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Fitness Games on the Wii U: Just Dance 2014, Zumba Fitness World Party, Wii Fit U

It’s been a while since I posted a game review on this site, and that’s mainly because there really haven’t been many games out lately.

In past years, at around this time of the year, I’d usually have lists of dozens of Wii fitness games that would be released in the coming months. But this year, the list is pretty light. In some ways this is disappointing, but in other ways I actually see it as a good thing. After all, in the past the vast majority of fitness games were from publishers who saw dollar signs due to the success of games like Wii Fit, EA Sports Active, and Just Dance and thought they could make a quick buck by putting out a horrible game and putting words like “fitness” and “dance” in the title. Now, publishers aren’t so fast, which means that titles that do come out will be more likely to be quality ones.

Right now, there are three games that I’d classify as fitness games that have been announced for the 2013 holiday season. They are:

Just Dance 2014
Coming October 8, 2013

just dance 2014 box artYes, I know what you’re saying…not another Just Dance game. You would have think, like Dance Dance Revolution, the shark would have jumped on this one a long time ago. But Ubisoft seems to put just the right amount of improvements each time to make it worth forking over another $30-40.

This version should be no exception. They have a “World Dance Floor” feature that allows you to dance and compete with real people online, whether it’s your friends or strangers from around the world. As long as they can keep their platform free from cheaters, this should be a great way to extend the time you play the game.

Also, there’ll (finally) be “custom sweat mode”, where you can create your own playlists and track calories throughout the game, not just in Just Sweat mode. To help mix things up, they’ll also have multiple routines per song, and it looks like they’ll have special “cardio” choreography in Just Sweat mode again.

Wii version:

Pre-order at Amazon

Pre-order at Best Buy

Pre-order at GameStop

Pre-order at Wal-Mart

Wii U version:

Pre-order at Amazon

Pre-order at Best Buy

Pre-order at GameStop

Pre-order at Wal-Mart

Zumba Fitness World Party
Coming October 15, 2013

zumba world party box artYes, I know what you’re saying again. Please, please not another Zumba title. For non-Zumba enthusiasts, all the titles that have bombarded us over the years all seem to be jumbled together. There’s Zumba Fitness, and then Zumba Fitness 2. Or was it Zumba Fitness Core? Or Rush?

“Zumba Fitness World Party” is just another in a line of confusing names, and I doubt that the gameplay itself will be much improved except for little tweaks here and there. But if you are a Zumba enthusiast, the price you pay, of course, is for the more than 40 new songs and more than 30 new dance steps.

Wii version:

Pre-order at Amazon

Pre-order at Best Buy

Pre-order at Wal-Mart

Pre-order at Gamestop

Wii U version:

Pre-order at Amazon

Pre-order at Best Buy

Pre-order at Wal-mart

Pre-order at Gamestop

Wii Fit U
Coming Holiday 2013

wii fit u box artThis was supposed to be a launch title with the Wii U, but I suspect when Nintendo realized that sales were going to tank, they held on to games like this (and others like Pikmin 3) so that there’d be the appearance of a steady stream of games.

The release date of Wii Fit U has not been announced yet, but you can already pre-order it at a few retailers. Unless something goes horribly wrong, it should be released in time for the holidays.

I’ve gone over the features of Wii Fit U in previous posts, so I won’t rehash here. I’ll just say that of all the titles, I think this one will be the one most worth pre-ordering. After all, there are a lot of us with Wii Us and old balance boards we’ve been looking and waiting to breathe new life into. Plus, there will be a flood of Balance Boards on on aftermarket sites such as eBay as people start to get rid of their Wiis.

Pre-order at Best Buy

Pre-order at GameStop

Pre-order at Wal-Mart

 

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