As president of Sports Authority, Campisi runs the largest sports goods retailer in the country. His wife, Beci Campisi, runs a garage gym based on the grueling fitness methodology of CrossFit which uses medicine balls, weights and nonstop exercise to mold "the quintessential athlete."

But when he first heard of Nintendo's part-game, part-exercise Wii Fit and Balance Board, he knew he had to get one. More importantly, he knew that he had to start selling it in his chain of stores, among the dumbbells, the rowing machines, the treadmills and the basketballs.

"When Nintendo first came out with Wii Fit I knew we could sell that product in our stores," Campisi told Kotaku. "I paid some guy on eBay $180 for a Wii Fit because you couldn't buy it in stores."

That was in 2008, last week, with the blessing of Nintendo, Campisi launched his campaign to sell Wii Fit and the Wii as exercise equipment in Sports Authority stores nationwide.

Sports Authority kicked off the movement to blend gaming and sports good with an event at their Torrance, Calif. store. Fitness guru Jillian Michaels was on hand to lead 100 people through exercise routines on balance board with the help of the Wii in what was believe to be the largest demonstration of Wii Fit in the world.

"Although individual retailers might do their own independent promotions from time to time, this is the first time Nintendo has officially partnered with a major sports retailer," said Marc Franklin, Nintendo of America's director of public relations. "Wii Fit has already sold more than 8 million units in the United States, making it one of the best-selling games of this generation, surpassing even some of the industry's most well-known franchises. Our partnership with The Sports Authority expands on the exergaming trend of Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus. Now we're reaching out to fitness fans in new ways, showing them that video games can be a part of their everyday fitness routines."

Instead of just dropping Wii consoles and games into their store, Campisi knew that his stores had to treat the game and its equipment the same as any other piece of exercise equipment.

So he had the stores carrying the equipment set up special Wii Fit areas and train some of their employees to explain and demonstrate the gaming equipment.

"They typically train people on weights and treadmills and now they're showing people how to use the Wii Fit," he said.

Mike Gabriela, manager of the Sports Authority in Littleton, Colorado, said news that the retailer would be carrying the video games was a "welcome surprise."

The equipment for the Wii Experience landed in their store on a Friday and they had it up and running that Saturday morning.

Gabriela says they trained employees using a Nintendo-provided video and tried out Wii Fit themselves.

"It's absolutely exercise," he said. "You do a couple of those programs and it is very difficult."

The customers who so far seem most intrigued by the console and its fitness games seem to be women who do Yoga and aerobics, he said.

"We sold our first (Wii) within 20 minutes of being open," Gabriela said.

While Sports Authority and Campisi seem to be putting a lot of support behind the Wii Fit, it doesn't mean that they believe it will replace more traditional forms of exercise.

"I don't believe that," Campisi said. "My wife would kill me if I believe that. I don't think this is a shift away from traditional exercise, it's just another way to get fit.

"There are a lot of people who don't want to get off their couch, but this is fun. Everyone is moving at 100 miles an hour, maybe this can get them to slow down."

The Wii Fit and the Wii's driving concept also seem to connect with Sports Authority on another level. Where Nintendo is using the Wii to expand its audience to more casual gamers, Sports Authority has long used backyard and youth sports to connect with children at a younger age.

The two coming together to expand each of its audiences seems like a good idea.

Nintendo's Franklin wasn't willing to yet say how important the Sports Authority deal would be in helping to expand Nintendo's reach.

"That remains to be seen," he said. "But we're always looking for ways to get video games into the hands – or under the feet – of people who have never played them before. Nintendo has the most diverse group of fans of any video game company, and it's important for us to reach out to where those fans are.

"We're always looking to bring the world of video games to new audiences. I'm sure there are plenty of people who visit The Sports Authority who don't have an interest in video games. Seeing Wii and Wii Fit Plus in the same context as some of their favorite fitness products will undoubtedly pique some people's interest and make them consider video games in a whole new light."

And for Sports Authority there's also a very practical reason to get into the Wii Fit business. Not everyone has the room for the larger exercise equipment the retailer sells.

"There are lots of people who can't afford a treadmill and we have stores in cities like New York where people can't fit that equipment in their lofts and apartments," Campisi said.

Though, it is still just one of many things the retailer carries, Campisi reminds.

"Fitness equipment and sports equipment is what we do," he said. "In our fitness department we carry a lot of equipment. There are many, many ways to get fit and exercise, this is just one additional opportunity. And for sporting goods its a huge opportunity, it's fun."

Well Played is a weekly news and opinion column about the big stories of the week in the gaming industry and its bigger impact on things to come. Feel free to join in the discussion.

I just ... lose it when the ... oh I can't spoil that. Seventeen seconds - that's what I'm talking about.

Robot Chicken Humping Robot Wii Fit [YouTube, thanks SinfulKnight!]

Sega didn't exactly cover their tracks well, what with the trademark application and the words "Super Monkey Ball" listed in the code for the mysterious countdown clock website. Soon after we posted news of the countdown clock the tags seemed to change to other random Sega properties, but the damage was done, and here we are. Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll is a Wii Balance Board-enabled version of Super Monkey Ball, due out in early 2010.

All relentlessly teasing Sega aside, I do love me some Super Monkey Ball. Could this be the title that finally sees me ponying up the cash for a Balance Board?

I'm not a fan of the Wii Balance Board, so I wasn't really looking forward to "feet-on time" with the game until I saw the demo master wipe out on a slope. His character model came up coated in a fine powder of snow and for one second I forgot that it was stiflingly hot in the city and forgot the gigantic sunburn on my back.

What Is It?
Shaun White Snowboarding World Stage is sequel to the 2008 Wii game, Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip. World Stage opens up the world of snowboarding to competitions and throttles back on the free riding from the first game, though you can still play with buddies in the multiplayer free mode. The game supports up to four players, although only one person can use the Balance Board while other players have to use the Wiimote and Nunchuck control scheme.

What We Saw
Because I'm a total amateur with Shaun White and not big on the Balance Board, I played a beginner course about five times to get used to the controls and poked around a bit at the campaign mode hub (an airport with an arcade machine) and more difficult course.

How Far Along Is It?
The game is due out in November 2009 – when the novelty of snowboarding in summer will be long gone.

What Needs Improvement?
Counter-intuitive Jumping: This is probably more the Balance Board's fault than World Stage's – but the jumping mechanic takes some getting used to. The rest of the controls are so smoothly integrated into the snowboarding that you barely have to think when it comes to speeding up, slowing down or turning. But when you want to jump, you have to press downward with your feet instead of lifting upward or, you know, jumping. The temptation to jump is so hard to resist, the game is even programmed to chide you about damaging the Balance Board if you so much as rock back and forth on your heels too quickly.

What Should Stay The Same?
The Rest of the Controls: Jumping aside, nearly all of the snowboarding controls were tight and immersive. I thought it was strange to hold the Wiimote in one hand and use the board for the rest when watching someone else play, but I didn't notice it at all once I got my feet-on turn.

Final Thoughts
I know nothing about snowboarding and even less about Shaun White, but World Stage is such an intuitive game, I don't think that matters. What more could you ask for from a serious sports game besides authenticity and a low barrier to entry? I may not go out and buy it for myself, but I'd never turn down a chance to play it – especially on a hot day in July when there's not a beach in sight.

Almost as an afterthought I agreed to sample Wii Fit Plus last night during my visit with Nintendo reps in New York City. I learned that it is not as much a sequel to Wii Fit as a replacement for the original in the market. But I'm in good shape. I don't need this game. Maybe its new balance games would make me want it?

Here's what I tried:

Snowball Fight: Stand on the Balance Board and lean left or right to emerge from cover. Point a Wii Remote at opposing Miis who are doing the same. With the press of a button, toss snowballs at them.

Obstacle Course: Run in place on the Balance Board or pretend-jump (keep those feet on the board) to make the Mii leap. I didn't get far before getting knocked off the floating obstacle course by swinging wrecking balls.

Segway Circuit: Hold a Wii remote horizontally while standing on the Balance Board to simulate using a Segway. Then drive over a beach taken from Wii Sports Resort to collect balloons and chase moles.

Tilt City: Balls roll in from a ramp on the top right corner of the screen and descend to one of three chutes at the bottom of the screen. Three flippers that the player controls determine their path. The top flipper is a big Wii Remote. The bottom two flippers, aligned in a row, are Balance Boards. The three chutes are below, each color-coded for the balls of the appropriate hue. The trick is to tilt the proper flippers to guide the balls the right way. The better you do, the faster this all happens.

Birdseye Bullseye: Stand on the Balance Board and flap your arms frantically to make a chicken fly. Lean forward to make him fly toward platforms dotting the sea. Land on them for points and to add time extensions.

There were more, but those are what I tried. None seemed deep, but all were intuitive and easy. They didn't have the immediate appeal of Wii Fit's ski-jump nor the innate do-it-again challenge of the first game's slalom. But they played well enough to provide a nice dessert to an evening of Nintendo gaming. No main course, but a fine extra.

And while, yes, this reporter has in the tradition of either Woodward or Bernstein, donned a giant Pong paddle on his head to play a game of sonic Pong, done forward rolls on concrete at the behest of a lady dressed as Lara Croft and been strapped to a ceiling while dressed as Super Mario …. I still want that video of me flapping my arms playing Birdseye Bullseye. Not that I would destroy it or anything.

After all, the Nintendo DS take on the Super Monkey Ball series, closely tied with Nintendo's varied platforms was called Super Monkey Ball Touch & Roll. This potential game sounds equally creative in its title. If it means more Toshihiro Nagoshi face time, however, we're all for it.

The Wii already has a Super Monkey Ball game in the form of Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, released in 2006 as a launch title for the system.

Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll [USPTO]

The cleverly named Yoga for Wii is exactly what it sounds like - a yoga game for the Nintendo Wii. Using the Wii Balance Board, players will be able to yoga their way through three different modes. There's a training mode that teaches you new poses, a Routine Mode, which lets you create your own daily yoga routine, and Story Mode, where you start off as a novice and end up a yoga guru, presumably after defeating your mentor in yoga combat. Just a guess, really.

It actually sounds like a rather interesting product. The Balance Board and Wii remote are used in conjunction to measure your balance, while a computerized guru tracks your overall progress, giving you suggestions and plotting a course towards whatever the goal of yoga is. Finding Shangri-la or something. Not really well-versed in yoga.

The game is basically a part of the same pattern for Wii Fit that we saw with Wii Sports. Nintendo releases mini-games, other publishers step up to create full versions. This time around it's JoWooD and DreamCatcher, who plan on an October release for Yoga for Wii. A bit late for Mother's Day, but I'm sure she'll be happy with an I.O.U.

"We are excited to partner with Ubisoft on our first video game," commented Lisa Zoellner, chief marketing officer of Gold's Gym International. "It is a natural extension of our brand and is in line with our mission to get more people around the world excited about exercise and fitness. We believe that the game will provide consumers with a workout that is both fun and rewarding."

Gold's Gym: Cardio Workout will work with the balance board to provide players with a "personal training experience," according to Ubisoft. The game will include cardio boxing, running, sit-ups and track burned calories and body weight evolution. It will also have multiple training modes, fitness levels and an evolving difficulty.

"As a leader in personal training, we are thrilled to collaborate with Gold's Gym on a new cardio workout game," said Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Ubisoft. "In order to provide an authentic Gold's Gym experience the game will incorporate gym signage and dialogue into the game."

The game will come with a one-week free trial to Gold's Gym and will also be featured throughout the Gold's Gym clubs.

Go Play Lumberjax is the first in the new Go Play line of games from New Jersey-based developer and publisher Majesco. According to Majesco VP of operations Gui Karyo, The Go Play brand was created to deliver "active, family friendly game experiences" on the Nintendo Wii, with "motion-based fun for everyone" the overarching goal.

Lumberjax itself is a competitive party game in which players chop, saw, and log roll their way to victory, much like real loggers do, only without having do deal with actual trees, which can be be real jerks. I'm not sure why Majesco decided to go with the strange spelling of Lumberjack, so I will just assume it's the way the younger generation of loggers call themselves.

Lumberjax will be launching Majesco's Go Play this spring, followed in the summer by the classic street games of Go Play City Sports, with Go Play Circus Star rounding out the line up in the fall. Each game also features support for the Wii Balance Board, further justifying the glorified bathroom scale's existence.

Now let's fill the comments section with witty suggestions for the next Go Play titles. I'll start! Go Play Doctor and Go Play In Traffic. Okay, your turn.

Developed by 2K China, Don King Boxing is the Nintendo version of Don King Presents: Prizefighter, renamed for the Wii and DS. It features more than 20 different fighters duking it out in official venues, Wii balance board support for dodging and ducking blows, and a realistic Boxercise training program, that Mr. King has extremely high hopes for.

"We've created our best set of real-life boxing exercises ever for Don King Boxing. It wouldn't surprise me if a future world champion was introduced to the sport through this game. This is where you can get the skills that make for thrills."

The man is a poet, ladies and gentlemen. Look for more epic prose when Don King Boxing is released on the Nintendo Wii and DS on March 31st.

2K Sports Brings Don King Boxing to Wii™ and Nintendo DS™
Step into the ring with the Wii Balance Board™!

NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)—2K Sports, the sports publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), today announced that Don King Boxing will be available March 31st, 2009 for Wii™ home video game system from Nintendo and Nintendo DS™. Don King Boxing provides a revolutionary boxing experience for Wii via accurate controls, a unique story mode, an exhilarating multiplayer system, and implementation of the Wii Balance Board*. The game for both platforms is rated T for Teen by the ESRB.

“Don King Boxing has been specifically designed to take advantage of everything the Wii and DS have to offer,” said Christoph Hartmann, 2K president. “We worked closely with Nintendo to make Don King Boxing a unique experience, especially using the Wii Balance Board. It is great for those who love boxing or those who just want a fun way to get some exercise.”

Developed by 2K China, Don King Boxing allows players to fight with or against over 20 licensed boxers in real venues like Madison Square Garden, Boardwalk Hall, and Trump Taj Majal. Players will experience what it’s like to be a real boxer as they throw jabs, hooks, and uppercuts with both hands all while ducking and dodging blows on the Wii Balance Board.

To get in shape, 2K Sports worked closely with Don King and his staff to design a Boxercise portion of the game that mimics the routines used by real boxers. The training program isn’t just for the human player; it also helps to improve your boxer’s skills for the next match in the game.

"Don King Boxing is not your prototypical boxing game," Don King said. "What we have done here is truly innovative and provocative. Our goal with 2K Sports was to create realistic motions that most closely resemble the actual training regimens of prizefighters for maximum results."

King added, "We've created our best set of real-life boxing exercises ever for Don King Boxing. It wouldn't surprise me if a future world champion was introduced to the sport through this game. This is where you can get the skills that make for thrills."

For more information about Don King Boxing, log onto http://www.2ksports.com/games/donkingboxing.

*The Wii Balance Board provides additional experiences for the game but is not required for play. Wii Balance Board sold separately with Wii Fit.

These screens from the Balance Board compatible Nintendo Wii version of Shaun White Snowboarding (that's SWS: Road Trip) show off a few of the characters and locations to be found on Shaun's virtual 'cold places only' trek around the globe.

Among the cold places pictured are Chile, Switzerland, Aspen and (I assume - there are dragons and fireworks) China.

The game is controlled with a combination of the balance board and Wiimote - something that I still maintain will result in someone getting carried away and trying to hotdog the board for real.

Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2009 Wii Trailer [YouTube, via Nintendo Wii Fanboy]

How do i know?

Tristan was so mesmerized by the game that he pushed through a crowd of onlookers to play the game on the Ubisoft stage. He even risked certain exposure to Frag Dolls-based cooties to get some ass-time with the Balance Board driven game. The particular mini-game he played had him steering a cow down a snowboard course by shifting his weight back and forth on the balance board. Sitting up on stage, his full attention locked on the flat screen, he didn't even seem to mind that he was book-ended by two of the FGs while playing the game as a third tried to harass him off his course.

The things that are balls-to-the-wall awesome about this video:
• Sped up assembly footage. See? It's simple.
• Crappy kung-fu movie audio — with mismatched soundtrack.
• The beep-beep-beep "Surfin' USA" tone. Please tell me that's coming from the Roomba itself.

I won't be able to get that out of my head the rest of the day. A jorb well done, "Ron" Tajima!

Wii Balance Board Roomba Hack Cleans Up [Balance Board Blog]

"These are not officially licensed products, we always recommend the use of official first or third party Nintendo products to ensure 100 per cent compatibility and reliability with our hardware. We always closely monitor new products entering the market to ensure that they do not infringe on any of our IP."

Which, because a cover on a balance board has absolutely shit to do with "compatibility," means: "We can't stop this yet, but one slip-up and their ass is grass and we're gonna mow it."

Compared to some things we've seen involving a balance board, this is quite tame. The covers retail for $20 and can be found on Amazon. Manufacturer AMR Racing does them for the balance board, Rock Band instruments, and other peripherals.

Nintendo Distances Itself From Unofficial Balance Board Covers [GamesIndustry.biz]

But BBB got hold of the video's poster and subsequent confirmation that PheroseSoft, a seven-person team made up of former devs for EA Canada Burnaby and Rockstar North, is developing something called "WiiMove." It should be available by WiiWare sometime after October this year, Balance Board Blog reports.

A representative of PheroseSoft told BBB that "the game looks to put an unexpected slant on the Wii Balance Board." Ya don't say. The video's after the jump.

Wii Move confirmed - developed by ex EA, Rockstar staff [BalanceBoardBlog, via ComputerandVideoGames.com]

I am happy to say that with so many out there, we have had relatively few incidents.

Top Nintendo Designer Shigeru Miyamoto Talks 'Wii Fit' And Appealing To Unhealthy Americans [MTV]

We think here in the United States the reaction will be just as strong if not stronger given the American focus and psyche on being fit, and the game itself is going to be localized for our audience. We expect to have comparable success here in the U.S. if not a stronger result than what Japan has seen so far... Our sights are set very high for the this product so our goal is to make sure we have over a million units available at launch to support it... There are over 10 games in development that take advantage of the Balance Board. Certainly in terms of ongoing enjoyment, we believe that Wii Fit plus the Balance Board will provide that to the consumer.

Whether or not we'll see more Balance Board titles depends on the success of Wii Fit outside of Japan. If the game succeeds, expect peripheral-compatible titles to follow. To the casual observer, there's a huge opportunity to make a Wii Balance title for those who'd like to pick up an extra board. Given that such a model succeeded in the past, don't be surprised at the reprise.

Nintendo Considering Wii Balance Board Games [IGN via Maxconsole][photo: Nathan Smart]

Given our experience with WiiFit, it's a lackluster product bordering on 99% marketing gimmick. So our guess is that the 300+ pounders among us will be better off going for a walk anyway. And besides, that Nike iPod integration is way more impressive than this whole WiiFit thing, and just about as fun (because it's not really at all). And you won't trip over the pea-sized device every time you walk in the room. Just our two cents.

Wii Fit weight limit [via maxconsole]