Do People Keep Using Wii Fit?

Wii Fit launched in North America in May and the exercise video game sold almost 700,000 copies by the end of the month. But will all of those gamers stay committed to their virtual fitness regimens? A recent poll of Japanese gamers gives critics of the game some ammunition.

IT Media asked Wii Fit owners in Japan (where the game was released in January) if they still played the game. While 22% of the thousand-person survey said they used Wii Fit every day, 64% said they had stopped playing the game altogether. Considering how goddamn fat the US is, I don't imagine we'd fare any better.

Actually, assuming those results are representative of the larger pool of gamers that own Wii Fit, I'm not sure if 22% is all that bad. We can't be sure how many of the active users of Wii Fit were already Johnny McRegularExercisers before the game came along but if even only half of the 22% is made up of people that previously never exercised...I don't know, that seems pretty good to me.

I, like any other gaming snob, got sick of the hype awhile ago. I'm tired of being forwarded tangentially arousing YouTube videos of cute-ish girls playing Wii Fit and I'd get some sick joy out of the game turning out to be a pile of shit that failed as entertainment and an exercise tool. If you're looking to hate on the Wii Fit, the poll gives you further reason to sneer. "Only 22%? Pish posh!"

However, the poll results also show that there are people who regard the game as a tool for exercise and use it daily. Sure, not everyone keeps playing it but how many of you have gym memberships you never use or Bowflexes collecting dust in their garage. Wii Fit isn't the silver fucking bullet of exercise. Just because you enjoy video games, it doesn't mean you'd be willing to play a game daily - much less a game that requires physical exertion. I'm not going to blame Nintendo for making a game that doesn't hypnotize every gamer into reversing years of sedentary behavior. Wii Fit's helping some people out there and it's making Nintendo enough money that they'll keep creating games of this flavor so what's the problem?