Wii Fit News, Wii Fit Games and other cool stuff for WiiFit

I’m more than half finished with my experiment at this point (the last post will be on March 25th) and so far I have been very pleased with the results. For the last two weeks my weight decreased and my enthusiasm went up. WiiFit is as much a part of my day now as breakfast. Sure I could get through the day without it, but I’d feel like I was missing something. I am sure the same feeling could be felt with any exercise program but for me if it’s not a video game it’s not going to hold my interest long enough for me to discover that.

Again this week, I increased the amount of time I spent with WiiFit. My workout itself has also continued to evolve. You can read about it in my journal entries below. Of course like every week these are followed by the actual weigh-in. I am no longer as concerned about my actual weight, but more interested in the changes of my body shape and my overall fitness level. Still, for those watching numbers, they are found at the end.

Read the complete story

courtesy of 4 color rebellion
by Vinnk

Wii Fit News

The Wii’s first third-party balance board game couldn’t have a more obvious title: We Ski. Well, you know what publishers? We get it — punny titles were fun…two years ago. Annoying name aside, Namco Bandai’s cutesy ski game seems to do a decent job of making you feel like a semi-talented slope rider.

Though using the newfangled balance board with this game is the big sell, it’s also possible to use the typical Nunchuck and Remote combo. The traditional setup works rather intuitively — you start moving by, yep, flinging both the Nunchuck and Remote downwards. Once you get going, you steer yourself by moving both controllers together left or right. And because this is a skiing game on Wii, you will perform the typical ski squat maneuver to gain speed. You actually do this by turning both the Nunchuck and Remote inwards 90 degrees. It feels a little silly at first, but mimicking this well-known motion did put a goofy grin on our faces during our hands-on time with the game.

SCREENS: Click the image above to check out all We Ski screens.

Using the balance board is even easier…once you get the hang it. The same standard control scheme applies, except you steer using your feet instead of your hands. Once you grasp the notion of shifting your body weight to control your character, flying down the slopes is a cinch. Though we definitely dug playing with the balance board, it doesn’t feel necessary, mainly because the standard control scheme works so well. Since the game offers four-player multiplayer, odds are the
balance board will be sitting on the sidelines most of the time. In fact, it will — the multiplayer sadly doesn’t include balance board support.

The single-player, however, offers enough variety to keep your feet bound to the gimmicky board. Before you even hit the slopes, you get to create your own cutesy skier using the game’s 220 body types. And if you’re not down with putting a mohawk on a grandpa (we were), you can even chuck some skis on your own Mii. Once you doll yourself up, you make off to the Happy Ski Resort to, well, ski, of course. Because the game lets you leisurely ski around the resort, you will only start
events (race, slalom, mogul, etc.) if you talk to other skiers. You’ll want to initiate these events (70 in all), as completing them will net you star points. Collect enough of these and you’ll unlock more garb and gear for your skiers.

We Ski proved to us the Wii’s balance board can be used for more than just trimming the fat. Its casual nature may appeal more to Ma and Pops than hardcore gamers, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun. Snow-lovers should take note when We Ski hits stores this May.

courtesy of 1UP.com

by Michael Donahoe

Wii Fit News

Nintendo has said that WiiFit will retail for GBP 69.99 in the UK and EUR 89.99 in the rest of Europe. Which makes sense - why would they charge Europeans in pounds?

Anyway, WiiFit is due out on 25th April, so now you have all the information you need to go and camp outside and find out if you’re fat.

WiiFit, of course, is Nintendo’s first game for the unique balance board peripheral, which helps calculate your body mass index and plays an active role in all sorts of exercises.

The idea is to drill you into fitness and fun on a daily basis in much the same way that Brain Training sharpens your mental reflexes by having you do sums every morning on the loo.

courtesy of Eurogamer.com
News by Tom Bramwell

Wii Fit News

Last week I lost weight with WiiFit. But like most weight loss programs, the real challenge is keeping it off. As you burn off fat and build muscle it is even possible to gain weight while still getting healthy. I knew all of these things before going into week 3 and I was prepared for the fact that the first weight loss might have been too good to be true.

Still, I trained longer this week than either of the first two weeks and I met some personal goals. But I can’t chart feelings, only numbers. So did the weight go up or down? Read on to check out my daily journal entries and find out what the scale told me this week.

Read the complete story

courtesy of 4 color rebellion
by Vinnk

Wii Fit News

Did you knew that you can use Wii Fit to weigh objects ? You can ! Stand on your balance board immediately after choosing “Body Test” (NOT when it is actually weighing you but the first time Fii Fit asks you) and hold a heavy object. Wii Fit will recognize that you must hold something in your hands to be that heavy and actually weight it for you.

Wii Fit Cheats

From Zelda to WiiFit

Iwata  - For the last part of this series, I would like to interview the five development staff members involved in the sound, design and planning of WiiFit. Please start by introducing yourselves.

Minegishi  - I’m Toru Minegishi from the Sound Group at EAD’s Software Development Department. I was primarily involved in the background music for
WiiFit. Previously, I was involved in the sound development for the Animal Crossing and Zelda series, and with Twilight Princess I worked as main composer.

Miyagawa  - I’m Yohei Miyagawa, also from the Software Development Department. I’m a sound programmer, and for WiiFit I was in charge of programming the sound effects. My last project was Twilight Princess, for which I mainly produced the sound effects.

Oyama  - My name is Yoshiyuki Oyama, and I’m a designer in the Software Development Department. Until now, I’ve mainly worked on games in the
Zelda series. I was in charge of character design for Majora’s Mask and The Wind Waker and enemy design for Twilight Princess. For WiiFit, I worked as design director for the first time.

Shibata  - I’m Mari Shibata, also a designer from the Software Development Department. I found myself included in the WiiFit team soon after joining Nintendo, and I was mainly in charge of designing the 3D backgrounds. I temporarily left the team to help with the 3D design for Wii Sports and Wii Play, but I returned to the WiiFit team as soon as I was finished.

Hosaka  - My name is Arisa Hosaka, and I’m in charge of planning at the Software Development Department. For WiiFit, I planned some of the Balance Games. Before that, I was in charge of planning for Wii Play, and before that I was writing messages for Animal Crossing: Wild World.

Read the complete interview

courtesy of Wii.com

Wii Fit News

The Wii extended its hardware lead over the PSP this week (which dropped to third), as Smash Bros. continued to dominate in software. Family Ski fell out of the top ten, but still shows some legs at spot sixteen.

Predictably, Nintendo’s big games (i.e., games with “Wii” in their titles) are still doing well on the charts. Super Mario Galaxy, which has been in danger of falling out of the top thirty, managed to hang in tough despite the big load of new releases littering the chart.

The Wii also had the second best showing of games this week, with six in the top thirty (the DS was first with fifteen). With the exception of Namco Bandai’s Family Ski, though, they were all first party titles.

The hardware and software numbers.

Hardware:

* Wii: 78,583
* Nintendo DS: 62,362
* PSP: 59,645
* PlayStation 3: 17,637
* PlayStation 2: 11,266
* Xbox 360: 2,198

Software:

1. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) — 141,544 (1,213,000)
2. WiiFit (Wii) — 62,769 (1,484,000)
3. Tokimeki Memorial: Girl’s Side 2nd Season (DS) — 56,202 (New)
4. Poison Pink (PS2) — 52,659 (New)
5. Ebi Kore + Kimi Kiss (PS2) — 33,510 (New)
6. Wii Sports (Wii) — 22,120 (2,781,000)
7. Mobile Suit Gundam: Gihren’s Ambition, the Axis’ Threat (PSP) — 21,643 (144,000)
8. Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (DS) — 21,086 (222,000)
9. Devil May Cry 4 (PS3) — 17,774 (255,000)
10. Naruto: Shippuuden Dairansen! Kage Bunshin Emaki (DS) — 17,329 (New)

11. Digimon Championship (DS)
12. Wii Play (Wii)
13. L, the Prologue to Death Note: Rasen’s Trap (DS)
14. Mario Party DS (DS)
15. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd (PSP)
16. Family Ski (Wii)
17. Taiko Drum Master DS (DS)
18. Mario Kart DS (DS)
19. New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
20. Winning Eleven: Ubiquitous Evolution 2008 (PSP)
21. Fist of the North Star: Warriors’ Road (DS)
22. Tales of Destiny: Director’s Cut (PS2)
23. Disgaea 3 (PS3)
24. Professor Layton 2 (DS)
25. Assassin’s Creed (PS3)
26. Dragon Quest IV (DS)
27. Final Fantasy IV (DS)
28. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
29. Animal Crossing Wild World (DS)
30. Kanji Brain Test 2.5M (DS)

courtesy of nintendowiifanboy.com

by Candice Savino

Wii Fit News

February 20, 2008 - Nintendo director Takao Sawano gave a speech at 2008’s Game Developers Conference focused on the process of creating the company’s hit exercise title WiiFit. The EAD veteran first revealed that as of last week, the $80-plus peripheral and software package had sold more than 1.4 million copies in Japan since its release in December. He then described the process of designing the Wii Balance Board, the technical perimeters of the device, and how developers might utilize it in unique ways going forward.

Sawano showed a conceptual diagram created by Shigeru Miyamoto which outlined the future of the Wii platform. Interestingly enough, the diagram, which contained references to Wii Sports and “Wii Health Pack” (later renamed to WiiFit), was conjured well before even the Wii console was competed. Miyamoto also had a thought about the concept powering WiiFit, which Takao quoted. “I have fun just weighing myself and collecting my weight data,” Miyamoto wrote. “So this idea is bound to lead to something interesting.”

The developer explained that Nintendo eventually used a mechanic first implemented in the N64 controller — the rotary encoder — in the Wii Balance Board.

Read complete article

courtesy IGN.com

Wii Fit News

My second week of daily WiiFit training has come to a close. This week was a lot busier than the first so I am learning not only how to balance on the little white board, but also how to balance WiiFit into my life.

After the first week I had lost no weight, but I was still very optimistic about the program. This week I have continued to build that positive mental attitude as you can read in the logs below. But is there any weight loss to go with it?

Read complete article

courtesy of 4 color rebellion
by Vinnk

Wii Fit News

WiiWare, WiiFit, Super Smash Bros. Brawl Shown at Game Developers Conference

REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 20, 2008 – The Game Developers Conference in San Francisco attracts the top creative minds in the video game industry. With that audience on hand, Nintendo announces news that reinforces its commitment to provide entertaining and enriching experiences for veteran and new gamers alike. WiiWare™, Nintendo’s new downloadable game service, launches May 12 and expands development opportunities for developers the same way Wii™ expanded the world of video game players. WiiFit™, the upcoming title for Wii, launches May 19 and introduces the Wii Balance Board™ peripheral. And Super Smash Bros.® Brawl draws in fans of all kinds.

“We are excited to participate in the Game Developers Conference this year to share with developers and consumers alike our upcoming unique services and products,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “We are hopeful that they will appreciate our offerings of WiiWare, WiiFit and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which represent a trio that will continue to attract new players to the world of video games.”

At the conference, Nintendo speakers will outline a number of plans for the coming months on their respective panels:

WiiWare: Nintendo’s upcoming WiiWare changes the way both developers create and consumers access video games. Through WiiWare, Nintendo hopes to offer developers a virtual laboratory that serves as a breeding ground for new games, which encourages great ideas that creators always wanted to develop. The combination of low development barriers and unique game experiences found only on Wii should enable developers to try new ideas with lower risk in a quicker, more creative and affordable way.

Meanwhile Wii owners can download a multitude of cool new games from different genres, including some that are unprecedented, which can be purchased from home at a dynamic price range. WiiWare also empowers consumers to determine with their Wii Points which games have the right stuff to become the next big thing.

WiiWare will be a repository for all types of experiences – literally, something for everyone. Early WiiWare games will come from celebrated developers like Square Enix, which is creating FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: My Life as a King, a simulation game for all ages. Also watch for games from up-and-coming developers like Frontier with its fresh, enchanting platform adventure LostWinds and a new episodic game series from Telltale. The first U.S. WiiWare games will be available on May 12.

WiiFit: WiiFit demonstrates Nintendo’s commitment to gamers of all kinds. It combines fun and fitness for every member of the family to keep active and play together. WiiFit launches May 19 in the United States and comes with the weight-and-motion-sensing Wii Balance Board that Nintendo representatives demonstrated could hold great promise for future game development as well. Third-party publishers are already working on new games and applications that will make use of the Wii Balance Board. Additionally, WiiFit includes access to the WiiFit Channel, an interactive channel that lets users check in each day to track their fitness progress through weight and BMI. In Japan, WiiFit has sold more than 1.4 million units since its Dec. 1 launch.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl: This action game launches March 9. With dozens of characters, settings, options and ways to play, it has something for everyone. The game includes characters from all across the Nintendo universe. The previous installment in the franchise went on to become the best-selling game of all time for Nintendo GameCube™.

Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other Wii features, visit Wii.com.

courtesy of exophase.com

Wii Fit News