We take a stroll around the neighborhood without leaving the room in Konami’s new fitness game.

Ever since science determined that playing video games is not, strictly speaking, exercise, developers and publishers have been looking for a way to bring the two closer together. Konami is no stranger to exercise and games, having published numerous iterations of the immensely popular DanceDance Revolution. Now it is setting its fitness sights on kids, and hoping Walk It Out’s blend of exploration and rhythm-based activity will get kids off the couch and onto their feet. We stepped on the Wii Balance Board and went for a walk, and got a feel for the different things Konami is doing to get kids moving.

Though we used the balance board, Walk It Out is also compatible with the DDR Dance Pad or a simple Wii Remote and Nunchuk combination. The key to the game is rhythm. As your walking session starts, so does the music, and you have to stay in time with the beat if you want your onscreen avatar to make progress. Walk It Out contains a lot of music, including some master tracks from such bands as the Black Eyed Peas. But don’t worry if that sounds a little too brisk for your tastes. Walk It Out lets you adjust your pace, so you can step on every other note, or every fourth note if you like. The songs that we walked to had a pretty quick tempo, so we immediately saw the appeal of being able to take it a bit slower.

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It’s time to dust off the balance board and get back into shape with an updated version of Wii Fit.

Considering how many units Wii Fit has sold, you’re bound to know at least one person who owns the game, but chances are that he or she probably isn’t dedicated enough for it to reach its maximum benefit. Cammie Dunaway of Nintendo has announced in the company’s press conference today that Wii Fit Plus is coming this fall to make the game easier to apply to your daily life.

Wii Fit Plus is what we had wanted from the original game: a workout routine tailored to our needs, and the ability to work out nonstop for a length of time without jumping in and out of menus. These issues have been addressed in the new game, in which you act as your own personal trainer. Six new strength and yoga activities have been added, and to take advantage of the program fully, you should be mixing and matching different exercises. You can now customize your own routine in 20-, 30- or 40-minute interludes and decide whether you want to work on strengthening, toning, or conditioning. The game also keeps track of your total calories so you can feel good about yourself afterward.

Given that Nintendo is also about fun, according to Dunaway, she went on to describe a few new balance games that will be included. There will be 15 balance games, including juggling, skateboarding, and Perfect Ten. Perfect Ten was described as “brain age for your backside,” in which you swing your hips in one of four directions to hit balls with the numbers on them. The goal is to get your total to add up to 10. In a brief trailer, we also saw a Mii running along a narrow green path, leaping over logs and dodging swinging cannon balls. Dunaway didn’t say how this will work, but she did say that this minigame will give you an idea of what it would be like to run a mile in Mario’s shoes.

Dunaway ended the presentation by saying that there will be many personalization options. Wii Fit Plus is set to launch in the fall and will be bundled with a balance board or sold separately for those who own the previous game.

Check out the source at GameSpot

As Nintendo’s ongoing success in the games industry proves, having the most powerful pixel processing hardware isn’t everything when it comes to appealing to the mass market. Games such as the hugely successful Brain Training, and the 18.22 million selling Wii Fit, have enabled Nintendo to position itself very much as a lifestyle brand, with software that aims to improve, as well as entertain.

Nintendo has added yet another feather to its lifestyle cap with new title, Personal Trainer: Walking, for DS, promising to “turn an ordinary activity like walking into a fun daily adventure.” Part of the Personal Trainer series, which so far includes titles to improve cooking and mathematical skills, the new Personal Trainer enhances walking, by combining it with interactive activities and statistics on the DS.

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