This past weekend at Penn Square mall, Nintendo had a display of twenty Nintendo Wii kiosks demonstrating Wii Fit. For my non-gaming readers, Wii Fit is a pressure-sensitive accessory for the Nintendo Wii that looks a lot like a bathroom scale. While standing on it, gamers can shift their weight and control videogames. When I stand on it, it says things like, “get off me fatty.”

Wii Fit comes with a variety of games that fall into four categories; Yoga, exercise, exercise games and balance games. The twenty Wii kiosks were being manned about twenty college cheerleaders, with the biggest portion of the crowd gathered around a few young ladies demonstrating some of the yoga positions. Away from the crowd, we had no trouble finding an available kiosk and trying out Wii Fit for ourselves. Mason got the first round, trying both snow skiing and a Marble Madness-esque game. It takes a little getting used to due to the fact that you are not supposed to move, shuffle or lift your feet. Once Mason got that part down he did pretty well. Next up was Morgan, who tried a virtual hula-hooping game. Susan noted that hula-hoops can be picked up the dollar store (Wii Fit retails for $90, if you can find one that’s not part of a bundle — more on that in a later). The hula-hoop game looked kind of fun but the thought of me jiggling around gyrating my hips in front of a bunch of cheerleaders had bad news written all over it. I passed.

Mason checking out the merchandise …

For someone looking for an exercise mentor, Wii Fit comes with a workout program that, among other things, tracks your workout times and progress. A (skinny) virtual avatar demonstrates exercise techniques and barks out orders. It’s like Sweatin’ the the Oldies, but for Youngies. And it’s a good thing. Mason’s gaming skills are approaching my own and even with time restrictions in place it is becoming obvious that videogames will be Mason’s generation primary source of entertainment. Anything that helps them burn a few calories along the way will be gold.

From the escalator.

As previously mentioned, the Wii Fit retails for $89.99, but I haven’t been able to find one for that. Like the Wii itself, it’s difficult to find the Fit in stores, and the places that do have them in stock have them in “bundles.” Both BestBuy.com and CircuitCity.com list the Wii Fit at $89 (but are out of stock), and Wal-Mart.com has the Fit in stock but for $129; buyers are forced to puchased additional accessories (like the Wii Yoga Mat). Desperate buyers and opportunistic sellers have turned to online sales (Craigslist/eBay) where non-bundled Fits are being sold for more than the bundles cost. A quick search of my local Craigslist showed multiple Fits being offered for $130+.

The only way to get a non-bundled one in stores at this point is to stop by your favorite retail store daily to check stock, an “exercise” in and of itself.