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Nintendo To Unveil New Fitness Plans On September 12

by Donald Theriault - September 5, 2019, 3:13 pm EDT
Total comments: 11 Source: Nintendo

In before "Switch Fit Plus U".

Nintendo is promising "a new experience for the Switch" next week, which appears to be dipping back into the world of fitness.

A trailer uploaded to Nintendo's Youtube account today shows multiple people hooking Joy-Cons into various weight belts and a more solid, circular object. The trailer cuts to multiple cities around the world, ending in Kyoto, before finishing on an announcement of more details on the 12th.

Images

Talkback

Ian SaneSeptember 05, 2019

Hot take: this will fail.  Just like HD Rumble, 1-2-3 Switch and Labo and any other attempt Nintendo does to try to recreate the Wii.  The Switch is a huge success because it offers great games that can be played on a console or a handheld with one purchase.  But I assume there is one stubborn Nintendo exec who keeps pouting and insisting on pushing this crap despite the fact that this was all a fad that died out nine years ago.

The Switch is a hit.  All Nintendo has to do is continue to make great games, which they're better at than anyone, and the money will roll in for the next few years.  No need to get cute with dumb gimmicks.

AdrockSeptember 05, 2019

Quote from: Ian

Hot take: this will fail.  Just like HD Rumble

How did HD rumble fail? It’s literally just better-rumble. And it’s the best kind of gimmick because it’s non-invasive. Players don’t have to do anything except own a controller. Nintendo has done great with Switch gimmicks because it’s more DS than Wii. It isn’t reinventing the wheel; it’s just adding stuff to the wheel that both developers and consumers can just ignore if they can’t be bothered.

Anyway, hard to judge whether this fitness dealie is compelling without seeing what the actors are looking at. I’ve been trying to be more health conscious for death avoidance purposes so I’ll check a look. I’d consider a Switch Fit Board strictly for the tracking purposes; I doubt that’s in the cards.

ShyGuySeptember 05, 2019

I do need something to replace my Wii Fit board.

Luigi DudeSeptember 06, 2019

Quote from: Ian

Hot take: this will fail.  Just like HD Rumble, 1-2-3 Switch and Labo and any other attempt Nintendo does to try to recreate the Wii.

https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/finance/software/index.html

1-2 Switch has currently sold 3 million copies.  For a low budget title, that is still very profitable for Nintendo.  That's kind of the point.  They're not going to stop making these kind of games when they still find an audience for them.  Even Labo still did decent with over 1 million units sold last year.

LemonadeSeptember 06, 2019

This is weird

Ian SaneSeptember 06, 2019

Quote from: Adrock

Quote from: Ian

Hot take: this will fail.  Just like HD Rumble

How did HD rumble fail? It’s literally just better-rumble. And it’s the best kind of gimmick because it’s non-invasive. Players don’t have to do anything except own a controller. Nintendo has done great with Switch gimmicks because it’s more DS than Wii. It isn’t reinventing the wheel; it’s just adding stuff to the wheel that both developers and consumers can just ignore if they can’t be bothered.

The Switch Lite doesn't have HD Rumble.  Nintendo's original debut presentation of the Switch had a ridiculous amount of emphasis on the feature and yet it's of so little consequence that the Switch revision doesn't even have it.  It reminds me of the 3D on the 3DS where, again, Nintendo hyped the feature up as a big deal and in the end the public gave so little of a shit about it that later variations didn't offer it at all.  With both of these features someone at Nintendo insisted on them being included and insisted on them being marketed as a big selling point and yet if neither system never had them at all it would have had zero effect on how things turned out.

StratosSeptember 06, 2019

I want a new use for my Wii Fit Board! I think it is great thay are staying in a market like this, because the Wii Sports/Fit games were great for some folks in preserving mobility in old age (they loved Wii Fit at the Sr Living Home my wife used to work at, and that movement helps a lot of them maintain a form of independence they could have easily lost without it).

AdrockSeptember 06, 2019

Quote from: Ian

The Switch Lite doesn't have HD Rumble.  Nintendo's original debut presentation of the Switch had a ridiculous amount of emphasis on the feature and yet it's of so little consequence that the Switch revision doesn't even have it.

If your argument is Nintendo removes things from revisions because they're of little consequence, bear in mind that Switch Lite doesn't have Joy Cons or even the ability to switch to docked mode either. Nintendo dropped both for cost-saving/profit margin maintaining reasons which is probably the same reason it dropped HD Rumble, not because any of those features were considered a failure. Nice try though, Uncharacteristically-Negative-Current-Ian.

Quote:

It reminds me of the 3D on the 3DS where, again, Nintendo hyped the feature up as a big deal and in the end the public gave so little of a shit about it that later variations didn't offer it at all.

Revisionist history. New 3DS included enhanced 3D with added eye-tracking. Nintendo dropped 3D in 2DS/New 2DS because the company recommended no 3D for children under seven years old which was the primary audience for those revisions.

TOPHATANT123September 06, 2019

Don't think I'm in the target demographic, but as with Labo I'm interested to see where this goes.

KhushrenadaSeptember 06, 2019

Also, Fitness Boxing has sold quite well on the Switch showing there is a market for these workout types of games on the system already.

Mop it upSeptember 06, 2019

Trying to recapture the Wii Fit magic, which may work this time on a more successful system.

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