Nintendo plans largest-ever marketing campaign for Wii Fit
by JC Fletcher 
{ Mar 21st 2008 at 5:00PM }
If anyone's going to get a workout from Wii Fit, it's going to be Nintendo's marketing department. According to Michael Pachter, Nintendo is preparing the "biggest marketing campaign in its history" for the North American release of Wii Fit on May 19th. He deduces that all of these marketing dollars won't be wasted on GameStop alone, but will be aimed instead at promoting in (and with) more mainstream retailers Target and Best Buy.Besides causing you to see Wii Fit freaking everywhere, this push will have a positive effect on the gaming world in general: according to Pachter, Nintendo will start increasing American Wii shipments by about 150,000 units a week. If you don't have a Wii yet, you can get some early exercise traipsing back and forth to Target for the next few weekends!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mr Khan @ Mar 21st 2008 5:47PM
They're either going to clinch the generation with this, or it'll be their worst mistake since "Connectivity in lieu of Online play"
My money's on the former
Perverted @ Mar 21st 2008 6:35PM
It may sell well but I doubt it has legs....And I want this to fail with all my might....It makes the Wii look more like a fad than it already does.........
Maybe is they market it well it will succeed.....the name Wii Fit would convince those less intelligent casual gamers(when it comes to games)....They'll think it's real proper fitness training to help them diet....I can see it getting sued! The name was misleading!!
Hame @ Mar 21st 2008 6:49PM
Though I'm not as vehemently anti-Wii Fit as I was post-E3 (which made me feel somewhat abandoned and alienated), I can't help but feel that there are so many Nintendo games more worthy of "the biggest marketing campaign in its history" than Wii Fit. Oh well, at least the casual gamers will think the Wii has two games now instead of one....
Brento @ Mar 21st 2008 7:46PM
I will be hopping aboard the Wii Fit unless my fat arse breaks it!
Skippy @ Mar 21st 2008 7:49PM
It's selling HUGE in Japan, so I would expect similar results here too.
raukawa @ Mar 22nd 2008 5:18AM
I don't know I bet alot of parents with fat gaming kids will buy one for their kid and maybe their kid will give it a go or maybe not, even than I forsee doom for nintendo what with their game to console ratio as low as it is, they need better third party support and I'm not talking carnival games type I'm talking Gears of War Metal Gear solid level of third party support.
treqie @ Mar 22nd 2008 9:31AM
And as usual, I guess, you won't see any ads in most european countries. Only time I've seen nintendo ads on tv was when Wii was coming.. and they had ads on one small channel. :P
Hame @ Mar 22nd 2008 10:48AM
Really?! What country do you live in? In the UK Nintendo ads are on TV all the time. Though they currently aren't because they've temporarily pulled them because the demand for Wii and DS is so high that they can't meet it. It's the same when I went to France, Wii and DS everywhere. Where in Europe are you?
treqie @ Mar 22nd 2008 2:52PM
Yeah, but UK is an exception. Sweden.
Mike @ Mar 26th 2008 4:44PM
I know it is hard for gamers to understand the potential of Wii Fit but I, as a former gamer and now a casual gamer, wait with baited breath for the Wii Fit!
It was around last August that I first heard of the Balance Board and decided to get a Wii sooner rather than later.
Trust me, Xbox and PS gamers have no clue as to why the Wii is so popular. Which is why, despite the Wii's phenomenal sales, those gamers think it is just a fad. Just because you don't understand something doesn't mean it's a fluke.
I can't wait to get my Yoga on, Wii-style!