Wii U

We're not calling today's Iwata Asks interview "Wii Fit U,"¹ but rather, we're going to call it Iwata Asks: Fit Meter.² I'd like to ask about how Panasonic³ and Nintendo cooperated in making this intriguing activity meter.⁴ Thank you for coming today. 1. Wii Fit U: A fitness-like game scheduled for release on January 10, 2014 for the Wii U console. A free trial version is currently available until January 31, 2014 where you can enjoy the full game for 31 days. See the official site.

2. Fit Meter: An accessory for Wii Fit U released on October 31, 2013. Users clip it onto their waistband to measure how many calories they burn each day, and the results can be sent to Wii Fit U for display as detailed graphs on the Wii U console or Wii U GamePad. The Fit Meter calculates altitude from air pressure. The Fit Meter cannot be used on its own as an activity meter. For use, it must be synced with the Wii Fit U software.

3. Panasonic Corporation: A general electronics manufacturer who produces, sells and provides services for consumer electronics and appliances. Founded in 1935. Headquarters: Osaka Prefecture.

4. Activity meter: A device that, when affixed to the body, uses bodily movement such as swaying to determine exercise intensity and measure burned calories.

Thank you for the opportunity.

First, please introduce yourselves.

I'm Tooyama, I work on activity-meter-related projects and services at Panasonic.

I'm Kitado, also from Panasonic. I was in charge of development of the Fit Meter. I work on monitoring software for activity meters.

I was producer for Wii Fit U. I'm Sugiyama from the Software Development Department.

I was director for Wii Fit U. I'm Matsunaga from the Software Development Department.

I was assistant director for Wii Fit U. I'm Hayashi from the Software Development Department.

All right. To jump right in, how did you first conceive the idea of adding an activity meter for Wii Fit?⁵ 5. Wii Fit: A fitness type game released for the Wii console in December 2007.

Well, it was my idea. With Wii Fit Plus⁶, it became possible to tell about how many approximate numbers of calories that have been burned in each of the training types because we incorporated METs⁷. Apart from that, I enjoy cycling and hiking in the mountains, and I always thought how great it would be if I could measure how hard I worked by combining the estimated calories that I burned while sweating it up with calories that I burned through the activities with Wii Fit. 6. Wii Fit Plus: A successor to Wii Fit released for the Wii console in October 2009. For each activity, it displays METs representing exercise intensity and tells how many calories the player burned based on weight and exercise time.

7. METs (metabolic equivalents): A unit of intensity for exercise and body movement. Sitting still without moving is considered one MET.

You wanted to measure your activity even when you're away from the television and manage it together with Wii Fit.

Yes. I set my eyes on an activity meter, but I didn't have any development know-how. When I was looking for a place to ask for collaboration, the hardware team introduced me to Panasonic.

Oh, so that's how you moved forward. When we made Nintendo GameCube⁸, Panasonic helped us out a lot with the optical disk technology, and we continue a relationship with them today. Tooyama-san, how did the project first come to you? 8. Nintendo GameCube: A home video game console released in September 2001.

It started with a "field trip," right?

That's right.

What do you mean by a field trip?

About ten people from Nintendo came to our office wanting to see "technology related to beauty and fitness."

Oh, so it was a field trip because we, Nintendo in Kyoto, went to you in Osaka?

Yes! (laughs) And we had the chance to show you the variety of what we had to offer. But having said that, they may have had their eyes on the activity meter from the very start.

Is that true, Sugiyama-san?

As a matter of fact, I did! (laughs)

But you hesitated to ask them right away. They would have been taken aback if you brought yourself up and said to them "Show me your activity meters."

Exactly! (laughs)

Tooyama-san, did you wonder what all these people had suddenly shown up for?

I have to say, there was some commotion at the company. We were trying to figure out what to talk about! (laughs) After all, our companies have different cultures.

I'm sure there are cultural difference between Nintendo and Panasonic. You worried whether what you told them would make sense to them.

That's right! (laughs)

I bet they showed you some interesting devices besides activity meters.

They sure did. There was technology for things like sleep and skincare, among other things.

But we had no idea how technology for good skin could be a video game! (laughs)

Well, Nintendo once worked with an external expert to make a facial training software⁹ for training facial expression muscles, so it's not as though if we have absolutely no connection to beauty and fitness technology! 9. Facial training software: Otona no DS Kao Training (DS facial expression training for adults) A facial-expression muscle training game released for the Nintendo DS system in Japan in August 2007.

Oh, that's right! We couldn't come up with those kinds of ideas, so it didn't occur to us how this kind of technology could become a game! (laughs)