Lots of colleagues and pals have asked me a question all of you have probably heard continually lately. "Are you getting Wii Fit?"
This might not be remarkable; you guys know what my job is, and so do all my friends, and so it's common for people to ask me what games I'm getting and which I'm passing on. The difference with Wii Fit, though, is that this sort of video game -- are we calling it a video game? -- is new to everyone.
Maybe I'm reaching a little. We had Power Pads in the '80s, then DDR machines and all of that. I mean, the early days of Nintendo were filled with all kinds of weird peripherals, and maybe this is just the latest perennial gimmick.
But the reason I hate advertisers (while simultaneously maintaining terrified, Old Testament awe at their power) is because I'm a total hype sucker. I read somewhere, and I cannot recall where, that Nintendo spent more money on Wii Fit's marketing campaign than they've ever spent on anything. It seems to be working. It makes me excited, like when I call my Mom and tell her she ought to finally buy a Wii because she'll really like this game and she tells me, actually, she was thinking about it.
I'm sort of scared of Wii Fit. I mean, it'll know how much I weigh, and it'll make me look really stupid, like that lady in the picture up there. But everyone seems kinda scared of it, and kinda excited about it, and as much as I roll my eyes, hard, whenever I see news anchors "discovering" the latest game stuff on the morning news, it kinda, just a little, makes me happy.
So, are you getting it?
