Miyamoto talks Wii Fit

By Robert Purchese Published 28 April, 2008

Wants it to bring families together.

Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto wants to bring families together with Wii Fit.

He said this has already happened in Japan, now he's hoping the same effect will occur in the UK.

"In Japanese households suddenly new conversations are springing up between fathers and mothers, fathers and daughters, talking about Wii Fit. We would love that to happen in Britain," Miyamoto told The Times.

And families are what Nintendo and Miyamoto are after; there are only so many people in the hardcore audience, you know.

"We want to broaden the definition of what a videogame is, to create games for people whether they are five or 95, whether they are men or women," added Miyamoto.

"I want to show that computer games can be good for you, can enrich your life."

Wii Fit was released in Europe last Friday and sells for GBP 70. Many observers have pipped it as the sell-out title of the year after its success in Japan.

And, less you think forking out and joining a gym is more worthy of your money, Miyamoto believes outside exercise and Wii Fit can work together. He went jogging in the park but warmed up using Wii Fit, you know.

"Spending too long, staying in and playing any videogame is not good I always tell my children to get out on a sunny day and I, myself, went jogging in Central Park yesterday," said Miyamoto. "But I do my stretching on Wii Fit. They work together."

Ellie rather liked Wii Fit when she reviewed it recently. So much so that she thought she would dress up in Lycra and all sorts of odd costumes so you could watch her play it. Pop over to Eurogamer TV to see her in action.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (12) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • bushwod #1 4 years ago

    "In Japanese households suddenly new conversations are springing up between fathers and mothers, fathers and daughters, talking about Wii Fit."

    What about the poor, disaffected teenage son??

    Oh yeah, he's killing prostitutes on GTAIV ;-)

  • jonsaan #2 4 years ago

    Don't get me wrong. I like Wii fit a lot. However, it's not the first game that my whole family has gathered round and played. Not by a long chalk. I can recall similar things with Space Invaders on the Atari VCS back in the 70s.
    Edited by 1 at 28/04/08 @ 15:18

  • moggsy #3 4 years ago

    In a couple of months time though there will be an awful lot of Wii Fit boards gathering dust behind the sofa. It's the unfortunate fate of all home fitness equipment.

  • NickN4ck #4 4 years ago

    So what you're saying is it only took about 30 years before another game brought your family around the telly going ooh ahh.

  • Raya #5 4 years ago

    Knackered and it's only day 3 ;-)

  • NickN4ck #6 4 years ago

    The joke about yellow Wii boards gathering dust is kinda old. Other games will use the board.

  • penhalion #7 4 years ago

    I'm going to have to start looking for subliminal messages in Miyamoto games now as it's starting to get a little eerie with how much interest he's taking in everyones families. Don't want to wake up one morning feeling that I need to don a minion suit and march into a Miyamoto training camp.......

    "You wiiilllll obey me!"
    Edited by 1 at 28/04/08 @ 15:34

  • arcanis22 #8 4 years ago

    I love how the Times even managed to turn a mostly positive article about Wii fit into an attack on the gaming industry as a whole.

  • Cloudane #9 4 years ago

    Why don't Miyamoto go back to making proper games for the Wii.

    Ta.

  • Goffee #10 4 years ago

    I dunno, link the Wii board to GTA IV and you could have some great running away from the fuzz moments, skateboarding drive-bys and other criminal acts.

    On the subject; how about future Tomb Raider balance and ledge-walk segments being controlled by the Wii board, now that's gaming!

  • jonsaan #11 4 years ago

    I think Nintendo should release a new peripheral for every new game they release.

  • gingerlink #12 4 years ago

    @arcanis

    Old habits die hard ;-)

  • lsursock #13 4 years ago

    13 comments on Wii fit thread vs 600 on GTA IV. yet wii fit will probably sell twice as many copies as GTA over its lifecycle...

  • Eraysor #14 4 years ago

    Shame it was a Times article. We must never forget that Giles retard.

    They seem pretty happy to always take a negative viewpoint ("willing slaves";) but then again this is what I've come to expect from it.
    Edited by 1 at 28/04/08 @ 19:28