A long time ago, in a magical land simply known as 1985, there lived a plumber named Mario. It was Mario’s duty to rescue the princess from the evil King Koopa and restore happiness to the Mushroom Kingdom.Mario is a big factor that helped make Nintendo who they were in the ’80s and ’90s. Fast forward to today: Mario has been replaced with a bathroom scale.The bathroom scale I am referring to, of course, is the highly popular Wii Fit. Getting young kids and soccer moms off the couch to wiggle their hips around, Wii Fit has sold more than 20 million units worldwide since its 2007 release.That should mean a lot of fit people around this green earth of ours, right?Now what right do I, a broke college student, have to criticize the rich and arguably the most well known company in video games?Absolutely none. But that’s what I’m here to do today.Nintendo introduced the world to many classic characters. Mario, Donkey Kong, Link and Kirby are just a few members of the iconic Nintendo cast. Lately, however, Nintendo seems to be focusing more on making the player look goofy waving their Wii remote around than focusing on the core gameplay once making them great.Nintendo has reached what I call the Apple level.What I mean by this is they have taken the attitude of “we can make whatever we want and people will still buy it.”Case in point — the Wii Fit.Nintendo is making a lot of people think by buying this little balance board they’ll all of a sudden look like the happy models on the front of the box.News flash: That’s not how it works.Does playing Wii Fit for an hour or so get your heart pumping and blood racing? Sure it does. It’s getting people off the couch and moving. What it can’t do is replace simple jogging or going to a gym and getting in a good, hard sweat to shed those extra pounds.Building on this Wii Fit craze, Nintendo also requested a patent for what looks strangely like a stationary bike. Yes, the same stationary bike you ignore at the gym can soon be yours to connect to your Wii and watch your virtual self pedal on your television.”But Adam,” people cry, “why can’t you just see it as another fun little game? No one actually thinks it’ll work like that.”Trust me. A lot of people think Wii Fit can replace a trip to the gym when the only thing it is good for is holding up your wall after you get tired of using it.Nintendo is also in the habit of overpromising, underdelivering and then at a later time, releasing and charging you extra.When the Wii was released in 2006, everyone imagined how great it would be to play the new Zelda or Star Wars game and swing their remote around as a sword or lightsaber.However, to many people’s (read: my) disappointment, any small flick of the Wiimote will make your character on screen swing their sword like a madman. Nintendo has, however, released the Wii Motion Plus accessory which gives the remote that 1:1 ratio of motion everyone expected three years ago.This is how the remote should have been built in the first place, not tacked on three years later for a “very affordable” price of $20 per remote.Even with their weak video game lineup this holiday season, Nintendo will continue to be a huge success with their products.People love to put their remote inside of a gun, tennis racket, baseball bat or steering wheel just so it plays more “fun” and “real” although these crazy accessories have no effect on the game at all.Nintendo knows this — they’re not stupid — and they will continue to make oodles of money from it. Unless people actually realize what it is they’re buying – which, of course, will never happen.Adam Arinder is a 20-year-old electrical engineering junior. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_aarinder.–Contact Adam Arinder at [email protected]