Remember the little girl that Wii Fit called fat? Sure you do! Now, at least one expert is calling Nintendo out on using BMI to judge whether younger players are overweight or not. Tam Fry of the National Obesity Forum is even calling for kiddos to be banned from Wii Fit. According to Fry:

I'm absolutely aghast that children are being told they are fat... BMI is far from perfect but with children it simply should not be used... A child's BMI can change every month and it is perfectly possible for a child to be stocky, yet still very fit... I would be very concerned if children were using this game and I believe it should carry a warning for parents.

Nintendo's response after the jump:

Wait, didn't we only just say Nintendo had sold five million Wiis in Japan? Scratch that. Make it six. And while you're at it, note that of those six million Wii owners, two million of them have already bought Wii Fit. Two million! In less than six months! Crazy. When Chuck D said it'd take a nation of millions to hold him back, he was obviously talking about the Japanese, and their newly-honed sense of balance.

Wii：1年半足らずで国内販売600万台　Wiiフィットも200万本、ダブルで大台突破 [Mainichi Daily News]

When Reggie said Nintendo would be spending the big bucks on promoting Wii Fit to the great unwashed, he wasn't fuckin' around. Go Nintendo reader Charles just snapped this pic while strolling nonchalantly around Times Square, and I must say, that's pretty darned eye-catching. It'd really make me want to hit the Balance Board and burn some calories, were it not for the fact it's sitting, well, right on top of a Chevy's. Sorry, Nintendo, but no way is exercise beating out tacos.

Wii Fit takes over Times Square [Go Nintendo]

Wii Fit's a guaranteed hit. In no way will it not sell millions of copies. So competitors (or imitators, if you're not feeling so kind) are bound to spring up. First off the bat? EA, of course, with EA Sports' boss Peter Moore identifying a gap in the market Wii Fit may not be addressing: bored women.

We're watching very closely what the Wii Fit board does. We think we have to have a role to play with that mum - the kids have gone to school, she's got 45 minutes on her own, the Wii is there, it's the first console she's ever liked because she can do things herself. And we're working on stuff, trying to work out how we can use EA Sports applications there.

EA making Wii fitness game [Eurogamer]

Like Amazon, GameStop appears to be in dangerously short supply of Nintendo's upcoming balance simulator Wii Fit, with employees of the company writing to us today bringing word that pre-orders for the title have ended, officially, at some stores. Wii Fit pre-orders are no longer being offered on GameStop.com, with warnings that the game is "Not For Sale", asking consumers to "Please check back soon to see if more are available."

Checking in with the brick and mortar stores, we've heard conflicting info. Some have responded that their Wii Fit pre-order program has already ended, with some saying they're still taking reservations. Others further specified that reservations will be taken, but that GameStop cannot guarantee first shipment availability. If you're desperate, you may want to try your luck at more than one location, especially if you're planning on joining the eBay scalping ranks.

The rolling thunder of the Wii Fit marketing program hits another target, as UK high street chain Woolworths gets re-branded as "Wiiworths" and plastered with the game's trademark color scheme. It's not the only getting Fit, as our friends at Nintendo tell us the Hyatt Hotel in the heart of the LA's Sunset Strip is also going to be a shining beacon of promotion. We're heading down to snap a pic—unless you've got one already, readers—so we can bask in the glory of giant advertising. We expect to see a Wii Fit tattoo by next Wednesday.

Woolworths Now Wiiworths! [Flickr]

Online shoppers seem to have fed frenziedly on Wii Fit at Amazon.com, up for pre-order as of April 15, with the retailer already claiming its allocation of the Nintendo fitness title is already at capacity. The site says it is "actively seeking more of this product from suppliers" and we suspect that the impression that one will be able to get their hands on the game/non-game day one—as we foolishly suspected would be possible with the Wii itself—is looking less and less likely.

Oh we laughed at them, laughed at the Amazonian purchasing habits, but it's going to be they, the pre-ordering crowd, who laugh at our lack of foresight as we continue to pack on pounds of blubber sitting idly, others becoming lean, strong and happy with their Wii Fit Balance Boards. Thanks for the heads up, Christopher.

Wii Fit [Amazon]

Wii Fit isn't just a casual game, now it's the "perfect gift" for Mother's Day if you believe Walmart.

Reuters reports that this weekend the fitness-meets-game Wii title will dominate the Walmart.com homepage and include a link to pre-order the game in time for it's May 19 launch. People who pre-order by May 11 will get a $10 online gift card for use on the site down the line.

"Initial response is extremely strong, and we're feeling really good about Nintendo Wii Fit dominating the home page," said Kelly Thompson, Walmart.com's chief merchant, of early shopper demand for the game. "... We really like the angle of marketing it to Mom."

Nintendo of America marketing maven Cammie Dunaway goes on to say that the upcoming game will be marketed not just to women, but to men as well.

Walmart.com using Wii Fit to boost Mom's Day sales [Reuters]

You may have already heard about the budding partnership between Nintendo and Westin Hotels, but both parties made the marketing marriage official today. Nintendo will be providing the chain with Wiis that update with new games automatically—no discs required—with Westin announcing it will integrate the system into its "WestinWORKOUT" program. The hotel chain will be adding titles like Wii Fit and Wii Sports to its workout centers, an idea it says is "ideal for business travelers and families who want to stay energized while on the road."

Also good for staying energized? Spectravision. The full release is after this.

Nintendo luminary Shigeru Miyamoto tops the list of Time Magazine's Most Influential People of 2008, as determined by reader vote, soundly demonstrating that he is more important to the entire universe than Al Gore, Heidi Klum, Stephen Colbert and a Korean pop star named Rain.

55 year-old Miyamoto, who's never been on a Time cover, comes out on top in his very first outing on the list with 1,949,634 votes, an achievement that foretells a future populated with towering statues in his likeness. Here's Time's stats on him:

This is by no means the most scientific of measurements, but GTA IV for both Xbox 360 and PS3 is currently being outsold on Amazon by Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii and the Wii Wheel. Things to keep in mind: the Nintendo games are each single platform (effectively doubling their sales) and Wii Fit pre-orders may be more common than GTA IV pre-orders this close to GTA IV's launch (at this point, gamers may be more likely to just go to the store to get their Liberty City fix). Still, we didn't expect Wii Fit's pre-sale numbers to come out on top today on Amazon. At all.

Bestsellers in Video Games [Amazon]

Wii Fit is not a game. Really, it's not. Even if it is in Miyamoto's mind it is, Wii Fit ain't. No wonder many game-playing folks are dismissing it. Not so fast! Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto says not to be so quickly to judge. Wii Fit is making things better, building bridges. According to Miyamoto:

Really, what Wii Fit represents and what Nintendo is trying to do with Wii Fit is expand the gaming population. And the reason that is important for them is because as more and more people of different ages start playing — even if it's just games like Wii Fit —- their understanding of what video games are and the fact that they're even playing games is going to better their understanding of what gamers are... So in a sense what we're doing by increasing the gaming population is strengthening their right to continue to game. I hope they'll keep that in mind.