Already grown tired of your Wii Balance Board? Not interested in any of the other balance board compatible games on offer (not even Shaun White Snowboarding) and ready to sell your Wii Fit? Well according to information published by VideoGamePriceCharts.com, depending on how much you initially paid for your Wii Fit, selling it online may actually make you a profit.

According to their figures (based on eBay sales) Wii Fit tops their Top 10 Games By Resale Value chart with an average resale value of $139.78. That's 55% more than the MSRP of $89.99. I have to say I was a bit sceptical so I did some digging of my own on eBay. For the most part their average seems to be pretty accurate although I did see some 'gently used' Wii Fits going for $100 to $115. Bottom line is that taking shipping into account, if you do decide to sell your Wii Fit on eBay you should at least get back what you originally paid for it - unless of course you paid over the odds to begin with.

Interestingly, for those of you still keen to try out the balance board without having to buy Wii Fit, I also saw a few listings for the balance board only, going for less than $80. May be worth considering.

GameDaily has just published an interview with Nintendo President Satoru Iwata. They were lucky enough to get some one-on-one time with him at E3 last week and discussed several topics and touched briefly on the whole supply and demand issue. Here's what he had to say:

"In the spring of this year, we announced that starting from this summer (2008) we would have a monthly maximum production capacity for Wii of 2.4 million, and we are working with that schedule right now. We are [continuing] to increase the maximum production capability... However, the expansion of the market for potential customers, the number of people who are waiting to purchase Wii, is beyond our expectations right now. So for the time being, I really do not think that the imbalance for supply and demand can be solved immediately. For example, when we look back at the whole history of video games, in the past it was unthinkable that other than during the November – December time period we would have 700,000 monthly unit sales in U.S. alone."

Now I understand that he's referring here to the Wii console itself and not Wii Fit, but his comments do give us some insight into the way in which Nintendo handles it's production so here's my bit of speculation. For Wii Fit, they would have estimated launch sales based on past Wii sales to set a target (difficult considering that Wii Fit opened up an entirely new market) and then set their monthly production figures. Clearly they underestimated that figure and now need to ramp up production but that doesn't happen overnight. In the meantime they have to rotate distribution globally with the stock they do have which means that different regions are going to experience shortages at different times. That would explain why, for example, Wii Fit dropped off the UK sales charts for three weeks at the end of May / beginning June - just as launch sales would have ramped up following Wii Fit's release in the US. It all sounds logical but it's no consolation to those of you who still can't get your hands on one.

The UK's Telegraph has published an article claiming that Wii Fit may be sold out by Christmas. If the desperate emails we get from readers are anything to go by, then never mind Christmas, for the vast majority of people, Wii Fit is sold out now.

While this kind of scaremongering only helps to feed the frenzy, it may unfortunately prove to be true. The article quotes a spokesperson for one of the UK's largest electrical retailers who says, "If we get 1,000 in on Thursday or Friday they are all gone by Sunday. We comfortably sell out of our allocation".

Meanwhile the debate goes on with regards to why there's an ongoing shortage of stock. Is it simply a case of demand outstripping supply? And just how much is the average consumer being cheated by the whole buy and resell at a profit on eBay market?

You'd have thought that Nintendo would have learnt a lesson from the Wii console launch and ensured that there was more than enough stock this time around. But the conspiracy theorists among you will say that in fact the artificial shortage of the console actually worked in Nintendo's favour and now they’re simply doing the same with Wii Fit. You've got to love a good conspiracy.

Update: It seems that all this doom and gloom in the papers about stock shortages got the attention of Nintendo who responded to MCV in an attempt to reassure the public.

As for the whole conspiracy theory thing, this blog post received (if the associated email address is to be believed) a comment from Nintendo.com confirming 'intentional shortage'. I'm sorry, call me naïve, but I don't believe a word of it so nice try whoever you were. The fact is that when there's limited supply of something, a company will move that stock to where it makes most financial sense - surely that's not 'intentional shortage', that's business strategy? As to why Nintendo doesn't seem to be able to cope with demand, only Nintendo knows the real answer and anything other than that is simply speculation.

After EA's disappointing start for Balance Board fans yesterday I'm happy to say that Nintendo's E3 2008 debut was a great success. First up, and a big surprise, was none other than Shaun White himself giving us a brief in-game demo of Shaun White Snowboarding. We didn't get to see too much of the trick controls (Ubisoft are most probably keeping that for their own press conference) but gameplay did look smooth and pretty intuitive. Shaun definitely seems stoked about the game and kept saying how similar to real-world snowboarding it felt. According to Nintendo it will be available "by year-end" but hopefully we'll get a firm release date from Ubi later today. View the latest Shaun White Snowboarding videos at Gametrailers.

Those Raving Rabbids made a brief appearance with a bit of Beestie Boarding (which we've seen before) as well as a new mini game using the Wii Board to surf the skies on an ironing board.

Next up, and true to form, Reggie entertained us once again this year as he got wet and wild with Nintendo's follow up to Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort. Now before you get too excited, no, there was no mention of balance board support for this game but it does seem like a logical step. Since Wii Sports Resort is only scheduled for release next Spring it's still early days so there's still a good chance it will include Wii Board mini-games - we'll just have to wait and see. Incidentally, as part of our Wii Fit Balance Board Survey, we ask users what games they'd like to see with Balance Board support and a new version of Wii Sports is right up there so please don't disappoint us Nintendo. View the latest Wii Sports Resort videos at Gametrailers.

Finally The Shig made his appearance as Nintendo showed off Wii Music, confirming rumours that the Wii Balance Board would be used for drums, controlling bass kicks and high-hat. I have to say I really like this game, but move over Karaoke - a whole new era of embarrassing entertainment is upon us. Check out the Wii Music factsheet for more details. View the latest Wii Music videos at Gametrailers.

Here's the latest info on Wii Music from the Nintendo fact sheet.

Wii Music makes it easy for people to jam to tunes, even if they don't know anything about music. Wii Music transforms the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers into more than 60 different instruments, including a violin, steel drums, electric guitar – even a cowbell. Players strum, shake, tap and drum along to the music in a pressure-free musical playground where there are no mistakes. They can improvise on their arrangements by skipping a note – or adding 10. The music always sounds great, but it's up to players to come up with creative arrangements that they can then send to friends and family who have Wii Music. Those Wii Friends can then put their own spin on the arrangement and send it back and forth over WiiConnect24.

Create a musical masterpiece with up to four players. Anyone can play the huge selection of instruments in Wii Music with simple motions—like strumming and drumming.

• It's easy to play improv jams. Musicians in your band jam by simply playing their instruments to the beat of a song or by improvising to their heart's content. Play faster. Play slower. Skip a beat, or throw in 10 more. No matter what you do, Wii Music automatically transforms your improv stylings into great music. There are no mistakes—just playing for the pure joy of playing.
• Wii controls immerse you in the music. You can play most of the 60-plus instruments in Wii Music using simple motions with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers. Strum to play guitar, banjo and sitar. Drum to play jazz drums, congas and marching drums. Hammer away to play piano, vibraphone and marimba. Unlike most music games, Wii Music doesn’t make you use complex buttons. You only need to imitate playing the instrument.
• Wii Music offers virtually endless ways to make music. You choose the song and instruments and decide whether to blaze through a rock take on classical songs, put a jazzy spin on folk tunes or transform Nintendo classics like the Super Mario Bros.® theme into Latin-flavored numbers. The song list is only a takeoff point—it's how you improvise with the songs that matters.
• Send your band-jam recordings to Wii Friends who have Wii Music. They'll see your Mii band members, your players' improv styles and your instrument selections. They can watch your recordings, or play over parts of your song, then send their modified recording back to you. Improv jams can be sent back and forth over WiiConnect24 and changed again and again.

Wii Music includes many other modes besides the main band jams, including several musical games and an enhanced video playback mode for recorded jams.

• Play it again: Use the playback mode to see your jam recordings brought to life with dramatic camera angles.
• Pick up the baton: Command an orchestra in the conducting game where you'll wave the Wii Remote controller like a conductor's baton to lead a Mii orchestra through orchestrated music. Make them play quickly, slowly, strongly or gently.
• Ring a bell? Play a handbells game where you'll swing your Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers to play your two handbells as part of a larger ensemble. Everyone on the team has a job to do: Play one of your notes only when the tune demands it.
• An ear for music: Take a tone quiz that tests your musical ear by giving you challenges, like putting note-playing Miis in order from lowest to highest pitch.
• Bang the drum: Play a virtual drum set in the drumming mode, the one mode in Wii Music that also uses the Wii Balance Board accessory (sold with Wii Fit). You'll use the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers as drumsticks, and place both feet on the Wii Balance Board—which work as virtual pedals for the bass drum and hi-hat cymbal.

Wii Music will be available in the United States for the holidays.

It's been almost two months since the US launch of Wii Fit and although the Nintendo Wii Fit marketing machine grinds on, enough time has passed to be able to make a fair assessment of the game's success or failure. I think it's safe to say that response has been mixed but now that the initial hype has begun to die down we're starting to notice a growing sense of disappointment as we see more and more instances of users telling us why Wii Fit sucks. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big Nintendo fan, but this comes as no surprise and here's why.

From a gaming perspective, Wii Fit was bound to disappoint. The various games, while fun initially, are very limited and have no long term appeal – again, that's no surprise and I'll explain later why I say this. As far as appealing to casual / non-gamers, it was a stroke of marketing genius to position Wii Fit as a 'lifestyle' product and tap into the growing health/fitness market but here's the rub. In my opinion, gaming and exercise, certainly goal-oriented exercise, don't mix. Gaming is about having fun and getting away from reality. It's not about being reminded that in the real world you're overweight and probably going to die from a heart attack before you turn 40. Games are there to be played when you want, for however long you want and you don't want to be reminded that "it's been 7 days since you last exercised".

Wii Fit may have come as a shock to many users who bought it thinking, hey, this is a game so it will be a fun and easy way to lose weight and get fit. But it's a lot like joining the gym after that New Year's resolution – a few days in and you suddenly realise that it's not easy and actually requires more hard work and dedication than you thought. That's not to say that Wii Fit doesn't work. There are lots of examples of people having lost weight and improved their overall fitness using it but the one thing they all have in common is that they embraced the 'lifestyle' aspect of Wii Fit and committed to using it consistently (as you would with any other exercise program). For them, it wasn't a game. Whether it continues to deliver results long term is hard to say but there's a gap waiting to be filled, something that hasn't gone unnoticed by the likes of EA Games.

So does Wii Fit really suck? Well yes, if you were expecting a full-on game. Yes if you thought it would be a fun, easy way to lose weight and get fit without really committing to anything. But in terms of its real purpose (at least in my opinion) it's done its job very well. Think of Wii Fit in these terms – Wii Fit is to the Wii Balance Board what Wii Sports was to the Wii Console. Like Wii Sports, Wii Fit wasn't supposed to have long term appeal. Wii Fit's purpose was to get as many Wii Balance Boards into homes as possible; to prove to third-party developers that the peripheral could have mass-market appeal and to fill the gap between the board's launch and the release of more fully-featured balance board games.

A recent Japanese poll showed that 64% of Wii Fit users had stopped using it. I'm sure that had the poll instead asked how many people had stopped using their balance boards for Wii Fit AND other games (unfortunately limited to Family Ski at this point) that figure would have dropped slightly. Had more balance board compatible games been available, I guarantee you that the number would have been significantly less than 64%.

It really is a shame that third-party developers didn't come to the party sooner but in a way you can kind of understand their reluctance to commit to a new peripheral that could have turned out to be a white elephant. But now that Wii Fit continues to sell out everywhere I think it's clear that the market for balance board games is there and developers have responded accordingly. Of course some credit must go to Namco who included balance board support in We Ski/Family Ski which was available at the launch of Wii Fit, but it's guys like EA Games and Ubisoft who are going to pick up where Wii Fit leaves off, not only in terms of pure games but also the lifestyle/fitness market.

This month's E3 convention will really give us a feel for just how committed they are and let's hope we see some really great games released soon – we don't want lose the momentum that the buzz and excitement of Wii Fit has generated. So those of you who feel the need to knock Wii Fit now, just remember that in months to come, when you are playing games like EA Skate It or Shaun White Snowboarding, it's thanks to Wii Fit that they even exist.

If you're still on the hunt for Wii Fit (in the US) then these two sites are worth paying a visit - zooLert and WiiAlerts. They both keep a constant eye on Wii Fit at many of the top online retailers (Amazon, CircuitCity, BestBuy, Walmart) and will alert you via email or sms/text as soon as stock becomes available.

Thanks to clevelandmom who posted these sites on her blog - she received alerts yesterday morning and was able to order a Wii Fit online.

Update: UK visitors, check out Wii-consoles.co.uk for realtime Wii console stock alerts and Wii Fit stock alerts.

If you haven't managed to get your hands (or feet) on Wii Fit yet and you'd like to give it a try, Nintendo has announced more tour venue dates for July and August. Check the list below to see if the tour is in your area. For more details and a chance to win a trip to the Lake District visit feelgreatbritain.com.

JULY
Trafford Centre, Manchester (3 - 6 July)
Gyle Shopping Centre, Edinburgh (3 - 6 July)
Sunbury Leisure Centre, Middlesex (5 - 6 July)
Ikea Cardiff, Cardiff (5 - 6 July)
RAF Waddington Air Show, RAF Waddington (5 - 6 July)
Arndale Centre, Manchester (10 - 13 July)
Ikea Bristol, Bristol (12 - 13 July)
Stratford Leisure Centre, Stratford-upon-Avon (12 - 13 July)
The Royal Commonwealth Pool, Edinburgh (12 - 15 July)
Bullring, Birmingham (17 - 20 July)
Hereford Leisure Centre, Hereford (19 - 20 July)
Ikea Lakeside, Essex (19 - 20 July)
JJB Fitness Club, Belfast (19 -20 July)
Aldershot Lido, Aldershot (24 August)
Beach Promenade, Bournemouth (26 - 27 July)
JJB Fitness Club, Londonderry (26 - 27 July)
Knutsford Leisure Centre, Knutsford (26 - 27 July)
Toolcross Park Leisure Centre, Glasgow (28 - 29 July)
Xscape Castleford, Leeds (28 July - 3 August)
Xscape Braehead, Braehead (28 July - 3 August)

AUGUST
Xscape Milton Keynes, Milton Keynes (4 - 10 August)
Center Parcs - Whinfell Forest(6 August)
International Balloon Fiesta, Bristol (7 - 10 August)
Liverpool Central Library, Liverpool (7 August)
Briggate, Leeds (8 - 9 August)
Richmond Lido, Richmond (10 August)
Birmingham Central Library (12 August)
Center Parcs - Elveden Forest (13 August)
Center Parcs - Sherwood Forest (13 August)
Eastbourne Air Show, Eastbourne (14 - 17 August)
Gosforth Library, Newcastle (15 August)
Northampton Balloon Festival, Northampton (15 - 17 August)
Center Parcs - Longleat Forest (16 August)
Tooting Bec Lido, Tooting Bec (17 August)
Nottingham Central Library, Nottingham (20 August)
Braehead Centre, Glasgow (21 - 24 August)
Forum Library Manchester, Manchester (23 August)
Sunderland Air Show, Sunderland (26 - 27 July)
Brighton Beach, Brighton (29 - 31 August)

Well no suprises there then. Nintendo has done it again with Wii Fit as UK's leading retailers run out of stock within days of launch. Online stores like Amazon, Play and Zavvi are showing no stock while Game simply allows you to 'register for our Wii Fit stock updates'. Clever independent retailers are also getting in on the action, advertising the game at over £100, that's £30 more than normal retail.

It's estimated that over 200 000 units shipped in the first weekend with highstreet store Woolworths claiming sales of 90 a minute on the day of launch. According to Nintendo "We are doing everything we can to ensure we have as much stock as possible coming into the UK and Ireland not just at launch, but continually, to try and minimise any potential disappointment as much as possible."