Iwata Asks: Wii Fit Plus, featuring Shigeru Miyamoto

Turns out that weight isnt the only thing Miyamoto likes to measure

With the release of Wii Fit Plus here today, the latest Iwata Asks interview on the game is quite fitting. As always, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata talks with a developer, and this time it is Miyamoto! You can find the full transcript of their long discussion here, but we’ve included some of the more interesting bits below.

On being asked about how the enhanced version came about, Miyamoto admitted it was initially for fairly normal reasons. "We began developing Wii Fit Plus with a kind of typical game developer’s way of thinking: since the first one has sold well, we should come up with a sequel," he said. "It was at that point that [Iwata] brought up the idea of having multi-levelled exercises which would also train the brain…The idea was that by working on Wii Fit a little more, we might be able to train users’ brains as well as their bodies."

The revised interface of the title wasn’t always a simple matter for the developers, too. Miyamoto stated that, "As game designers, the thing which we spent the most time on was making the interface as accessible as possible so that we’d create a menu for the customisable workout routine that was very simple to use. We wanted to make it so that even those users who find doing things like that irritating can simply press a few buttons to make their selections." The menu ended up having 4 major redesigns through the course of development, so let’s hope they got it right!

Miyamoto stressed that they had to be careful through the marketing of the game. "If we just state that the number of training exercises has increased, users who were not fully satisfied with the previous title aren’t going to be interested no matter how many new exercises there might be," he explained. "That’s why when we made Wii Fit Plus, our highest priority was to get those users who might have drifted away from Wii Fit to regain interest in it."

He went on to say, "That’s why, as one of the people who created and sold the previous title, I would actually like to go door-to-door to each and every user who bought Wii Fit and say: "Please exchange your old copy for this new one!" Unfortunately, it’d hardly be possible for him to do this, considering he’d need to stop by 3.5 million homes in Japan alone, but it is still a cool thought, right?

On a more playful note, he shared with Iwata that he actually carries a tape measure along with him for one of his little hobbies. "I’ve always enjoyed guessing the lengths of objects," he mentioned, "which is why I carry a measuring tape around with me. For instance, I might guess that the table in front of us is about 1.2 metres long. Then I’d actually measure it with the measuring tape to check. If I got it right, I’d think: "I’m on form today!" But if I missed the mark by a long way, I’d think: "I’ve been slipping a bit recently!"

As for the thing Miyamoto would most like to say to consumers, he just wants them to have fun with the title in a more carefree manner.

"As I mentioned, I want them to enjoy it in a more relaxed way," he said. "Just switch on the power and you’ll be able to enjoy everything after that with the minimum of hassle! Getting the user to switch on the power in the first place is a huge hurdle to overcome, but once the power is switched on, the degree of satisfaction the user will feel with the software has increased significantly. So this means that all I really want is for the user to switch the console on. With the original Wii Fit, a fair proportion of users felt that it was all too much hassle and gave up on it halfway through. But once you’ve started, I am sure your body will let you know the way in which you should continue using the software in your daily life."

Wii Fit Plus is now in stores here now; if you’re interested in getting the game, make sure you check our price roundup first.