A “mixture of fitness and fun”, as it has been marketed by Nintendo, the new video game Wii Fit was released Monday in the United States. The Japanese company expects to sell in America about 3 million units this year, taking into account the huge success the game enjoyed in Asia. Only in Japan, 1.4 million units were sold since its release last year. By now, the American virtual stores have already exhausted their stocks in pre-orders.

Commercialized at a price of $90, Wii Fit is the first video game to promote health. The key component is the balance board, a good detector of weight and pressure. The idea for this game came to Shigeru Miyamoto almost four years ago when he was tracking his own height. And the idea for the balance board came into his head while watching an employee balancing on two floor scales at once, as he revealed for Reuters. 

After a review, gamespot.com graded this game with a 7. Among the advantages of this new game, they listed the balance board as being a good peripheral; the exercises will help people keep in shape; it beats the repetitiveness of going to the gym; some board games can be funny and the general presentation of the game is pleasant. The bad points are also brought to the consumers’ knowledge. People cannot create their own exercise program. Most of the activities must be unlocked in order to pass the next level. Some games may be shallow and people might get bored very easily. Although the board is sensitive, it seems that you can still cheat at exercises.

However, Nintendo plans to include in the presentation of this game around U.S. the possibility for people to test the game on the spot. This will help people decide whether Wii Fit is worth buying or not.