It was a good E3 for Nintendo this year, especially considering the epic failure they had last year with the completely underwhelming Wii Music. But among the talk of new Marios, a new Wii Fit, and the Wii MotionPlus one thing stuck out like a sore thumb – the mysterious Vitality Sensor (pictured above).

It’s a pulse rate monitor for the Wii, and nobody has a clue what Nintendo are plannign to do with it, outside of, perhaps, monitoring your recovery rate in Wii Fit’s aerobic exercises. Maybe.

Well, Nintendo North America President and CEO Reggie Fils-Aime couldn’t really elaborate either, but he did point out that, just as with the DS and Wii when they were originally announced, people just don’t “get” the vitality sensor. In fact, when pressed for an explanation in a recent interview with business blog Fast Company,  he said it a bit more like this:

“You and I probably had a very similar conversation when we first showed the Nintendo DS: how is it going to work, why a touch screen, voice activation–I don’t get it. We probably had a similar conversation about the Wii Remote: how is this going to work, how is it going to work with the games that I want to play–I don’t get it. Now I’m hearing something similar for the Wii Vitality Sensor. And all I can tell you is, with the game developers that we have, we will bring forth an experience that you will say, “Wow, I get it.”

Until you have that software, it’s tough to understand. If I told you that you would be standing on an oversized bathroom scale, and having fun doing it, you probably would have said, “Reggie, I don’t get it.” And yet here we are with the balance board arguably as the third largest development platform across the globe.”

I suppose the guy has a point, but my personal experience is that there were at least some people out there who could see the potential of the DS, the Wii, and the balance board. The Vitality Sensor doesn’t seem to have quite as many followers. I’m hoping that the Wii isn’t on a slippery downward slope from games machine to sadistic gym instructor, although I’m sure my pasty, lazy, frail geek body would probably thank Nintendo in the long run.

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