Games eclipse fitness DVD market

Fitness video games are outselling their DVD rivals according to Chart-Track figures.

In the UK, Davina McCall’s best-selling range of fitness DVDs have sold 830,000 copies in the last four years according to the British Video Association.

In comparison, Wii Fit has sold 4.4m copies across the UK since April 2008.

Nintendo’s UK marketing manager Rob Lowe told MCV: Wii Fit is already bigger than any fitness DVD out there.
Wii Fit has sold over 3m units, while Wii Fit Plus has sold more than 1.4m according to Chart-Track.”

These figures suggest fitness games perform well over a longer period of time as well as during the run-up to Christmas – where sales of fitness DVDs often spike.

Games provide a whole fitness programme that targets different areas of the body,” added Lowe.

The DVDs are more focused on one particular subject or type of fitness, and only last on average around 60 minutes.”

Publisher Black Bean – which released Get Fit With Mel B for Kinect – said games can easily compete with workout DVDs at Christmas.

The fitness gaming genre is overtaking classic DVD products,” said communication coordinator Davide Latina. As well as Christmas, fitness games are becoming more appealing during the cold seasons.”

Lowe added: We definitely see a massive increase at peak period for Wii Fit and this year is no different.”
The fitness game market also expanded heavily this year, with a range of titles for multiple platforms including Kinect.

ShopTo’s marketing manager Phil Driver commented: I think that Wii Fit paved the way for crossover into this market and Kinect can now easily follow that.”