Enter the Octagon, where two men enter – and eventually both men leave after a serious workout. That’s sort of the idea behind THQ’s UFC Personal Trainer: The Ultimate Fitness System. We at KineticShift take a bit of offense at the idea that a video game would be the “Ultimate Fitness System,” but this upcoming game features more than 70 MMA and NASM-approved exercises, including moves from disciplines including wrestling, kickboxing and Muay Thai.
Basically this is a bit of shadow boxing, shadow kicking and the like. There are 51 routines, and users can focus on specific fitness objectives and even target specific muscle groups. While we also don’t think this game alone will get you in ultimate shape, we could see that this could be part of a well round workout that is anything but routine.
There are some games that just make instant sense, and then there are the games like Michael Phelps: Push the Limit. In this one players get to try to go for the gold and beyond in a swimming game – pool not required, not included and not compatible.
A swimming game for the living room? That’s right. The idea behind this motion control game is that players simulate swimming, moving their arms to simulate the motion of swimming in the water. The upcoming game utilizes Kinect for the Xbox 360 and from the scenes on the show floor it could get gamers’ hearts pumping. It features a variety of unique settings – but it isn’t exactly the career path that Phelps took. We figured he swam in school pools, city pools and Olympic pools, not in outdoor pools on icy mountain ranges. But that’s artistic license.
This is one that could be hit or miss, or dare we say sink or swim. Michael Phelps: Push the Limit is out now exclusively on Kinect for Xbox 360 from 505 Games.
This could be the year of the Kinect for the Xbox 360. 123KINECT has compiled a list of the games we hope to check out at this week’s Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles.
E3 2011 Kinect Games Announced:
Champion Jockey
Forza 4
Hulk Hogan’s Main Event (Over the Top Wrestling?)
Michael Phelps: Push the Limit
Mind ‘n Motion (Left Brain Right Brain?)
Rise of Nightmares
Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster
Star Wars Kinect
Take Shape (Harley Pasternaks Hollywood Trainer?)
The Gunstringer (XBLA)
The Sims 3 Pets
UFC Personal Trainer: The Ultimate Fitness System
DaVinci Kinect (Microsoft Surface application ported to Kinect) NEW
While we know that Majesco will have new action games at this week’s E3 including BloodRayne Betrayal (PSN, XBLA) and The Hidden (3DS), the company will also have a few titles to get you off the couch and get your heart pumping. This week the company will be unveiled Zumba Fitness 2 for the Nintendo Wii.
We’re also hearing that Majesco’s E3 lineup will include:
Hulk Hogan’s Main Event (Kinect for Xbox 360): It’s all about the show in the first motion-based wrestling game on Kinect for Xbox 360 that lets players train with mentor Hulk Hogan as they build their own wrestling personalities and learn the art of showmanship to win over the crowd.
Take Shape (Kinect for Xbox 360): Turn game night into a hilarious interactive party with the fast-paced Take Shape for Kinect! Twist, stretch and shrink your body into hundreds of different shapes, animals and symbols. “Shape yourself” solo to beat the fastest time or team up in multiplayer mode to unite your on-screen silhouettes in fun new ways. Fit through forms, bend into shapes and animals, match a mirrored image… even clear stacked shapes lightning fast in this fun-for-all-ages experience. Be flexible; be quick; be the life of the house party in Take Shape!
Mind ‘n Motion (Kinect for Xbox 360): Think fast and stay coordinated in Mind ‘n Motion! This fun, family-friendly experience puts your motor skills to the test with activities that keep your entire body moving as fast as your mind can trigger your next move. From juggling to dodging shapes to jumping hopscotch, Mind ‘n Motion packs in ten levels per activity and mixes it up throughout with additional gameplay elements like inverse controls, faster pace and new tricks to make you think quick on your feet!
Check back all week for the latest in active video game titles from the Electronic Entertainment Expo.
In a unique twist, THQ’s popular video game The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout video game will be actually make it’s the show that inspired it. The game will be featured on tonight’s episode of the hit NBC series, with an all-new, downloadable endurance challenge. Following the episode, owners of the game will be able to download the “TV Show Challenge” content for free for the Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect.
During the episode, five contestants will participate in four challenging rounds of exercise moves, lasting five minutes each, taken directly from the TV Show Challenge. Contestants’ scores will be based on how well they perform the exercises in the time allotted.
As an added bonus, for 24 hours following the May 10 episode, the “Pilates” pack will be available free (a $4.99 value) on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout.
Strange as it may seem some video game technology is actually not available in China. This is because of a combination of technology that is banned for export to China, as well as a ban on the importation of the systems by the Chinese government. And let’s not forget that there are no doubt fears that it will result in mass pirating.
The latter is no doubt a concern, as has been seen in recent years just about any technology can be reversed in China, and we pretty much known that the Blackhawk helicopter that was destroyed in the raid to kill Osama Bin Laden will likely be studied very closely by the Chinese military. This could jump start China’s attempts to get stealth technology for rotor aircraft, and area where the country has so far lagged behind.
Another area where China is already looking to jump ahead is surprising enough in the aforementioned video game space, and now Lenovo, China’s largest PC maker, has introduced a console to rival the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox 360, complete with motion control.
Originally known as the eBox, the console has reportedly been renamed the iSec, which stands for “Sports Entertainment Center.” It will include motion sensing technology that works much like that in the Microsoft Kinect, suggesting that this could be used for a range of gaming styles – allowing players to take part in Chinese style martial arts action adventures and of course fitness games.
There is some irony in all this. The Chinese government had banned the Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 as there were concerns it could harm the country’s youth – and of course there had been bans to export some hardware to China. But now the Chinese are looking to get in on the game, and the computer gaming market is on the rise Chinese seems to think if you can’t keep it out, embrace it. The final question will be whether China attempts a US invasion with the iSec.
Sony and Microsoft have reaffirmed their commitment to their current generation consoles, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 respectfully, and made it clear that it will be 2014 before either company brings out a next generation console. Both Sony and Microsoft gave their current hardware significant makeovers, notably the PlayStation Move and Xbox 360 Kinetic respectively; both of which came out last fall.
Nintendo’s Wii, which was released in 2007 – just days after the Sony PlayStation 3 arrived at retail – hasn’t seen the similar upgrade. While it dominated the gaming arena thanks to its innovative motion controller system, the hardware was far less cutting edge than either the Sony or Microsoft consoles. The Wii doesn’t support HD and doesn’t provide the same streaming opportunities as the PS3 or 360. Likewise, Nintendo has been hit on the handheld front too, as Apple’s iPhone and more recently the iPad have stolen some of the Nintendo GameBoy’s thunder. Continue reading Nintendo to Wii 2
This week video game publisher Ubisoft along with sports drink maker Gatorade announced a new new partnership to deliver a workout series designed specifically for fitness athletes for Ubisoft’s popular video game Your Shape: Fitness Evolved, which is available exclusively on Kinect for Xbox 360video game and entertainment system
Gatorade has enlisted the talents of celebrity-trainer Gunnar Peterson to develop a workout series created around the G Series FIT, their new line of innovative products for fitness athletes. The Gatorade-inspired workouts are now available as a free download from the Xbox LIVE marketplace. The ‘G Series FIT Workout with Gunnar Peterson’ offers personalized training sessions with one of the country’s top celebrity and athlete trainers and the workout plan is designed to inspire and fuel the inner athlete in everyone. The downloadable workout plan includes a 30-minute full-body toning program, and introduces new exercises including jumping jacks, squat raises, lunges, and other new moves that integrate free weights and dumbbells.
After the workout gamers can recharge with a Gatorade, because we think they’ll have earned it!
Want to train like a UFC fighter? It doesn’t need to be intimidating. THQ is releasing UFC Personal Trainer: The Ultimate Fitness System, a fitness-oriented game due out this June. UFC, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, is an organization that pits different style fighters against one another. Fitness routines and full programs are designed to challenge and motivate users looking to get in shape. That includes over 70 mixed martial arts (MMA) and National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM)-approved exercises. Benefit from disciplines such as wrestling, kickboxing and Muay Thai. Each workout is designed to improve strength, endurance and conditioning through the routines. All 51 routines, along with nine exclusive bonus routines on the Kinect for Xbox 360 version, will be specialized to target specific muscle groups, and factor individual skill levels and fitness goals.
UFC Personal Trainer was designed by the NASM and support from MMA training experts Mark DellaGrotte, Greg Jackson and Javier Mendez, who have worked with UFC fighters.
Move over Sony PlayStation Move, the Xbox 360 Kinect motion control system is seriously moving. This week Microsoft announced that it has sold more than 10 million Kinect motion-sensing game system units worldwide in just the four months since it was released.
That makes it the fastest-selling consumer device on record. The infrared camera add-on for the Xbox 360 game console is priced at $150, and has steadily outpaced Sony’s competing Move device. But let’s not move too fast.
Sony had previously noted sales of 4.1 million units of the Move in its first two months, and still has not taken into account holiday sales. So what is clear is that consumers are looking to get moving with video games and for that we can’t complain.
If you’ve done too much eating this week and can’t get to the gym, you could still burn some of the calories while gaming with the family. So instead of just sitting on the couch watching football and parades give Game Party: In Motion for the Xbox 360 Kinect a go around.
The game includes 16 classic and new favorite activities including darts, table hockey, root beer tapper and basketball shooting.
It is official, there is no reason not to want to be a loser, and by that we mean a big loser, as in The Biggest Loser. Based on the hit reality series The Biggest Loser health and fitness games for the new Kinect for the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii have arrived.
The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout for Kinect for Xbox 360 features a dynamic routine of exercise moves that are adjusted to how well the players do. And The Biggest Loser Challenge for the Nintendo Wii offers its own challenging ultimate workout that uses resistance bands as well as a stability ball. Players – if players is actually accurate considering that the idea is to get a workout – can work out with a friend in 4, 8 and even 12-week programs, which can be customized from more than 125 exercise moves, including cardio boxing.
Since working out alone won’t keep you in shape, both titles include a library of 50 recipes and a wealth of valuable nutritional tips to keep up a healthy lifestyle.
Today Microsoft released the Kinect for Xbox 360 in stores. This is the device that uses motion capture to maneuver within games, replacing the controller. This means you pretty much have to play games standing up and in many cases pull off full body movements to play.
Here are a group of games that are also now in stores in conjunction with the release of Kinect.
Enter the Octagon, where two men enter – and eventually both men leave after a serious workout. That’s sort of the idea behind THQ’s UFC Personal Trainer: The Ultimate Fitness System. We at KineticShift take a bit of offense at the idea that a video game would be the “Ultimate Fitness System,” but this upcoming game features more than 70 MMA and NASM-approved exercises, including moves from disciplines including wrestling, kickboxing and Muay Thai.
