You might not be expecting it based on its success in Japan, but Nintendo's Deputy GM in Entertainment Analysis & Development, Takao Sawano, was pretty unconvinced about Wii Fit's potential for success. Sawano headed up the team that developed Nintendo's Balance Board, which comes up to with the game. His lecture, "Wii Fit: Creating a Brand-New Interface for the Home Console," recorded the history of this enthusiastically expected product from setting up to release, and revealed some new features that European and American gamers can be expecting in their versions this spring.
Sawano kicked off the presentation with a warm greeting and a montage of ads for Wii Fit which are airing in Japan at this time, viewing both the game and people of all ages and demographics playing it. He asked the viewers, "after watching the ads, do you have an idea of what it's like? It has been two-and-a-half months since release, and sales still increase. As of last weekend, it has sold 1.4 million copies in Japan." He supposed those numbers to skyrocket when Wii Fit comes out in Europe on April 25th, with a Stateside release a few weeks later on May 19th. The next slide in his presentation demonstrated the Wii Fit package, which includes the Balance Board and the game software.
Even though the lecture definitely provided to attract the crowded room to pick up the game in May, the reason of the session was mostly to focus on the ideas that the new controller presents. The lecture broke down the Balance Board's history, features of the Wii Fit software, the specs and features of the Balance Board (mainly for developers thinking about using it in games), and promising future implementation of the Balance Board for applications other than fitness software."Even I look at it," Sawano said, "and I feel like it's something that should have come out as a part of the system. It looks as though it's inevitably linked with the hardware. Unfortunately, it wasn't borne of the classic business class textbook tale." He illustrated us a slide of iconic designer Shigeru Miyamoto's ideas for the Wii, well sooner than the console's release, and respectfully demanded that no one take pictures, in case Miyamoto-san get cross with him. Although the diagrams were in Japanese, there were parts that pointed out the future of Nintendo's casual titles. In one corner, there was a picture of a ping pong racket, fishing rod, and two remotes. Sawano said that this idea became Wii Play. A analogous diagram was below it with a tennis racket and a baseball. This idea became Wii Sports. The final diagram that Sawano pointed out was "The Health Pack."
The idea, Miyamoto told Nintendo staffers, was that he liked stepping on the scale every morning to ensure his weight. He considered that zooming in on body management and weight control with a playable scale would create a great game. The sentiment, according to Sawano, was not general. Among the questions that others asked Miyamoto: "Would you turn on your TV and system just to weight yourself? "Do you want to weigh yourself with everyone around?" "Can you get an accurate measure if you have your clothes on?" "Don't you have a scale in your bathroom that can do the same thing?"
Miyamoto's answer? "I have fun just weighing myself and collecting my weight data, so this idea is bound to lead to something interesting!" Sawano conceded along a few more encouraging words from the man behind Mario for miserable developers stuck in bad projects: "Developers must always approach their projects with the belief [that either] they're making a platinum hit or it'll be doomed."
Sawano kicked off the presentation with a warm greeting and a montage of ads for Wii Fit which are airing in Japan at this time, viewing both the game and people of all ages and demographics playing it. He asked the viewers, "after watching the ads, do you have an idea of what it's like? It has been two-and-a-half months since release, and sales still increase. As of last weekend, it has sold 1.4 million copies in Japan." He supposed those numbers to skyrocket when Wii Fit comes out in Europe on April 25th, with a Stateside release a few weeks later on May 19th. The next slide in his presentation demonstrated the Wii Fit package, which includes the Balance Board and the game software.
Even though the lecture definitely provided to attract the crowded room to pick up the game in May, the reason of the session was mostly to focus on the ideas that the new controller presents. The lecture broke down the Balance Board's history, features of the Wii Fit software, the specs and features of the Balance Board (mainly for developers thinking about using it in games), and promising future implementation of the Balance Board for applications other than fitness software."Even I look at it," Sawano said, "and I feel like it's something that should have come out as a part of the system. It looks as though it's inevitably linked with the hardware. Unfortunately, it wasn't borne of the classic business class textbook tale." He illustrated us a slide of iconic designer Shigeru Miyamoto's ideas for the Wii, well sooner than the console's release, and respectfully demanded that no one take pictures, in case Miyamoto-san get cross with him. Although the diagrams were in Japanese, there were parts that pointed out the future of Nintendo's casual titles. In one corner, there was a picture of a ping pong racket, fishing rod, and two remotes. Sawano said that this idea became Wii Play. A analogous diagram was below it with a tennis racket and a baseball. This idea became Wii Sports. The final diagram that Sawano pointed out was "The Health Pack."
The idea, Miyamoto told Nintendo staffers, was that he liked stepping on the scale every morning to ensure his weight. He considered that zooming in on body management and weight control with a playable scale would create a great game. The sentiment, according to Sawano, was not general. Among the questions that others asked Miyamoto: "Would you turn on your TV and system just to weight yourself? "Do you want to weigh yourself with everyone around?" "Can you get an accurate measure if you have your clothes on?" "Don't you have a scale in your bathroom that can do the same thing?"
Miyamoto's answer? "I have fun just weighing myself and collecting my weight data, so this idea is bound to lead to something interesting!" Sawano conceded along a few more encouraging words from the man behind Mario for miserable developers stuck in bad projects: "Developers must always approach their projects with the belief [that either] they're making a platinum hit or it'll be doomed."
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