Wii Fit was recently released in Japan, and so far the Japanese love it. But will the same love be repeated over here in Europe? Well lets hope so as Wii Fit promises to open up a whole new level of gaming - just what Wii Sports did back at the launch of Nintendo‘s, innovating machine.
Like Wii Sports and Wii Play, the game is based solely on mini games. The first is a soccer game where you will have to hit with your Mii’s head whilst you dodge other incoming items such as boots and panda heads; this means you have to shift your weight around to the left, right, and forward. As you hit the soccer balls with your Mii’s head the score will be taken next to where you hit the first ball, and then the score for this mini game increases if you hit balls in succession.
Once you have finished the mini game the same sort of screen as Wii sports will pop up to tell you the results, you will be rated with star ranks with 1 star being the lowest and 5 the highest, it gives you a good idea on which mini game you’re doing better at. Yoga is another very important categories in Wii Fit. Yoga is split up into several different positions. The first one is the tree pose; it involves the player balancing on one leg while your other foot is resting on the thigh. You then have to raise up your arms and locking your hands together. Now you have to hold this pose for about thirty seconds once in the correct position, which will be signalled by a white backdrop appearing and a pink circle measuring your balance.
You have to do this position on both legs and after which your results will follow. This compares the two and makes it easier for the player to read and understand which leg they balance better on. It’s not all Yoga and sport mini games though. Other crazy themes such as rolling a ball into a hole; tight rope balance; guiding yourself down a river and a dancing mini game, which looks like it’s straight from a Dance Dance Revolution game will be present giving this game a most wide variety as possible.
All the mini games are unique and clever, each offering a certain degree of challenge for both the hardcore and casual gamers. So what’s the Wii Balance board all about? Is it just another peripheral that provides a quick gimmick or does it offer a new way in which we play games? The Wii balance board is shaped like a normal house hold set of scales, with a plain white top and a light grey underneath. Just like the Wii remote the balance board is wireless, but it contains multiple pressure sensors that are used to measure the users centre of pressure. Shigeru Miyamoto goes as far to claim that the Wii balance board was probably more accurate than a pair of typical bathroom scales. All of the mini-games will be making use of the board whether it'd be applying pressure to a certain spot or tilting it for side to side.
Once again, Nintendo are proving that fun games are no longer confined to regular controllers. Games like Wii Fit are incredibly unique and are powering the gaming industry. It’s no surprise that the game was well received in Japan seeing as it primarily aimed at the older, more casual generation, and should in no doubt be well received over here. Shockingly, Nintendo originally designed the Wii balance board for the Japanese market to have a maximum weight of 300 pounds; (140kg) but due to the varying weights and enormous sizes of both Europeans and Americans, Nintendo will be releasing different sized Wii balance boards all around the world. So we could be seeing delays for both parties, but Nintendo have currently got Wii Fit down for an early 2008 release. Check back at Nintencast when we’ll bring you the full review straight after the launch.
Source: Nintencast