Update: Sorry, got our dates confused. The post has been fixed.
Nyko wants you to know they've come up with a solution for the Balance Board's power consumption, making sure they get in on the cash cow others think it will be. It's a rechargeable battery pack that will release on May 19th, for a MSRP of $19.99. The cool thing about this rechargeable battery pack is that, in order to recharge it, you won't even need to unplug it from the Balance Board. You can charge and play at the same time.
Hit up the gallery below for some screens of the accessory at work.
EA Sports' new "Freestyle" brand will feature more casual sports games than the Madden-type stuff found under the main EA Sports brand -- think EA Sports BIG, but in 2008. The first game to come out under the brand will be FaceBreaker, the cartoony boxing game.
EA Sports president Peter Moore has already revealed a second Freestyle game, though an official announcement has yet to be made. The new exercise game will support Nintendo's Balance Board peripheral in much the same way that Wii Fit does.
To differentiate between Wii Fit and the new project, Moore describes a "Western," cardiovascular style of exercise, as opposed to the tai-chi-like anaerobic "holistic fitness" in Wii Fit. Which sounds like a great idea.
If you live in New York City, take note: Nintendo is set to hold a large launch event for Wii Fit on May 19th, the day of its release. The event will take place at the Merchants' Gate of Central Park, from 8am until 5pm. At the event, famous personal trainer Ashley Borden will be providing a personal training session with the Balance Board and Nintendo's software.
Unlike the recent Mario Kart Wii event, there won't be any kind of tournament or prizes. But, that doesn't mean you shouldn't show up, because Nintendo has pledged $5 (up to $25,000 total) to the American Heart Association for every person that gets on a Balance Board and tries Wii Fit out. Exercising while helping people? Sounds like a winning plan to us!
For those of you who did not preorder Wii Fit and think it won't be a problem picking the bundle up on release date through walk-in at your local retail spot, know this: Amazon has cleared through their entire preorder stock in less than a month. It comes out to about 2.5 units sold every minute, according to an Amazon representative that spoke with Joystiq.
It looks like the grim picture painted by Michael Pachter is coming true. Wii Fit fever has caught on, thanks in part to the software and Balance Board, as well as the mainstream media coverage and marketing push from Nintendo. Our advice? If you haven't planned on how you're going to get Wii Fit by now, there's a good chance you won't be able to nab one on release day.
Love 'em or hate 'em, Ubisoft's rabbids are quite the characters. From this little teaser video that the company sent to IGN, it's also not hard to believe that the bunny-like critters will soon be back on the Wii for Rayman Raving Rabbids 3. Whether the unconfirmed (but likely) game will use the Balance Board, or whether the rabbids are just spoofing Wii Fit remains to be seen.
We'd guess that there's a high possibility for inclusion of the Balance Board in the next RRR iteration. Since the rabbid titles are generally full of minigames, the Balance Board will add a lot more possibilities in that regard. As IGN points out, Reggie also said that there were ten games using the board currently in development.
We're sure it won't be very long before all is revealed, though, so stay tuned.
Nintendo is bringing Wii Fit to the people, to convince the few UK residents who have yet to preorder the thing that they're disgusting sacks they could benefit from a fun exercise program. The Wii Fit tour is traveling to populous locations like universities and shopping centers from this week through June to get random strangers up and leaning. "If you loved the energetic nature of Wii Sports you'll love Wii Fit, which makes it easy for everyone to experience a fun and interactive way to exercise which launches across the UK on 25th April 2008," the press release states (weirdly). They're right -- playing it at one of these events is going to be a lot easier than trying to find the thing in a store.
The tour starts this week at Mall Galleries in Bristol, where Wii Fit will be on display from the 18th to the 20th. The full list of dates and locations is after the break.
Only in America! And probably Europe as well! The new boxing game Don King Presents: Prizefighter is going to have a lovely feature that will be welcome among Wii Fitowners: Balance Board compatibility. Unfortunately, you won't be wobbling on the board to bob and weave -- it's limited to training modes only.
Those training modes do seem to be carefully considered, however, being designed under the guidance of a boxing instructor and intended to offer an actual challenge: "It's a workout - even the silly Wii Sports one is a workout. We intend to give you a real one with the Balance Board." The example included a jump rope game done on the board with the Wiimote in your back pocket -- though we hope it doesn't involve actual, Balance Board-crunching jumps.
Of course, we all pretty much knew this was coming, but it's one thing to think something and another to have it told to you. That sound you hear? It's our wallets breathing a sigh of relief, for they know that us lowly bloggers cannot afford such a costly package.
Having already whipped Japanese consumers into lean, mean killingspendingmachines, Wii Fit debuts in the west later this month, when it hits Europe on April 25th. And, unsurprisingly enough, its impact is already being felt in the region, with Jersey-based UK retailer Play.com reporting that it sold through its entire allocation of preorders for the game in just one day, a company record.
"Wii Fit is going to be huge. Let's hope that we can keep up with demand." panted Play.com head of games Gian Luzo as he waded through his home, waist-deep in banknotes, before subtly hinting: "We are expecting more stock before launch." You've been warned, Brits: if you want the wobbly slab from day one, get those preorders in, pronto.
We suspect this may yet keep us entertained for quite a while, but one thing's for sure: we'll never be seeing the above screen in person. With that said, if we're good and cut down our tiramisu and Coke intake, we just might get to within twenty years of that. It's a big "if," however.
Wii Fit owners will have a relatively wide selection of Balance Board covers from which to choose -- especially vast given that most will probably choose the option of no cover. It's no surprise -- as long as it's easy to produce, requires no electronics, and serves a mass-market game, accessory companies are going to be all over it. The Balance Board cover is the new fake tennis racquet.
In addition to the perfectly-fine-looking "Silicon Fit" mat, the European accessory company Subsonic is also releasing two more Wii Fit-minded accessories. The "Fitkit" contains a battery pack for the Balance Board -- which we'd be too scared to try -- as well as a cleaning kit. The "Fitbag" is a carrying case for the Balance Board that includes space for the game and various other accessories. Plus it has a name that sounds totally filthy to us for some reason.
Nintendo did say that Wii Fit would come in at under $100. According to (a blurry snapshot of what looks like) a Gamestop release list, American gamers will be shelling out $89.99 for the game and the included Balance Board peripheral when it releases on May 19th. According to this semi-mysterious source, the preorder deposit for the game will be $10 instead of the normal $5.
$90 is certainly a lot less than Europe and Australia will be paying for Wii Fit, and it seems like a fair price for the program and the hardware. But we can't help but feel slightly amused that we (and so many others) will gladly shell out almost $100 just to have our game consoles call us fat every day.
The final package design for Nintendo's Wii Fit bundle (game and the Balance Board) does, in fact, feature diversity through not only the ethnic backgrounds of each individual on the cover, but also through their age, and even down to the different play styles one can enjoy Wii Fit with. It's a celebration of individuality and, also, a smart way to market a product.
It just shows people, predominantly displayed as they participate in the activities the bundle offers. Nothing to read, nothing to think about, just a visual representation of what you're in for should you sign up. It's a good way to sell it to the mass-market crowd that the Wii has been such a success with.
Posted Mar 13th 2008 9:45AM by JC Fletcher Filed under: News
The Japanese boxart for We Ski (Family Ski over there) used a simple ski-resort signage theme. It may not have been the most exciting boxart, but it's pretty nice-looking, and kind of serene. Very vacation-y. The American boxart dials the serenity way down and the excitement way up. We expect the totally extreme skiers here to be headed back to the lodge to slam some Chibi Mountain Dew. Except for the guy in the back, who just came along because there was an extra ticket, even though he doesn't really like skiing.
The facial expressions remind us of Nintendo of America's frequent edits of Kirbyboxarts. Nintendo knows that if we're going to buy a game about a spherical pink baby, he had better be one angry baby. A few examples can be found after the break.
