Wii Fit U has had an odd history to date, arriving with a neat download trial and Wii Fit Meter offer, but having issues making it to the retail market. The retail disc version was delayed to 6th December in Europe and failed to make an impact on the charts, while in North America alternative official Nintendo websites cited 13th December and "Holiday 2013" as release dates.
As spotted by Nintendo Enthusiast, Nintendo's made a stealthy adjustment to list the physical retail release for 10th January 2014; these offerings will include a disc + meter, as well as the full package of those two items and a Wii Balance Board. Not only does Nintendo's official game page have this date, but a number of online retailers are also showing the same; that's plenty of evidence to confirm the delay.
In a sense delaying the physical retail bundles makes sense, as Nintendo of America can target an audience keen to shed Holiday pounds and, presumably, prepare a marketing campaign to push the message home for new adopters. The most recent trailer tellingly only references the Wii Fit Meter and download trial offer, aiming the message at those that own a Balance Board from the Wii generation. The delay also keeps the release away from the excessively crowded market this month, which may be damaging the physical version's fortunes in Europe — it certainly has in the UK, based on the charts.
Are you disappointed in this delay, or do you think Nintendo of America has made the right call?
[source nintendo.com, via nintendoenthusiast.com]
Comments 21
This will probably be in the direct tomorrow. Not bad, but not exactly Smash bros or zelda.
I saw this quite some time ago but no site reported the delay. I thought maybe they accidentally put the wrong region release date for NA.
Well I already have the digital version. So I am good lol
Although we usually feel deflated by delays, I agree that this is a very good idea and won't worry too many people because all Wii U owners should be glued to Mario this Christmas!
Hopefully Nintendo will make full use of the golden chance to advertise it like crazy as being perfect for losing weight after Christmas like you suggested. (Must...resist...temptation to make fat joke at American people's expense!)
I can't even track down a Fit Meter in my town so I'll probably be ordering one soon so I can keep playing.
I still think they're promoting the disc version too much. I mean, not requiring a disc is nearly the whole reason why I played the original, like, twice, and the Wii U version, like, every day.
Wow. Just what are Nintendo doing? This is a huge blow to the holiday lineup.
I think that's a good move, honestly... This puts Nintendo in a position to market Wii Fit U from a New Year's Resolution angle.
Though I think @Phantom_R hit the nail on yttrium head. I don't know how anyone could want the disc version. This type of game works so much better as a digital download, as you can just boot it up and go without messing with what you already have in your disc tray. I know I use Wii Fit U everyday because of that benefit as opposed to using the Wii version much less. Then again, I've gone almost exclusively digital.
Well... I can't really say I'm disappointed... But how many delays are we going to get?
i just dont think wii fit us ginna grab people like it did before, could be wrong, but most of those customers don't use their wii fits, so are they gonna have desire to upgrade hardware??? we'll see
I got one for me and the wife at fry's, they had alot in stock @Alienfish
On the bright side it's been weeks since Nintendo has delayed a first party Wii U game - maybe not since DKTF? - so they were overdue.
I predict this is the last official delay of 2013. The 2014 delays probably wont start until Feb when whatever game is announced in the ND tomorrow as due out in March - MK8 or Bay2 - gets delayed until May.
That's a shame - this was going to be a Christmas present for my fiancée!
At least it'll be here before the free trial offer ends at the end of January, 'cos I was planning to grab the bundle for the Balance Board & Fit Meter and then use them to keep the free eShop version forever - no disc required!
I too would prefer a digital copy of the game (to avoid disc swapping). I'm glad the download offer is available until the end of January. Thanks for the info, @zipmon.
Still need to go get one of the wii fit meters so I can activate my copy!
No big.
I downloaded the trial but without a balance board could not even fire it up.
Now THAT is a Game you better have on your System downloaded! And I am usually very pro retail.
Hope they do as U folks say and kick the marketing on this to its limits after the christmas extra pounds are all gained.
That is a bad move for Nintendo, but really, the bad move is that the whole balance board set didn't get released weeks earlier. And no, there should be no apologies made their behalf by Nintendo Life, or putting a positive spin on it. If it's made to come by Christmas, and it doesn't, it's a failure all around.
The European release failed to make an impact in sales because yet again NoE don't understand that to get sales, they have to let people know it has been released. I've not even received a Nintendo email about the release so they aren't even letting Wii & WiiU owners know (and don't get me started again on the lack of any WiiU adverts on TV!).
I already downloaded the free version of the game, and synced my Fit Meter to the system, so it doesn't surprise me. I play the game lots, anyway.
I'll be buying the physical disc this Friday. There was no need to delay it. It didn't get me to download the digital version, nice try Nintendo.
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