FITNESS GAMES


calorie counters and other metrics, has the swell of dance games cannabilised the sales of fitness titles? No, says Sony’s UK product manager John Aikins, who explains: “Dance games provide an experience that engages the cardio vascular system while fitness games incorporate a well rounded fitness experience with resistance, plyometric and cardio elements. “Dance games can be a great entry point into incorporating fitness in your lifestyle.”


Ubisoft brand manager Rachael Grant adds: “There is a place for dance games and fitness games to sit alongside each other. The popularity of dance games is merely expanding the audience, rather than taking away from fitness games.”


NEW CONTENDERS That major companies like THQ and Sony have entered the fitness market in the last year is further proof that the industry still sees strong potential in the genre. With its new PlayStation Move motion controller now in its second year, Sony launched a brand new franchise in November.


“Move Fitnessoffers a fun and exciting entry point into the genre, and provides us with a significant point of interest during January,” says Aikins. “This has helped to establish MoveFitnessas a credible fitness product.”


Meanwhile, THQ adapted an already well-established brand to serve as a fitness title with UFC Personal Trainer.


THQ’s senior product marketing manager Mark Fisher says: “UFC Personal Traineris a unique offering that appeals to a wider audience than the generic fitness title. “The New Year sales window is a


great opportunity to re-engage consumers with the product, so we are focusing our efforts to ensure that UFC Personal Trainer maximises its potential during this busy period.”


FIGHTING FIT


But few titles have been able to match the success of Zumba or even Wii Fit. And publisher back catalogues are teaming with the early titles in fitness franchises that never truly got off the ground. Could Zumba’s triumph be hiding the real situation: that the public’s appetite for workout games has dissipated?


“Anything will get a bit stale if you just keep putting out the same game time after time, but we’ve come a long way since the first console fitness


titles,” says Marchant. “Fitness is like any


Titles like THQ’s UFC Personal Trainer have explored different routes to fitness


other genre: it needs to develop and evolve to provide something new and relevant for the consumer.”


McGill says: “The real key to success, beyond innovation


YOUR SHAPE: FITNESS EVOLVED Publisher: Ubisoft Formats: 360


Ubisoft’s flagship in the fitness market. The firm also has an exercise mode in the ever-popular Just Dancegames.


www.mcvuk.com


MOVE FITNESS Publisher: Sony Formats: PS3


Sony’s first venture into the fitness market uses the high accuracy of PlayStation Move to track the user’s body movements as they exercise.


UK SALES DATA: FITNESS GAMES


Nintendo really defined the fitness gaming market in 2008 with the launch of Wii Fit.


By the following year, a strong range of competitors propelled genre sales to its current peak of 2.5m units. This was driven largely by Wii Fit, which dominated the charts in the first half of 2009.


2010 represented a low point for the genre. Despite the arrival of Wii Fit Plus,a myriad of other fitness games the year before, plus contenders for the newly- launched Kinect and Move controllers, sales dipped by 50 per cent to 1.3m.


But the fitness gaming market came back in force last


year, thanks to the release of Zumba Fitnesson Wii. Sales rose to 2m, although Chart-Track data shows that only a few franchises can take the bulk of the credit for this. The charts body expects a slight increase in the fitness


genre’s share of the games market this month thanks to renewed activity from publishers.


2.0 2.5


0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5


“


2008 2009 2010 2011 Year


Source: UKIE Games Charts (compiled by GFK Chart-Track)


Dance games can be a great entry point into incorporating fitness in your lifestyle.


John Aikins, Sony


and approachability, is about making it fun. People turn to fitness games because they offer an enjoyable way to stay healthy and within the warmth and comfort of their own home. “The fact that Zumba Fitness topped the charts for 13 weeks this year tells me there is very much still a market for these games.” With these companies and so many more finding new ways to get consumers exercising through video games, retailers can expect a strong sales rush for fitness titles over the next month, not to mention in the years to come.


ZUMBA FITNESS 2 Publisher: 505 Games Formats: Wii


505 follows up on its chart-conquering success with a fresh Wii release. A Kinect version, Zumba Fitness Rush, is also in the works.


January 6th 2012 27


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52