Tag Archives: yourself fitness

Hands-free fitness gaming with Your Shape for the Wii

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Your ShapeThere was a lot of buzz on the floor of E3 this year after Microsoft unveiled Project Natal, and rightly so.  The potential to have a game system that can track your movements so precisely that it can actually recognize who you are when you walk into the room is pretty amazing (and, admittedly, pretty creepy at the same time).  While attaching a camera to a console to use in a video game is nothing new, the level of interactivity that Project Natal is promising is going to be a huge leap forward if it ever actually makes it out of development.  Needless to say, this kind of tool could totally revolutionize the fitness gaming industry.

Ubisoft, however, isn’t waiting around for Microsoft to finish development of Project Natal.  This Christmas they are bringing the hands-free fitness gaming concept to the Nintendo Wii.

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ShrinkGeek vs. The EA SPORTS 30 Day Challenge : Week 2

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EA Sports ActiveI’ve made it past the first big milestone in the my experiment with the EA SPORTS Active 30 Day Challenge by completing 10 workouts.  As a reward I got a new trophy and an “attaboy” video from Bob Green in which he explained that they were going to be increasing the difficulty of my workouts from this point on.  I’m much more comfortable with how the program works and I’m learning the proper way to move to maximize the benefit I’m getting from my workouts.

I don’t want to give the impression that I’ve become a total EA SPORTS Active fanboy I thought I’d take some time this week to share my thoughts on ways I think the game could be improved.

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ShrinkGeek vs. The EA SPORTS Active 30 Day Challenge : Week 1

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EA Sports ActiveIn addition to the game itself, EA SPORTS Active comes with two additional accessories – A leg strap and a resistance band.  My first half an hour or so with the game was spent reading the instructions on how to use these two contraptions.  The resistance band has two canvas hand grips that will need to be attached to it but the process is fairly straightforward.  The leg strap, however, was a bit more convoluted.  I don’t feel it was difficult to figure out at all, but finding the right placement on your leg so that it’s comfortable AND doesn’t slide is a bit tricky (at least it was for me).

Once I proved I was more intelligent than some rubber and velcro I fired up the game itself.  EA SPORTS Active does not use the default Mii avatars that are standard in the Nintendo Wii so when you’re setting up your profile you’ll need to create a new one.  I don’t consdier this a bad thing, personally.  One of the features I do not like about the Nintendo Wii in general is the overly cartoonish facet of the Mii’s and how they dominate many of the games from Nintendo itself.   Call it a psychological hang up if you will, but the Mii’s make me feel like I’m playing a game designed for children and it just doesn’t work for me in Wii Fit.

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Getting “Active” With The Wii

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EA Sports ActiveIf there is any one console on the market today that has the greatest potential for helping video game fans get in shape it would have to be the Nintendo Wii.  The interactive nature of the motion detecting controllers practically forces you to actually get up and move while playing many of the popular games available on that system (I mean, you COULD sit on the couch while playing Tennis in Wii Sports, but that might just make you a  toolbox).   Nintendo took the fitness potential of the Wii one step further back in 2007 with the release of Wii Fit and the game buying public couldn’t get enough of it.  The game and balance board combination was so popular that one creative individual came up with a website just to track when and where it was available.  Soon similar games followed, including one from fitness expert Jillian Michaels (of The Biggest Loser fame).

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