While the national sports retailer won’t be officially announcing the Wii push at their stores until Thursday, some of the chain’s locations started getting their Wii on last weekend.

The Colorado store pictured here received their equipment on Friday, setting up the training area and merchandise that night for a launch Saturday.

Store manager Mike Gabriela told Kotaku today that they trained a number of their employees to explain how the Wii and Wii Fit work, something they’ve also to educated customers about other sports equipment from skis to treadmills.

Gabriela says that the weekend drew crowds around the console set-up and that the store, which sells the console and an eclectic mix of games, saw brisk sales for everything from accessories to copies of Cabela’s Big Game Hunter.

Sports Authority president David Campisi says that the Colorado company, which operated about 450 stores, has been working on the deal for about half a year, but that he was interested in selling the fitness-themed games since Wii Fit first hit stores in 2008.

“This is about getting the nation fit,” Campisi told Kotaku. “This could be really, really game changing.”

The chain started a soft roll-out of the Wii Fit Experience earlier this month with 102 stores selling the Wii, Wii Fit, Wii Fit Plus, accessories and other sports and fitness-themed games, Campisi said. The experience is set up along side the chain’s more traditional exercise equipment like weights and treadmills.

“On Saturday I had people from 30 stores sending me pictures of kids on the Wii Fit board all day,” he said.

The official announcement of Sports Authority’s deal with Nintendo to sell their console and games will come this Thursday with the help of fitness expert Jillian Michaels, star of The Biggest Loser and her own Wii game Wii Fitness Ultimatum.

Campisi says that Thursday’s event at their Torrance, California store will include more than 100 Wii boards and an attempt to host the world’s largest Wii Fit Plus workout.

“In our fitness departments we carry a lot of equipment,” Campisi said. “There are many, many ways to get fit and exercise, this is just one additional opportunity.”

The Nintendo-funded study, led by the National Institute of Health and Nutrition in Tokyo, measured the metabolic equivalent values (METs) generated by participating in Wii Fit and Wii Sports activities. METs are a standard way of measuring energy expenditure, with moderate intensity exercise defined as any activity with METs of 3.0 or above.

By far the most effective exercise in the study was Wii Fit’s single-arm stand, which at 5.6 EMTs was just under the AHA’s definition of vigorous activity, which kicks in at 6.0.

The loser? Wii Sports Golf didn’t make the cut, falling in at 2.0 METs, which isn’t really surprising when you consider that most of your exercise in golf comes from walking and drinking.

Here are the results as they stand:

Wii Fit Single-Arm Stand: 5.6 METs
Wii Sports Boxing: 4.5 METs
Wii Sports Tennis: 3.0 METs
Wii Sports Baseball: 3.0 METs
Wii Sports Golf: 2.0 METs

So aside from single-arm standing, the study proves that hitting imaginary people is a healthy way to spend your day. Good to know!

Nintendo Wii may provide actual exercise: study [Reuters]

The group has released a report on the super-popular home fitness program, drawing on research performed by the University of Wisconsin. And this report has found that even Wii Fit’s most physically taxing workouts can’t hold a candle to actual exercise.

Wii Fit’s boxing, for example, burns only one-third of the calories of actual boxing, while the other four most intensive modes — Free Island Run, Super Hula Hoop, Advanced Step and Free Step — only burned between 100 and 160 calories for every 30 minutes of exercise. Considering a cheeseburger has around 300 calories, you’ll be on Wii Fit all day if you want to really burn some fat.

Perhaps most damning/hilarious, however, is the report’s finding that while Wii Fit burns more calories than a regular game — where you’re doing nothing — it’s not as good for you as a session on Nintendo’s own Wii Sports.

Ah, the power of marketing.

American Council on Exercise Charts ‘Underwhelming’ Wii Fit Health Benefits [Gamasutra]

At the meeting yesterday where the DSi LL was announced, Kotaku has learned that it was announced that, yes, Shigeru Miyamoto has a cat. Nintendo typically keeps Miyamoto’s hobbies secret because they sometimes end up as the inspiration for new games.

Currently, Miyamoto is working on the new Zelda Wii title, which will sport swordplay with the MotionPlus feature. He is also working on a “DS game to play at home” and is interested in how the DS can be used in “public spaces”.

Nintendo mentioned that the company was not against HD, and Miyamoto pointed out that a title like Wii Fit would not benefit greatly from HD, but the Nintendo creator added that a game like, say, Pikmin would.

“I’d like to get involved in video games, since I really love Wii Fit,” the diva recently said. “I think it would be a great idea to incorporate choreography, because, for me, my workout is way more fun when it involves dancing, as opposed to running on a boring treadmill.”

So what kind of game would Beyonce like to make? “So I would love to do some kind of fitness game but incorporate dance and performance into it. I think a lot of women would enjoy that.”

Earlier this year, Beyonce became a spokesperson for the Nintendo DS. If you are looking for someone to blame for any future Beyonce games, blame Nintendo?

Beyonce eyeing fitness video game [Spicezee via GameCulture]

The listing says the weights don’t interfere with the IR capability so, hell, why not hook it up to Dead Space: Extraction or Madworld for a real workout?

Wii Weights (2lb Dumbbells) [Everlast, thanks fusioncam]

San Diego Padres pitcher Heath Bell bought Wii Fit for his 11-year-old daughter, originally, but hijacked the game for himself as part of his off-season training routine. Bell tells the Journal that the game makes him a better ballplayer with its balance-focused exercises.

I’m just happy to have an alternative to senior citizens and the Wii Fit girl as motivation to play the game. Also, Bell’s story inspires me to keep an eye out for a “pro training” mode in Wii Fit Plus.

Go watch Bell shake his butt (sorta):

A Pitcher’s New Core Routine: A Videogame and a ‘Hula Hoop’ [Wall Street Journal]

Target is currently offering a console bundle including Wii Fit for just $430. That is, they’re essentially selling the Wii for $300.

Which is great news.

The bad news is that I have been slack in bringing this to your attention and the offer actually ends tomorrow. Sorry ’bout that.

Have a photo of a pretty girl playing Wii Fit by way of compensation.

Reader, Martin, sent us the link and says the gym has been wallpapering local TV with ads. Good for them. Now, who’s to say if Nintendo feels like going after a fitness club. But yeah, the name does sound a smidge like the brand on the no. 5 selling game of all time—and one strongly associated with exercise at that.

But my name’s Paul, and this is between y’all.

We-Fit Tucson – Personal Training and Post-Rehab fitness [thanks Martin]