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Wii Fit still number 1| Wii Training| Wii Women| Wii Body. Guardian.co.uk released news yesterday that Wii Fit sales are still number 1. And the appeal of the Wii Fit still seems to be for women, from young to young mums to the older generations.

I still think it’s number 1, but how effective is it really? Is is just a gimic, or can you really get healthy with it?

The genius of Wii Fit by Keith Stuart Guardian.co.uk

It’s still number one. Here’s why.

Wii Fit: a whole new way of selling games

Unlike it’s considerable army of users, Wii Fit is sitting still. The game has just enjoyed its sixth week at the top of the software charts, seeing off contenders like Godfather 2 and Wolverine without breaking a sweat.

There are obvious reasons for its success. The Wii console remains ludicrously popular, of course, and most of the in-house titles have done well. On top of that, in Wii Fit Nintendo has a game that offers both the hilarity of the system’s novelty interface and, ostensibly, a means of getting fitter. This is the motherlode. Most people hate exercising but know they ought to do it, Wii Fit offers the prospect of working out and having fun – at the same time. And what’s more it’s all in the warmth and comfort of your own living room.

But this is only part of the success story. And it might not even be the most important part.

This is the key thing. Wii Fit is being sold, primarily to women, not as a game, but as a health brand. The recent television adverts starring ex-pop star Louise Redknapp, draw heavily on the techniques used to market products like low cholestoral diary spreads and pro-biotic yogurt drinks. There are documentary-style interview moments intercut with Louise using and enjoying the product. It’s all very naturalistic and chatty – we are encouraged to view Wii as the ultimate guilt-free consumer product: fun but healthy, indulgent, but also a benefit to the whole family. Someone in Nintendo’s marketing department knows the correct buttons to push for this demographic.

At the same time, Nintendo is getting out on the road, demo-ing the game at shopping malls and fitness centres – which, again, mimics the techniques for pushing food brands. There’s also a dedicated website, which is definitely not called wiifit.com, that’s far too unintuitive – it’s Feel Great Britain – and it’s filled with user testimonials and health tips from fitness experts.

This isn’t just about reaching a new audience – it’s more subtle and ambitious than that. In effect, Wii Fit has been removed from the traditional videogame marketing cycle. Every other release is treated like the launch of a new album or movie – a one-off event with a limited window of publicity potential. But here, the advertising emphasises personal choice and circumstances – “when you’ve had a year off from exercising, which a lot of pregnant women do, it’s a really easy way to get your fitness and confidence back,” says Louise.

In this way, the product is aligned to personal circumstances – it’s there when you need it. And vitally, it’s not just about physical fitness it’s about confidence. The pregnancy thing is smart too – it’s a time of personal re-evaluation and re-assessment, and to brands that represents an opportunity.

Wii Fit, then, is a world apart from every other game in the chart – not only because it’s hanging around more than a couple of weeks, but because it doesn’t obey the rules; doesn’t even know them. These are new rules. The question is, can any other game work the same angle?

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