Joystiq [Nintendo]

The Japanese and European boxes feature softer, more relaxed art, without the dumbed-down explanation of the benefits of yoga. The U.S. box, on the other hand, seems very definitely geared to a non-gaming crowd. Next to exercise equipment or DVDs, this might stand out. Amongst gaming titles? The box is a turn-off; there's something shovelware-ish about it, despite Konami's logo, and beyond, it's simply unattractive and looks Photoshopped around the model's abs. Anyone notice they're a slightly different color than the rest of her? And not in a natural, gets-less-sun way, either.

On the other hand, package this game with a yoga mat and move it to a different part of a store, or even a different store altogether, and it might have been a complete hit. It's something we've talked about before (and something that may soon be happening), and not because it's a radical idea, but because it works in other markets. Insomnia's Alex Kierkegaard might have been on to something, however inadvertently, with his recent rant about non-games: maybe we need to consider them as just that. Sure, some can be considered games, even if not in a traditional sense, and gamers may be interested in them, but they have the potential to move beyond gaming circles ... so why do we continue to sell them in the gaming section? Is it enough to hope that Mom may pick up Let's Pilates while buying Phantom Hourglass as a gift? How realistic is that scenario? Our gaming parents usually get recommendations from us, and if we're not talking about something like Let's Yoga, odds are they're not going to be.
Even a few simple ads patterned after the above, strategically placed in magazines or on television, might have been enough. Showing off real people playing real games has worked for the Wii and the DS so far; why wouldn't it work with a title like this? Non-gamers have shown themselves willing to take the risk and pick up a console or handheld, but there's an even larger untapped market out there, just waiting for titles like this. Unfortunately, no one's told them that.