the games’ launch and that their warehouse is completely sold out.

Mario Kart Wii should be hitting stores in the next week or so. The games’ launch is pending classification at the Film and Publication Board (FPB) but Mario’s racing adventure on the Wii will no doubt be well worth the wait.

You will be happy to know that the Nintendo Team is “placing a focus now in bringing in some classic titles we’ve missed like Super Paper Mario, Link’s Crossbow Training and so forth.” This means that Nintendo fans have lots to look forward to throughout 2008.

The highly anticipated Super Smash Bros. Brawl will be released in South Africa to coincide with Europe, so expect it to be on shelves mid-year.

Better start saving your pennies and clearing your social calendar because gaming is about to get even hotter.

We have been getting quite a few queries about where you can get your hands on a copy of Wii Fit and how much it costs.

We contacted the major retailers at Pavilion shopping center who we know do stock videogames and compiled a handy dandy table below with availability and prices of Wii Fit.

The good news is that out of the eight retailers we contacted this morning, only two reported that they were sold out. By the sounds of things stock is moving fast so make sure you get a copy soon to avoid becoming a couch potato. All the stores are selling Wii Fit, which comes bundled with the Wii Balance Board, for R999.

It’s really great to see most shops putting up really nifty displays for Wii Fit. The display at Toys R’ Us particularly caught my eye and you can get a feel for the game by watching the Wii Fit video on the Wii unit in store.

If you want to know more about Wii Fit, you can read about what exercises we have been doing in the Wii Fit 25 Day Challenge. Watch this space for our review, its going to be a cracker!

Wii Fit Availability and pricing

I am bushed after a session involving Yoga breathing, a muscle workout, Step Plus and Hula-Hoops. The Step Plus sees you stepping on and off the balance board in time with the Miis on the stage. However, in this routine you will not only be going backwards or left and right but things will be mixed up slightly with you having to clap, kick alternating legs forward and even step on to the balance board sideways. The rhythm will even get faster about half way through the routine to shake things up but it’s really fun and is guaranteed to get your heart racing.

Just when I thought I was getting the hang of this I unlocked new games as well as new difficulty levels for some of my favourites. Oh boy…time to rev things up a bit. I noticed an exclamation mark above the friendly Balance Board’s head (who was pounding away on the treadmill at the time) and thought ‘Aha, a secret!’ When I clicked on him he asked me if I was ready for the Ultimate Balance Test. ‘Bring it” I said. If only I knew then what I knew now. Give it a whirl and let me know how good your balance is.

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Yesterday I finally unlocked the Balance Ball game which Wayne had been taunting me with for the past couple of days. I must admit that my excitement was short lived as this turned out to be the most challenging game I have played so far. Challenging, but fun and really annoying when you don’t complete it which leads to many, many attempts. Today I can proudly say that I negotiated my Mii to safety, past rapids, ragged rocks, bees and even my own impatience. Now if I could just beat Wayne’s time!

After trying out a couple of the Yoga exercises again, I decided to give the muscle workout section a whirl. A couple of single leg extension’s later I was feeling the burn. I have unlocked quite a few muscle exercises and am looking forward to giving them all a go in the coming weeks.

Right, left…block

After working on my fish catching skills in one of the balance games (I obviously was not meant to be a fisherman), I unlocked a new game in the aerobics section. It turned out to be boxing and one of my favourite games so far. Most of the games in Wii Fit are either one or two minutes to begin with, but as you progress in the game the unlocked games are longer to challenge you more.

Boxing is four minutes and rivals the Step Plus routine which weighs in at five minutes. This is the first game in Wii Fit which I have used the Nunchuk for. You connect the Wii Remote and the Nunchuk and follow the lead of your boxing trainer as you punch first left, then right and finally block in different combinations. Apart from being fun, this is a promising workout routine and I look forward to working on my Million Dollar baby moves tonight.

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To those who may be in the dark, let me bring you up to speed. At the recent launch of Wii Fit in South Africa, Core Gaming issued a 25 day Challenge to members of the media. The bottom line is that Wii Fit is being put to the test…will this game deliver the goods? Check back daily to track our progress as we develop our “deep muscles” and search for our balance.

Each day Monday to Friday we will complete the body test in Wii Fit as well as undertake some of the exercise routines. We know that playing games is hard work, but hey somebody has to do it!

This is a challenging task moving from the couch to the Balance Board so we would appreciate your encouragement to help us secure one of the top five places in the competition. It’s a worthy cause in that the five individuals who lose the most BMI get to donate their Wii Fit units to a charity of their choice.

Check out what we did in week one.

Not content with just training brains, Nintendo is taking the world by storm with its latest exercise game Wii Fit.

Senior Managing Director of Nintendo Shigeru Miyamoto was the mastermind behind combining exercise and video games that resulted in Wii Fit. Inspired by his fascination to weigh himself and plot his weight and body changes on a graph, Miyamoto’s ideas led to the development of the pressure sensitive Balance Board which is used in conjunction with the game to participate in aerobics, yoga, muscle stretches and balance games.

Miyamoto has become a household name around the world, not surprising given that he invented many icons of the gaming world including Mario, Zelda and Donkey Kong. The Times Online recently caught up with Miyamoto in advance of the launch of Wii Fit across the US on the 19th of May.

Computer games can be good for you

“Video games are bad for you? That’s what they said about rock and roll.” This is one of my favourite quotes from Miyamoto. His beliefs, it seems, have not changed as he commented to The Times “I want to show that computer games can be good for you, can enrich your life.”

This appears to have been his motivation behind creating Wii Fit. “People say video games are a waste of time and are bad for your brain and for your health,” he said. “We wanted to create something to answer that.”

Wii Fit follows in the footsteps of Wii Sports as it encourages (and requires) gamers to get off the couch and start moving. The game will track your weight and body mass index, encouraging you or reprimanding you as it deems necessary. Wii Fit was designed to be fun but also to draw in a larger audience that are being left out of the shoot ‘em up gaming market.

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One thing we know about the Rabbids, other than they are crazy, is that they are always on top of the latest advancements.

To prove this the next game in the Rayman Raving Rabbids series looks set to make use of the Wii Fit Balance Board. This juicy morsel was revealed through Ubisoft’s first teaser video on IGN.

Rabbids secrets to health and happiness

Currently the teaser video is all the information that Ubisoft has offered to the masses but we will be sure to let you know when more details surface.

It is not far fetched to think that Rayman Raving Rabbids 3 might use the Balance Board, after all Namco Bandai’s We Ski (known as Family Ski in Europe) will be using it and Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has confirmed that ten games are in development for the peripheral.

Don’t try this at home!

Nintendo’s Wii Fit has topped the UK’s All Formats Chart for the week ending the 26th of April. According to Chart Track Wii Fit also notched up the sixth fastest selling UK debut ever behind top selling titles Grand Theft Auto, Halo and Gran Turismo.

Bundled with the Balance Board, Wii Fit was launched across the UK on the 25th of April for £69.99. Roughly 1 in 10 Wii console owners bought the title over its first two days of release and the game recorded an estimated £16.3 million, earning it the title of third largest launch in terms of value for a video gaming product (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas holds the top spot with £24.2 million in week 44 of 2004 followed by Halo 3 in week 39 of 2007 with £16.9 million).

Nintendo’s record-breaking launch of Mario Kart Wii just two weeks ago is eclipsed by Wii Fit which becomes Nintendo’s fastest selling title in the UK. Mario Kart Wii experienced a 62% drop in sales this week and the title moves down one place to number 2. This means that Nintendo boasts the top two games in the All Formats Chart, the first time since Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Sapphire on the GBA five years ago.

Wii Fit dominates

Sega’s Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games drops down one place to number 3. It is interesting to note that half of all the Wii software sold this week was Wii Fit sales and 79% was published by either Nintendo or Sega.

Sony’s Gran Turismo 5: Prologue moves down one place to number 4 while Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 falls one spot to number 5. Activision’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare moves up one spot to number 6 and Nintendo’s Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training climbs one place to number 8, the only two All Formats Top 10 titles to move up this week.

Sega Superstars Tennis drops two places to number 7 while UEFA Euro 2008 Austria-Switzerland from EA moves down one place to number 9. Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2 rounds off the top ten, moving down from last week’s number 6 to number 10.

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According to Shigeru Miyamoto’s translator Bill Trinen (who also happens to work for Nintendo of America), the US and European versions of Wii Fit will allow players to weigh their pets.

Trinen recently spoke to Newsweek at a demonstration of Wii Fit in New York City. When posed a question on whether additional features had been added to the North American version, Trinen explained that Miyamoto had wanted to include a mode where players could weigh their pets.

Apparently this feature was not included in the Japanese version but is available in both the American and European versions of the game. A quick glance at page 23 of the Wii Fit instruction booklet confirms that you can weigh yourself while holding your baby or pet.

“You’ll be able to see the difference in weight and find out how much they weigh too.” There is a proviso that the baby, pet or item you’re holding must weigh 3kg (7lb) or more, “any weight difference under 3kg (7lb) will be treated as a natural fluctuation in the user’s weight.”

According to Newsweek “players will receive a message informing them that if they weigh themselves while holding their pets, then weigh themselves again separately and subtract the two, the difference will tell them how much their pet weighs.”

If you, like Miyamoto, are a pet lover this is just another reason to buy Wii Fit and to read the manual of course!

By now you know what Wii Fit is all about in theory. The real question on your minds is what games there are and how they work. We got a chance to test our co-ordination on a handful of the games and what follows is a summary of our first impressions.

The Wii Balance Board is wireless and sits snugly on the floor in front of the TV. It operates on four batteries (which are included) and has a similar connectivity to the Wii Remote. Please note that you cannot jump on it and it has a weight limit of 150kg. The first time you use it you need to pop the Wii Fit disc in and then sync it with your Wii console. After these simple steps you are A for away and can then install the sporty new Wii Fit Channel.

As mentioned in our earlier article detailing Wii Fit, the game includes over 40 different exercise games. Initially only a handful in each section will be available but as players progress and spend more time playing, more games will be unlocked. Each game has a time limit within which you need to complete the task. Don’t forget to warm up!

Floppy Fish Fun

Catch the fish

What could be more fun than dressing your Mii up as a penguin? Picture this, one highly unstable iceberg with a newly pimped out Mii. The goal is incredibly simple, slide left or right to catch the fish that jump on to the iceberg and flop from one side to another. But venture too far to one side and you will face an icy dip into the ocean. We recommend you try your hand at this game to introduce you to how the Balance Board works.

Hula-Hoop

Your Mii stands in front of you on the TV and in the first challenge you must swing your hips clockwise in a hula-hooping motion. The faster you go the more revolutions you complete and the more your score increases. To throw some obstacles into the mix there are two additional Miis to the left and right which you have to keep an eye on because every now and again they throw a hoop your way. If you see a hoop flying your way, simply tilt your body either to the left or right to catch the hoop. The more hoops you catch the more points you earn.

Once you have completed this, you will do the same task but this time you will swing counter-clockwise. It wouldn’t be fair for me not to warn you that by this time you will be fairly red in the face and probably breaking a light sweat. It really is heaps of fun and after the exercise is completed it will analyse which side of your body you favour.

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