The Wii Fit is the Latest Revolution to Video Gaming - and Also Fitness!

Last week was the Electronic Entertainment Expo(abbreviated as E3). The E3 is the equivalent to the Super Bowl in the video game industry. Its the place where all the software developers announce new games and show off trailers and playable demos of games coming out soon. And during the 2007 E3, Nintendo made an announcement that should cause some pretty major waves, both in the video game industry and, oddly enough, in the personal fitness category. Nintendo unveiled its latest innovation for the Nintendo Wii, the Wii Fit(short for Wii Fitness).

The Nintendo Wii has been revolutionizing the gaming industry with its motion control controller, the Wiimote. Instead of pushing a button to swing your sword, you actually swing the controller as if you are wielding the sword. The Wii Fit will be using the Wiimote, along with another peripheral called the Wii Balance Board, to engage the player in fun games and activities that will also serve as a sort of work out. Activities and games include yoga, push ups, step aerobics, hitting on coming soccer balls, a ball rolling game, hula hooping, ski jumping, and several other activities for a combined total of 40 plus games.

The Wii Balance Board is a new peripheral that is in development specifically for use with Wii Fit. At first glance, it looks like a scale, with a white top and gray bottom. The Wii Balance Board is a wireless controller, and contains multiple pressure sensors. These sensors can detect the user's center of mass, as well as body mass index. The sensors in the Wii Balance Board are very advanced and can measure weight better then even most advanced bathroom scales. Nintendo hopes to be able to just release one version of the Wii Balance Board, but may make adjustments to its size to accommodate more obese countries. Currently, there are no other games in production that will make use of the Wii Balance Board.

Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Wii Fit and other Nintendo games such as Mario and Zelda, said he was inspired to create Wii Fit by occurrences in every day life. He said that his family became weight conscious and often would make games out of losing weight to make it more fun. Shigeru thinks that Wii Fit will be a great, fun way to help get families fit together.

Wii Fit is not on sale at the moment, but is scheduled to release early in 2008. Wii Fit will come bundled with the Wii Balance Board and is expected to retail at $69.99.