Miyamoto: Don't rely on Wii Fit, get outside

Mike Bantick
Monday, 28 April 2008 16:53

Your IT - Entertainment

Wii Fit and its associated balance board are ripping up the sales charts in Japan and Europe, and on the eve of being released in Australia and the U.S.  But Nintendo guru Shigeru Miyamoto says,  don't expect the Wii Fit to get you buff.

In a rare interview, the man that introduced Mario to the world talked to the New York Sunday Times around his vision for video games as a force for good rather than the clichéd 'destroyer of the youth' miasma that normal surrounds the hobby.

“People say video games are a waste of time and are bad for your brain and for your health,” he said. “We wanted to create something to answer that.”

When referring to the Wii Fit specifically, having been released in Japan for nearly five months now Miyamoto noted ; “In Japanese households suddenly new conversations are springing up between fathers and mothers, fathers and daughters, talking about Wii Fit”

With the “balance board” measuring the players Body Mass Index (BMI) on a regular basis as they play through the games, exercises and yoga training provided with Wii Fit suddenly a big score is all about a holistic approach to good health.

But Miyamoto points out that Wii Fit is no substitute for exercise: “Spending too long, staying in and playing any video game is not good,” said Miyamoto. “I always tell my children to get out on a sunny day and I, myself, went jogging in Central Park yesterday. But I do my stretching on Wii Fit. They work together.”     

The pre-packed Wii Sports was also a good game to get the heart rate up – especially the boxing.  Though you can easily cheat by sitting on the couch and waggling the Wii-mote at appropriate moments, getting stuck in and really going for it is part of the stupid fun of Wii ownership.

Wii Fit goes on sale in Australia on May 8th, and in the U.S. on May 19th