My wife is going to be happier than most after the Nintendo press conference, not because she's a gamer, but because i might finally lose the belly that she's be nagging me about for the past few years. I wouldn't say that I'm fat, but i definitely could lose a few pounds. What does this have to do with Nintendo you say? Two words...Wii Fit. (or is that one word...WiiFit?)
We were all expecting it, it's been on release schedules for some time, but until today, we didn't know much about Wii Fit. Prior to the conference I assumed that you'd just be using two Wiimotes and you'd swing them around like an epileptic monkey but Nintendo changed all that by announcing the "Wii Balance Board", it looks like a set of scales designed by Apple. This slick little device can measure not only your body mass index, but also your weight distribution. The possibilities of this device are literally endless. They showed of demos of Wii Fit ranging from Step Aerobics and Yoga to Push Ups and Soccer games. There's even a Dance-Dance Revolution type game in there too. As if the Wii wasn't already selling like hot cakes, this title alone will make it the must-have device for the next few years. Who cares that we're not getting Manhunt 2? We're getting Wii Fit, yea! (Actually, i would prefer both)
While Wii Fit will undoubtedly be the thing that the main stream media will be buzzing about, there was plenty more to appease even the most hard-core Nintendo Fan Boy like myself. Here's a brief rundown of the major items:
* Smash Bros Brawl North America Release: December 3rd.
* Mario Galaxy North American Release: November 12th
* Mario Kart for Wii to be online and release Q1 2008
* Madden, NCAA and FIFA 08 will all be online
* Light Gun (Zapper) revealed and will launch this year and retail for $19.99
* A bunch of other mumbo-jumbo that no one really cares about. I just know there was lots of graphs and marketing jargon.
Overall, the conference started really slowly and we could have done without the first 20 minutes, which was essentially a wank-fest for Nintendo. It really started to get going after about 30 minutes and by the end, Reggie and Shiggy reaffirmed why i am a Nintendo Fan Boy. I've never been so excited by a set of bathroom scales in my life. Everything they do can be summed up in a single word: FUN!
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