Nintendo readies for "Wii Fit" launch

By Scott Hillis

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - In Nintendo Co Ltd's (7974.OS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) new "Wii Fit" video game, players use an electronic balance board to control on-screen action.

As the company prepares for the title's U.S. launch, it faces a balancing act of its own: how to appeal to new customers who don't know video game icons Mario from Master Chief without losing credibility with its traditional fans.

It's an issue Cammie Dunaway, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Nintendo's U.S. operations, is mulling with just a little over 100 days on the job.

Dunaway is working on broadening a marketing push that has already seen Nintendo expand out of game stores and magazines and into mainstream retailers and media favored by potential new buyers such as women and older consumers.

"We're finding both from what's going on in Japan as well as our own research and watching consumers interact with the product, that this has a broad appeal," Dunaway said of "Wii Fit."

Fit will debut in the United States on May 19 and already has sold more than a million units in Japan.

"You'll see our marketing programs really reach out to both genders and a range of ages," Dunaway told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the Game Developers Conference.

"You will definitely see a lot of experiential things for people to interact with, creative merchandising and displays in new parts of the store."