"This Ring Fit thing is just a way to gloss over the harm gas can do. How could it possibly compare to real exercise?"
Sociologist Jean was openly dismissive.
On the very day Ring Fit was announced, he saw tons of people hyping the ga on social dia.
In different regions, Ring Fit was advertised in different ways.
In Japan, they featured the most popular and pure-image female celebrities, keeping everything soft and fresh.
In Arica, the marketing leaned toward a more trendy, youthful look—a group of energetic young people using Ring Fit, sweating and smiling as they exercised.
In the UK and similar places, the comrcials took on a British gentleman style—well-dressed male models in suits demonstrating the Ring Fit out on the streets, with a bit of European humor, but still highlighting the product's features.
Thanks to these region-specific ad strategies, the mont the comrcials aired, they received widespread praise. Many people said they rewatched the ads several tis just for how well made they were.
...
...
But that didn't change Jean's disdain for video gas.
He used his own social dia platforms to keep criticizing the harmful effects of gaming.
To him, Ring Fit was just a gimmick, and the idea of it providing real exercise benefits was a joke.
All that dramatic sweating shown in the comrcials? He believed it was nothing but staged acting. Once people actually tried the product, he was sure the reality would be much more underwhelming.
So people were convinced by Jean's opinion and decided to hold off on buying.
But many others were unaffected—especially people like that white-collar worker who had been instantly drawn to the comrcial.
He didn't spend ti on social dia. His daily life was just work and ho, a strict routine, so he was never exposed to the criticisms.
On the day Ring Fit launched, he actually took a rare day off just to go out and buy Ring Fit Adventure.
He rushed back ho, eager to try it out.
"Huh? Honey? You're ho early today."
His wife was a gentle and caring woman. After sending her husband and child off to work and school in the morning, she usually spent her ti cleaning the house, doing laundry, and sotis eting up with neighborhood won for so light gossip. That was the typical lifestyle of many Japanese housewives.
Even though it was already 2007, many Japanese won still chose to beco full-ti homakers after getting married. The governnt had long encouraged gender equality and equal pay, but social habits were hard to change and might take generations to shift.
So when she saw her husband co ho this early, she was surprised. Normally, he wouldn't return until much later.
"I took the day off today. But never mind that—honey, I bought sothing interesting. Want to try it?"
"Sothing interesting?" She was curious, then suddenly thought of sothing, and her face turned red with a shy smile.
"Is that why you ca ho early? Because of this... interesting thing?"
"Sort of. I think this might help bring the whole family a little closer together."
"Eh?"
She looked puzzled.
Then she saw him pull out a ga console and a copy of Ring Fit Adventure.
"What's this?"
"It's a ga console. I rember our kid has been wanting to try it for a while. He kept saying all his friends have one. I suddenly felt like maybe our family should have it too."
Her shy expression turned calm, then slightly awkward.
"But I rember you used to be really against video gas... said they were addictive, right?"
"I did think that way, yeah. But I feel like maybe it's ti to change my view. There's a new ga on this that made think video gas might not be so bad after all. And didn't you say you've been thinking about getting into fitness?"
"Yeah, I've wanted to get a gym mbership, but once you add the personal trainer costs, it gets expensive."
"Well, maybe you can try this instead."
He handed her the Ring Fit ga case.
She examined it curiously. "What is this exactly?"
"It's a ga called Ring Fit. I don't really know all the details, but based on the comrcials, it looks pretty effective."
"But... it's still a video ga, right? Can a ga really help with fitness?"
She looked skeptical.
"Well... why not give it a try?"
He looked hopeful.
In his mind, he kept replaying the countless tis he'd seen the Aika Kamimura ad. Watching her glistening with sweat—he figured that even if it worked half as well, it would still be worth it.
"Alright... let's give it a try."
She gave up her plans to visit the neighbors and decided to stay ho to try it out with her husband.
The neighbors would probably understand.
The office worker eagerly rushed to the TV and followed the manual to set up the console. It was so easy even a kid could do it, so he had it ready in no ti. Then he inserted the Ring Fit Adventure cartridge.
To play, he had to buy additional detachable controllers. Altogether, he had spent over 50,000 yen—a big purchase for him.
If the ga turned out to be disappointing, he figured he'd give up on video gas altogether. Still, he wouldn't return it—it could be a gift for his kid.
Of course, he'd still limit his child's playti. No getting addicted.
His wife watched patiently as he finished setting it up. When he finally handed her the Ring Fit accessory, she examined it with curiosity.
It really did just look like a simple black ring. But it had good resistance, maybe it could even be repurposed as a household tool.
After so busy preparation, the man had everything ready. He followed the ga's instructions to insert the controllers into the leg strap and the ring.
The ga began.
"Alright, honey. Follow the prompts and give it a try."
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