The arrival of Wii Fit on British shores is expected to provide some relief for embattled store chiefs, with the product's launch on Friday due to be a major sales event.

It comes on the back of the most lucrative quarter in the history of the computer games industry, spelling good news for listed entertainment retailers including Game and HMV. According to Chart-Track figures seen by The Observer, games sales jumped to £418.4m in the three months to March - up by more than £100m year-on-year - fuelled by new console launches such as the Nintendo Wii.

The £70 Wii Fit game, which comes with a balance board, has already sold out on internet sites such as Amazon and Play.com, with retailer Zavvi now holding back stock to sell in stores. Woolworths is going even further to hype the launch, rebranding key stores Wiiworths.

'The buzz around Wii Fit is huge,' says Woolworths games trading manager Gerry Berkley. 'It will be one of the busiest shopping days in gaming for some time and it could be even bigger than the launch of the Wii itself.'

Wii Fit is seen to target women as users can practice yoga and aerobics as well as extreme sports such as snowboarding.

Nintendo hopes it will match its success in Japan, where one million units were sold in 10 days at the end of last year.