Nintendo Launches New 'Wii Fit Plus' Game

By Margarita Nahapetyan

Nintendo Co. Ltd, one of the largest Kyoto-based software companies in the world, will launch a new and more precise version of its "Wii Fit" home exercise game the upcoming fall, according to Japanese media reports. The new game Wii Fit Plus, will work with the existing Wii balance board, and is designed to give users greater control over their exercise regime.

Wii Fit Plus offers its users access to fifteen new balance games, such as juggling and skateboarding, as well as 6 brand new strength training and yoga exercises. Players can create by themselves customized workouts of different lengths to fit their keep-fit routine around a busy lifestyle. They will have the opportunity to use a shoulder-width balance board that senses shifts in posture, to strike yoga poses, to monitor weight, to amplify their strength and co-ordination, and take part in aerobic challenges.

"Wii Fit plus," the new version of "Wii Fit", will also offer the opportunity for friends and family to compete with each other over the Internet to lose weight and get in shape. The game will also feature more accurate health measurements in order to track a user's health in a more precise way, which will now be much better not just for maintaining normal weight, but for overall health as well. Gamers will also be able to select from pre-set exercise activities that are aimed to target specific areas of the body, such as toning arms, firming stomach muscles, and even reducing the levels of stress.

"We have looked for ways to make Wii Fit Plus to more easily fit to your daily life," said Cammie Dunaway, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Nintendo. The problem is will this new version ever be as popular as the old version, which was really a revolution when it came to games consoles. The Wii Fit has been one of the best-selling video games of for the past year, selling more than 15 million copies all across the world since it was first introduced on the market in 2008.

Among other things that will be featuring new "Wii Fit Plus" game, is the enhanced hardware that will respond more precisely to user actions, and what is even more important, the new game will be also targeting elderly users, offering them gentle exercises and stretching regimens. Overall, the experts said, the goal is to boost the appeal of the game and attract a wider set of audience, plus increase sales. That is a major priority for Nintendo, which has seen significant drops in sales of its groundbreaking controller both in the United States and in Asia.

Nintendo has been credited with bringing more and more new users to video gaming by launching endless numbers of fun games, and very easy to operate consoles with innovative interfaces, such as the Wii, which uses a motion-sensing hand-held remote controller. "Nintendo continues to challenge how both new and longtime players perceive, and play, video games," said Ms. Dunaway.