“ExerBeat,” the latest Wii exercise game, is like one of those “Favorite Hits of the ’70s” collections you see in the checkout line at Walgreens. “Dancing Queen”? “More Than a Feeling”? $1.99? Awesome! You get home, pop it in the CD player, and immediately realize the songs sound a little … off. Then you read the fine print on the back of the CD case: “As sung by the stars of Studio Hollywood.”
“ExerBeat” is your favorite hits from “Wii Fit,” “Wii Play” and “Wii Sports Resort,” as performed by the stars of Namco. This sort of wink-wink plaigarism is a long tradition in video games — Rareware’s successful “Banjo-Kazooie” and “Diddy Kong Racing” pretended “Super Mario 64” and “Mario Kart 64” never existed — but “ExerBeat” is such a blatant ripoff of “Wii Fit,” down the the stamp you use to mark your workout calendar on days you’ve burned calories, I’m surprised it made it through Nintendo’s offices with a license and not a lawsuit.
