Nintendo’s latest press release revealed quite a bit about Wii Fit, the fitness game/program that is being heralded by some as the second coming. The bundle, which will include the program and the Wii Balance Board peripheral, will be available on May 19, 2008 at a starting price of $89.99. I say program rather than game since it features aerobic, balance, strength training and yoga training rather than, well, an actual game.
What struck me most is the price. I was thinking that the whole bundle would cost somewhere between $69.99~$79.99. After all, the average price for a Wii game is $39.99. Not that the official price is ridiculous, mind you. After all, Guitar Hero III with a guitar for the Wii costs $89.99 – unless you go to ShopGoodwill where the bundle costs between $5~$44. I suppose I just figured that it wouldn’t be that high, considering the potential for the Balance Board to get boring.
Let’s take a look at other things you could buy with the $89.99 you’re going to spend on Wii Fit:
- Brand new copies of Okami ($39.99), MiniCopter ($29.99) and Octomania ($19.99) from GameStop
- Used copies of Guitar Hero III ($5), Super Mario Galaxy ($21), Sonic and the Secret Rings ($20), Elebits ($4.99), Alien Syndrome ($4.99), a Wii Blaster controller ($9.59), a Wii essentials kit ($6) and a silver Gamecube with all its cords, Smash Brothers Melee and Yu-Gi-Oh! The Falsehood Kingdom ($10.61) from ShopGoodwill. (Note: ShopGoodwill is an auction site and prices may fluctuate and rise. The prices stated above were found at 12pm 4/17/08.)
- Around 24 gallons of gas for your car.
Well with the balance board the game was never going to be coming in at the standard $39.99 price tag. I had always expected that it would be coming in at something similar to Guitar Hero 3, due to the peripheral so i'm not really all that shocked.
The price point will do nothing to stop this from being an absolutely huge seller this year.
I guess I just expected the 'game' to be a bit cheaper since it really isn't a game.
I doubt the Balance Board will have real staying power. Somehow I see it being like the NES R.O.B. or powerglove. XD