TOKYO - COUCH potatoes beware: Wii owners will be able to get a more vigorous workout from December when Nintendo launches a new fitness balance board for its hit video game console.
The Wii Fit board and software can be used for exercising, sports and games, including yoga, virtual snowboarding, ski-jumping and aerobics, to help users battle the bulge in their living rooms.
The board, which looks like a set of bathroom scales, is the latest salvo in Nintendo's battle to widen the appeal of video games beyond just teenagers locked away in their bedrooms.
Nintendo announced yesterday that the package would go on sale in Japan from Dec 1 for 8,800 yen (S$110).
Last year's launch of the Wii and its motion-sensitive controller - which can be used like a tennis racket, golf club or bowling ball - triggered reports of aching backs, sore shoulders and what has been dubbed 'Wii elbow'.
Nintendo said it discouraged players weighing more than 136 kg from using the new balance board.
It also said it would launch Wii Ware - a new service to download games and other software via the Internet - next March.
'We know that any player will get bored with any type of game console,' Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told a packed press conference near Tokyo.
'In order not to have the Wii end up as a temporary phenomenon, we need to enlarge the gaming population,' he said, adding that he wanted to expand the usage of the Wii beyond the home and into the online world.
Although 51 per cent of Japanese households have broadband Internet access, only 40 per cent of Wii users go online with their console, he said.
Nintendo is enjoying huge success with the Wii, far outselling rival Sony's PlayStation 3.
While Sony stressed chip power and ultra-realistic graphics for the latest addition to the PlayStation series, Nintendo opted to develop an easy-to-use console that would appeal to a wider audience.
In an effort to catch up with Nintendo's Wii, Sony recently announced that it would slash the PlayStation 3's price by 10 per cent and launch a slimmed-down version in Japan and Europe this month.
