Wow, best selling home fitness device ever? And it's still sold out in the UK!
Wii Fit on course to break sales records
By Andy Bloxham
Last updated: 3:23 PM BST 09/05/2008
The Wii Fit is poised to become the biggest selling home fitness device ever seen, retailers have claimed.
Designers at Nintendo have been "amazed" at the popularity of the game, which involves balancing, stretching, aerobic exercise and even yoga.
In just two weeks since its launch on April 25 it has sold 338,000 units, according to figures from Chart-Track, the official body that monitors computer games sales.
However, high street retailers expect the game’s popularity to outperform even traditional home exercise devices like exercise bikes, cross trainers and even celebrity-endorsed exercise DVDs.
Jim Batchelor, commercial director at Woolworths, said: "The popularity of Wii Fit is phenomenal and we believe it will only get bigger as more and more people discover it.
"It has already become the fastest-selling home fitness tool and we expect it to surpass the sales of any fitness DVD or piece of fitness equipment that Woolies has ever sold."
The initial figures were enough to make it the eighth-best launch in computer history but its appeal is wider than just those in the gaming world.
Dawn Paine, marketing director of Nintendo UK, said: "We’ve been amazed by the different types of people that have purchased Wii Fit, many of whom are people that have literally never played a video game in their life."
Jim Clark, senior technology analyst at consumer behaviour experts Mintel, said: "What the Wii Fit does is allow you to start getting into exercise without having to get over what is, to some, the daunting barrier of exercising in public with strangers, whether that’s an aerobics class or a dip in a pool."
