E3: Wii Fit(ness)

Wii Fit (or Wii Fitness in Europe) is an upcoming fitness simulator coming for the Wii and developed in-house by Nintendo. At Nintendo's E3 media briefing, it was demonstrated by the man himself, Shigeru Miyamoto, to a packed crowd. Wii Fit uses a unique accessory called the Wii Balance Board that measures a person's body mass index and their center of gravity. Activities included yoga poses, press-ups and roughly 40 other different exercises.



More after the jump


Wii Fit was first revealed as Wii Health Pack, by Shigeru Miyamoto, during a conference in mid-September of 2006. Then described as a "way to help get families exercising together", the game idea had first been included in Miyamoto's original design document for the whole Wii Series, the entirety of which was scribbled down on a single sheet of paper.



As with other games designed by Shigeru Miyamoto, such as Nintendogs and Pikmin, the design of Wii Fit was influenced by the activities in Miyamoto's day to day life. Miyamoto states that he and his family had become more health-conscious, going to the gym and tracking their weight. He found that it had become "fun over time to talk about these things", and as weighing yourself "didn't make much of a game", they decided to build games around the idea to mesh with the concept.



The Wii Balance Board



It should also be noted that Miyamoto made clear the Balance Board could be used by developers in creating games other than fitness, and mentioned skateboarding and snowboarding games specifically.



Currently, only a few of the activities available for exercise in Wii Fit are known. These include:

* Yoga exercises
* Press ups
* Step aerobics, including a game in which the player must step on and off the Wii Balance Board in rhythm to the background music
* Hitting on-coming soccer balls with your head
* A ball-rolling mini-game
* Hula hooping
* Ski jumping, whereby the player squats as low as possible, whilst maintaining their balance, and then quickly stands as fast as possible in order to gain a good jump. (source)



Awesome.