Bonsai Riot

Though Wii Fit launched last week (to much fanfare) I just received my copy of it yesterday afternoon, despite the fact that I pre-ordered it through Circuit City.com a full two weeks before its release. Word to the wise: You get what you pay for. When Circuit City touts that it will ship any purchase over the price of $50 for free, they are neglecting to mention the fact that free shipping is horribly slow and that no amount of Fedex tracking-page refreshing will make it go any faster.

Anyway, on to impressions. [Read more →]

Mario Kart Wii, released last month, is bundled with the “Wii Wheel,” a white plastic steering wheel peripheral created with the intent to mimic the sensations of the driving experience. Nintendo claims that the wheel “immerses players in to the circuit of their choice,” offering “even the novice player a fighting chance.” Seasoned gamers, predictably, were less than enthused about the Wheel’s existence. Bulent Yusuf, blogger writer for the blog WiiWii said:

Though Nintendo valiantly tried to convince us otherwise, it’s a silly gimmick that detracts from the quality of the game. Fortunately, you can play using the standard Wiimote and Nunchuk, or you can bust out the GameCube pad and be proper old school.

Other bloggers lauded the wheel, citing personal stories of non-mothers and father’s picking up and enjoying the wheel as evidence of the success of Nintendo’s “Expanded audiences” strategy.

I decided to do a bit of my own research into the merits of Nintendo lucrative new business model. Though only possessing a tangential interest in the field of developmental psychology, I decided to take a look at Mario Kart Wii from my six-year old sister’s Lindsey’s vantage. Nothing fancy, just a few questions and observations. [Read more →]

I know the entire earth is currently having a collective orgasm over Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto IV, but Nintendo’s next offering should not be overlooked. Though Wii Fit launches 19 May here in the States, the hype train is already on the move.

CNBC recently did a segment on the game, pitting a grumpy, misguided Mark Haines against the cool reasoned analysis of Wedbush Morgan Securities’ analyst Michael Pachter and CNBC’s own Jim Goldman. Haines, decrying Wii Fit supposed inability to provide social interaction ignores the fact that that’s the Wii’s major appeal from the beginning has been that very social interaction. It becomes obvious fairly quickly that Haines has never seen a group of people falling over themselves playing Wii Sports.

The key moment in the piece was Doctor Justin Liu’s confirmation that Wii Fit is “the real deal” in regards to fitness products. There has been a fair bit of suspicion on that point, and it will be vital to the continued success of Wii Fit that those suspicions are quelled.

Wii Fit has already won over 2.55 million people since its launch in Japan and Europe, and the U.S is likely to see similar sales trends. The game is already topping Amazon’s list top-selling video games, and it hasn’t even launched yet.

A part of me wonders, however, how well a product like Wii Fit will do among the non-expanded core gamer demographic. I suppose it’s something that will will see in a few weeks. Either way, Wii Fit is going to make many people fit, and those at Nintendo very happy.