Wii Fit live-blog

I am going to try to live blog this event. The signal is horrible, so if I die out…you know why! There shouldn’t be anything big coming out of this anyway.

We are being shown 6 Japanese Wii Fit commercials. You’ve seen all these before.

As of last weekend, 1.4 million units of Wii Fit were sold in Japan.

Discussions for the Wii fit board started long before Wii even came out.

We are shown a diagram of Miyamoto;s original idea for the Wii fit board. Photography isn’t permitted.

The original ideas were eventually turned into Wii Sports, Play, and Fit. Wii Fit was the heart of this entire program.

Miyamoto’s proposal was met with a number of doubts at first. Miyamoto was sure that the idea would lead to something fantastic, so the team went ahead. It wasn’t expected that the idea would become a hit product.

Miyamoto believes that you must develop a game with the intent that it will be a million seller. If you don’t, your project will come out mediocre at best.

Getting past the price point was a huge hurdle for the development team. They weren’t sure how they could create the software and hardware, all while offering it at a reasonable price.

The Wii Balance Board actually utilizes something from the N64 controller, known as the rotary encoder. It reduces friction while increasing precision.

As we learned in the Iwata Asks feature, Sumo wrestling actually played a part into the development of the board. Sumo wrestlers were sometime weighed on two scales instead of one…one foot on each scale. This helped to lead toward the board development.

Once the first board was developed, Miyamoto thought that the team was onto something. He really liked the movement-based play that came from using two feet. This is when the team stopped trying to be cost-effective, and went all out on their ideas.

We are being shown the same balance board prototypes that were in the Iwata Asks feature. One of the boards actually had rumble in it, but it wasn’t powerful enough to feel, and it was a big battery drainer.

The team started to think about making a board that didn’t just detect left and right shifts, but forward and backwards as well. Some were against the idea, saying that plenty of fun games could be made with just left and right shift sensing.

The Wii Fit team visited the Nintendo Service Center to find out the type of issues that could come from a controller that people had to stand on. It was decided that construction needed to be simple in order to avoid malfunctions. This is when the idea of the strain gauge came about. This involves detecting force by expansion and compression. They finally decided on 4 of these sensors.

The Wiimote was originally connected to the board in order to push down cost. The team decided that they didn’t like the danger of connecting the Wiimote to the board all the time, because someone may step on the Wiimote. That’s when the team shifted to a housing on the board that could hold the Wiimote.

The original board designs were all square. Miyamoto saw an issue with this once the board was tested. He thought that the traditional stance for exercise was legs shoulder-width apart. That’s when the decision was made to make the board wider. This once again increased cost.

It took multiple prototypes to find the right dimensions for the board. When Iwata was shown the final prototype, he did not like the idea of connecting the Wiimote. He thought the idea was a bit absurd. In his words, it was ‘clumsy’. This lead to yet another redesign…one that included a power and sync button, and a way for the signal to transmit through the metal frame.

The two main menus of Wii Fit are the Body Test and Training.

Body Test - this is so players can check their weight, BMI, Wii Fit age, balance, and many more things. The Wii Fit channel was included in order for players to test their body without having the game disc inserted. This allows for the quickest way possible to turn on your Wii, and check your weight. Tests can be done without the game inserted.

Training - Over 40 training exercises/games. Balance Games, Aerobics, Strenght Training, and Yoga.

Yoga - 15 poses

Strength - 15 activities

Aerobics - 9 exercises

Balance - 9 games

We are shown a video demo of the European version.

The board can actually hold 660 lbs, but it can only read up to 330. You can use the Wiimote speaker as your trainer if you’d like to watch TV while exercising. The speaker will provide the voice of your coach. You can also check the board’s battery level through the software, and you can turn the board off through the Wii. The board always registers as Wiiimote 4.

Majority of purchasers - 25 to 45 years old, with familes of their own.

Well, that’s the end of the session. Back to Bethany!