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Nintendo Channels Wii Fit Success With ‘New Experience’ Hoop for Switch

Last Updated September 23, 2020 1:00 PM
Thomas Bardwell
Last Updated September 23, 2020 1:00 PM

Nintendo is known for fostering its very own unique flavor of weird, and its latest offering  taps generously into that rich tradition. The company has released a teaser trailer for an upcoming Switch accessory that despite first impressions isn’t some elaborate gag.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdoVBbZ0Z9o

Nintendo’s ‘New Experience’

The nearly 90-second clip is quintessentially Nintendo, channeling that family-friendly reputation it so carefully upholds and is ever so meme-worthy for reasons that become immediately apparent.

The teaser depicts various families across the globe having a whale of a time using the peripheral, finding themselves in increasingly comical positions. There’s flailing, dancing, leg squeezing, and a whole host of other exercise-based moves on display that, out of context, would appear outright bizarre to the onlooker.

As of writing, the Japanese company is referring to it merely as “a new experience.”

It’s a pliable loop with a one-foot or so diameter that links up with one half of the Switch’s Joy-Con housed in a sleeve on the ring, while the other half of the controller attaches to the user’s upper leg. The hands hold on to two rubber bits on either side of the circle. The hoop appears to have some resistance and can seemingly take quite a bit of rough and tumble.

Nintendo Channels Wii Fit's Success With 'New Experience' Hoop
Source: Nintendo

Hoping for a Repeat of Wii Fit’s Success

It looks like quite a bit of effort to use and therein lies what Nintendo is aiming for with the new accessory.

It’s clearly a spiritual successor to the widely successful Wii Fit and associated accessories like the Wii Balance Board. Nintendo has its sights set on that middle ground between gaming and staying healthy that the Wii nailed so successfully, with hopefully the financial payday to match.

Although much of the teaser shows repetitious physical movements like those found in Wii Sports and Wii Fit, the form-factor makes it ideal for racing games – after all, it’s the same shape as a steering wheel – suggesting it may have uses beyond getting gamers to shed some excess pounds.

Nintendo promises to unveil more about the “new experience” on Sept. 12. Here’s hoping Nintendo is planning some exciting new titles to complement the nameless rubber ring.