This post was not edited by the owner of Elixia.

poor people, who believes that Wiifit is actually going to compete with Fitness clubs.

I suppose when people drop out of college, when ask why, they should answer "Brain Academy". :)

^

Brain academy is no reason to drop out. Big Brain Academy however...

Wii Fit brings out the hostility in us all.

Maybe.

But that does not say Wii Fit won't work.

There are many costs associated with regular trips to the gym. One of them is that it isn't very fun. While Wii Fit might not be as fun as Mario Kart or GTA IV, it's certainly more fun than freeweights and elliptical trainers.

Another cost is the effort and time of getting to the gym itself. If the trip is part of your routine (you jog there) then this cost gets rolled into the one above, since most wouldn't find jogging/biking/rollerblading very amusing. If it's a 15-minute drive to gym, you save time and gasoline by not having to make the trip. Just pull out the balance board and slip in the Wii Fit disc. 

And the final cost is money itself. How many months of gym membership does it cost to get Wii Fit? Two, maybe four? If you work out just as much with the balance board as you did at the gym, you'll save a substantial chunk of money.

So Wii Fit costs substantially less in many respects than a gym membership does. The question isn't, "Does a gym give better results than Wii Fit?" The question is, "Do the extra benefits of a gym outweigh the costs?" And two of those costs will likely have a direct impact on whether a gym actually has more benefits at all.

But how good is a tool if it doesn't get used?

You're oversimplifying the question. Different people will have an easier or harder time overcoming the barriers to regular exercise. While the potential results of a gym are certainly better, the barriers to using that tool are higher. The gym is great for people who are willing and able to overcome the barriers, but for those who aren't, Wii Fit is a better solution. Just because a tool is more powerful doesn't mean it's the right one for the job.

Obviously, some people will find that the barriers to getting regular exercise with Wii Fit are also too high for them to overcome, but that doesn't invalidate it as a useful tool for those who find those barriers more acceptable than a gym membership.

 In Norway, about 20% use the gym they pay for every week or so.

On topic; Elixia is very small compared to S.A.T.S, Spenst, Kaliber (where I work) , 3T and City Gym (select small towns only, we have one near here) and their total amount of customers would probably amount to about 20.000 (roughly 5% of Norwegian gym memberships), which again turns out to 1600 when removing 8%. Significant for Elixia perhaps but not in the grand scheme of things.

And the reason PT's and instructors are "badmouthing" WiiFit is not that they are afraid of loosing cash, rather that consumers in most cases are lead to believe that WiiFit will cover as many bases as a gym with a PT/instructor. They/we feel that people need to realize that good old exercises tried and true are the best and most efficent way of getting fit/healthy. I think the main issue is that most people want to work out but don't want to spend a lot of time or energy doing it, at which point we need to tell them that there is no easy way into better health.

I am not opposed to the idea of WiiFit, I'm simply worried over all those who think that it will replace a well equipped gym and the people who work there! 

Going to the gym will give a far better and more comprehensive fitness regime than using WiiFit will however WiiFit is both cheaper and more convenient. People giving up on the gym to use WiiFit (which from what I have heard is a perfectly acceptable tool for cardiovascular fitness) doesn't make them 'stupid' in my mind.