And so debuts another expensive peripheral into the home gaming marketplace. Of course, some would still argue that the Wii Remote is pretty much a fancy peripheral for Wii Sports, but that’s neither here nor there. Wii Fit, which will come with the pretty white Balance Board, will hit us bloated Americans on May 19th, costing us $89.99 and the remains of our dignity.
As always, when an expensive peripheral is introduced and priced anywhere above five dollars, there is quite a bit of tooth-gnashing and hand-waving and declarations of intent not to purchase. I realize I am nowhere near an objective audience on this one, as I am a huge sucker for peripherals. I own a DDR mat, the Dreamcast maracas, a compete Rock Band setup, a SNES multitap, two generations of GunCons, the microphone that lets you talk to Seaman, and enough GBA link cables to get a full-on Crystal Chronicles group running. That said, trust me on this one, kids: The Balance Board is going to sell in a big way.
People freaked out in exactly the same way when Rock Band’s price was announced, and that one didn’t even come with a second guitar. I’m led to understand one or two people still bought that one. Now, here’s a game that’s got the full force of Nintendo’s marketing blitz behind it, and appeals to mothers of chubby gamer kids everywhere–not to mention the massive Wii install base and its broad demographic of non-hardcore gamers everywhere. Also, do you remember when the Wii launched, and you couldn’t flip two channels without seeing another thousand news stories about how grandpa at the nursing home loved his Wii Bowling? Here’s a video game that is not only promoting actual movement, but fitness is its express purpose.
Do we think the media will like it?
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