I'm not fat...it's just that this Nanosuit is rather unflattering...

There is - and always will be - one industry that remains consistent; unaffected by issues such as the global recession or currency instability - that of Health and Well-being. Now, we exist in a World obsessed with beauty and perfection, with the by-product being a somewhat global insecurity in both ourselves and our bodies. Yet, while beauty, physical traits and obscure features all constitute towards this insecure-mindset, there is one specific fear that drives us more than anything; pushing us from one fad to the next...the fear of fat.

In fact, such is our fear of the blubber that, on a recent valuation, the Fitness Industry was estimated to be worth around £3.7 billion (or $6.04 billion for our Trans-Atlantic cousins). Whether it is fad diets, the distribution of 'superfoods' or expensive gym sessions, we have - rather ironically - over-indulged in this corporate bull for as long as we can remember; and by the looks of things, this seems unlikely to change.

In the last 10 years, the Health Industry has begun to branch beyond its conventional means, looking for its next big break or opening with which to spread its message. So imagine the attraction of our beloved videogame industry, one that is believed to be worth in excess of £26.9 billion ($44 billion). However, its impact to date - which growing - has been minimal, confined to a niche market of gamers residing through the Nintendo Wii, PlayStation Move or Xbox Kinect; but with these latest results, it would appear that this may be changing.

Zumba Fitness, the latest release from developers Pipeworks Software and publishers Majesco, has this week become 505 games' first ever 'all formats' number one, knocking Crysis 2 back into second. Furthermore, the release is the first fitness title to reach the top since Wii Fit Plus back in 2009. While the analysts are suggesting that the hot weather is to blame for this anomaly, I would say they are being a little naive, and would be far from surprised if Zumba Fitness was just a sample of what is to come.

We cannot be sure as to whether the hot weather or ever-increasing growth of the Zumba-fad are responsible for the titles success. However, what we can be sure of is that gaming certainly has a new genre - Fitness - and, with such saturation amongst its competitors, the genre is certainly an attractive one...but is it gaming? I hope not...

See also:

I'm not wearing my bio-med sensors, Houston

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