exergaming
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'Pokémon Go' creator Niantic to develop GPS-based tourism games
It was at the helm of GPS/AR/Maps-based "exergaming" in 2013 with Ingress, saw phenomenal success with Pokémon Go, and will launch a location-based Harry Potter mobile game next year. Now, Niantic is making the natural move into tourism-focused games. In partnership with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), as part of its Travel.Enjoy.Respect program, the games company will create new experiences that encourage players to explore and discover the hidden histories of both their own neighborhoods and further afield.
Niantic revives ‘Ingress’ for the post–’Pokémon Go’ world
Niantic has a problem. It's the king of GPS/AR/Maps–based "exergaming," but it's leasing its empire. Pokémon Go is built on IP it doesn't own or control, and a portion of the profits are sent back to Japan. A chunk of the proceeds from its forthcoming Harry Potter game, already a likely blockbuster, will go to J.K. Rowling. It's why Niantic is taking the time to remind the world that its own, original IP, Ingress, still exists.
Report: 'Kinect Play Fit' and 'Joule' are Kinect-ercise tools
Microsoft is prepping for Kinect Play Fit and releasing hardware codenamed "Joule" to accompany it, according to sources speaking to The Verge. Kinect Play Fit will track exercise across "most Kinect games," providing metrics that'll be stored in the cloud. Joule is expected to be a heart-rate monitor, allowing wireless monitoring to keep exercise "within a target goal for weight loss, strength, or cross-fitness workouts."Joule and Kinect Play Fit are compatible, but are two separate products. There is no expected launch window, but Verge sources also claim a future dashboard update will introduce the system. We're checking with Microsoft if it has any comment, but most of this (if true) will likely be revealed at E3 in a month.Update: "Microsoft does not comment on rumors or speculation."
Wii Fit patent lawsuit dismissed
We know you've been unable to sleep restfully since the announcement of InterAction Laboratories' 2010 lawsuit against Nintendo, so you'll be relieved to know the situation is resolved. Nintendo announced this morning that a Maryland judge has summarily dismissed the case, which alleged that Nintendo's Wii Fit games and Balance Board accessory (among pretty much every other Nintendo peripheral) violated patents owned by IA Labs for exergaming devices.IA Labs' last announced gaming product was the "XR Station," a controller attached to a big lever, that players must exert pressure on -- push, pull, lean -- to operate. It also showed the "Sqweeze" in 2008: a Wiimote peripheral with two rubber grips to squeeze.
DDR Classroom Edition gets kids moving on sweet wireless mats
Though we imagined the DDR Classroom Edition setup as a bunch of kids fighting their way out of a tangled mess of cable in some smelly gymnasium, the end product looks a lot more interesting -- and a lot more wireless. These kids are dancing on some sweet mats!
Face and 'effort' controlled iPad game helps you outrun the competition (video)
If you're looking for some exergaming action, but don't have the rhythm -- or lack of self awareness -- for some existing sport game accessories, how about a game controlled by effort? Using your iDevice's camera and accelerometer, BitGym has created a control system for playing iOS games while on your exercise equipment of choice (possibly not the trampoline though). The first release is a racer that converts rate of exercise to acceleration and head movement to steering. We're told there's an SDK too, so developers looking to trim-up can make their own gym-distractions. Fit Freeway is available now, but if you want to see it in action, without breaking a sweat jog on over the break for a demo video.
Exercise your right to view a Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2012 trailer
Looking to get in shape for, uh, Christmas? This November, Ubisoft will release its sequel to Kinect launch title Your Shape: Fitness Evolved. Luckily for us, Laurel House is ready to talk about the sequel now in this latest trailer.
ECA Institute launches Gamers for Health program
Need a little encouragement to get started on your New Year's resolution to cut your body fat in half while simultaneously doubling your muscle mass? Well, it sounds like that particular goal might require some elective surgery to achieve -- but if you're looking to get generally healthy, the Entertainment Consumers Association wants to help. The ECA Institute has put together an initiative dubbed Gamers for Health, which will "provide ECA members and the gaming community with the tools and resources necessary to help incorporate gaming activities into healthy lifestyles." We doubt that mission statement translates into "free Wii Fits for everyone" -- rather, the program will allow ECA members to create a profile and list their daily exergaming activities, sharing goals and tips with fellow users. That's not a terrible idea; we've long searched for a way to share our "Pokémon and Pilates" technique with the masses.
Your Shape getting 12 different DLC packs, first due in 'early December'
Next month, Ubisoft begins a full-on Your Shape: Fitness Evolved DLC strategy by offering its first of 12 planned fitness program packs throughout the first half of 2011. This first content pack, which will be available in "early December," includes the "Body Toning Program" and "Cardio Boxing Platinum," a new fitness regimen and advanced exercise class, respectively. The second bunch of DLC, available "shortly after" the first set, will include "New Year New You," a program designed to get players back into shape after the holiday festivities, and "Dance Workout Bollywood," a high impact dance workout using popular Bollywood dance moves." It all sounds well and good, but if we can't summon demon hipster chicks afterward, we're gonna feel cheated. No price has been set for any of the DLC, though Ubisoft did say it'll offer each pack individually or in bundles. We just have one question: With all of that DLC to create, how will you find time to get your online portal fully functional, Ubisoft?
Your Shape: Fitness Evolved introduces 'Your Shape Center' portal
One of the ways Your Shape: Fitness Evolved plans on keeping players motivated and encouraging interactivity is with the Your Shape Center, an online portal that not only provides feedback on your own progress but allows players to motivate each other through custom challenges. An example given was setting a certain number of calories users would need to burn over a predetermined amount of time. Then through the online portal, you could see which of your friends completed or failed the custom challenge in question. It's a motivational tool Ubisoft hopes will keep users engaged over the long run. For a brief overview of Your Shape Center, stretch your clicking finger and head on past the break. %Gallery-104425%
Preview: Active Life Explorer
It's pretty much a Wii version of Uncharted 2. Okay, that's a bit of a stretch. However, one of the levels of Namco Bandai's Active Life Explorer has you running down a train, jumping from car to car, as you try to make your way to the front. Along the way, you'll be dodging overhead lights, in a frantic rush to stop the train from meeting a fiery end. But, unlike Naughty Dog's PS3 game, you're not shooting your way through. Instead, you use a DDR-esque mat to literally run through the game. The Wii is no stranger to fitness games (the Active Life franchise already has multiple iterations on Nintendo's console). However, what makes Explorer so charming is that it actually feels like a game. The game's Treasure Adventure mode features a world map and story, and has you traveling through the map, talking to NPCs and activating challenges to progress in a quest to find treasures. Although simplistic, the narrative does a good enough job of giving some context to the various mini-games you play.%Gallery-97638%
Finally, a Wii Sports Resort rowing exercise machine
Remember when you first played the Rowing event in Wii Sports Resort, and wished that there was some way you could simulate the tactile feedback associated with dragging a paddle through water? Peripheral manufacturer CTA Digital, which brought us the 8-in-1 Wii Sports Kit, the Wii Remote Dumbell Set and the 9-in-1 Wii Sports Kit, has created a device which fills your very specific need: The Wii Rowing machine, currently available on Amazon for $34.99. Check out a video demonstration of the peripheral after the jump. We know you're probably a little bit dubious, but what you don't know is that you can also use it to do sit-ups. It practically pays for itself, in the sense that having a tight, rippled abdomen counts as its own form of currency.
GameStop holding Wii Fit Plus demo events
If lifestyle software like Wii Fit Plus is truly "evergreen," selling for long periods of time beyond the normal sales cycle, then we suppose it follows that its marketing can be evergreen as well. Which is why Nintendo can hold "Wii Fit Plus Demo Days" at GameStops across the U.S. now, even though Wii Fit Plus was released in October 2009. If you're curious about, say, the ridiculous Bird's Eye Bulls-Eye event, or the ability to create workout routines, you can go to one of the 100 participating stores between 1-4pm on April 25 or May 2 and try it out for yourself.
Nintendo sued by exergaming company IA Labs
Was it something we said? No sooner does Nintendo close the book on the two-year-old Anascape suit than does the prolific peripheral manufacturer get slapped with another legal challenge. Gamasutra has obtained documentation of a lawsuit filed against Nintendo, on April 2, by exergaming company InterAction Laboratories, a.k.a. IA Labs, a.k.a. Powergrid Fitness, for alleged patent infringement. In typical dramatic legalese, the suit cries out that IA Labs has been "irreparably harmed" by Nintendo's violation of two of its patents through a long list of Wii products. Here goes: the Wii system itself and its primary controllers, the Wiimote and the Nunchuk, and the MotionPlus add-on; Wii Fit, its expansion pack, Wii Fit Plus, and its peripheral, the Balance Board; and the Wii Zapper. Phew! Are we forgetting anything? Oh, yes -- the Wii Wheel. Uh-huh, that circular piece of plastic is allegedly infringing upon a patent for either (1) "Computer interactive isometric exercise system and method for operatively interconnecting the exercise system to a computer system for use as a peripheral" or (2) "Force measurement system for an isometric exercise device." IA Labs claims that these two patents are used in a number of its products, including the Kilowatt Sport and Exer-Station controller. Both have won an award at separate CES events. If you're real up on your Wii peripheral pitches, you will recall the Sqweeze, a ThighMaster-esque device for your hands, developed by IA Labs and introduced in late 2008. While a PC version appears to be available, the Wii iteration never made it to market, perhaps evidence that the relationship between IA Labs and Nintendo soured long ago. Documentation from the recent suit reveals emails from 2007–2008 between the two companies, which had once been in talks for IA Labs to license its technology to Nintendo.
Interview: EA Sports Active 2.0 executive producer Tarrnie Williams
Tarrnie Williams, formerly of Relic Entertainment, now spends his days working at EA Burnaby on EA Sports Active, which now has him wearing plastic peripherals and extolling the virtues of exercise in his role as executive producer on EA Sports Active 2.0. He's definitely very eager about working out, and he's eager to shake the image of chubby dudes playing games in their parent's basement. He wants them to be fit while they're down there. We talked to Williams at the EA Sports Opener at GDC where he deftly dodged questions about the Xbox 360 version, and didn't give up much information on the iPhone and iPod Touch versions, other than the fact that "they're online enabled." We'd sure hope so. He does talk about the peripherals and future plans for the property, which includes monitoring your brain. So jog beyond the break to read the full interview.
EA Sports Active 2.0 coming this fall to Wii, PS3 and iPhone
EA Sports' "Season Opener" event at GDC contained one major announcement for the developer's bevy of franchises: EA Sports Active will receive the sequel treatment this Fall with EA Sports Active 2.0 (working title), an updated version of the exergame for the PS3, Wii, iPhone and iPod Touch platforms. The console versions of the game will come equipped with two motion sensors and a heart rate monitor the player can strap to their arms and legs. User information in this new game can be shared over an online social network, allowing fellow players to keep track of how frequently you've been skipping out on your demanding workout regimen. EA Vancouver is reprising its role as developer for the title. We'll let you know when we hear more about 2.0 -- like, for instance, why the game is apparently skipping out on launching on the 360.
Seniors can be tricked into exercising with video games, study might suggest
It doesn't take a research grant to figure out that exercise -- heck, just walking around the block once a day -- can have a dramatic effect on a person's well-being. The problem is that so-called "older adults," who are particularly prone to a mild but no less debilitating depression known as subsyndromal depression (SSD), are really just too bummed out to do much of anything. Here's where the grant money comes in: Dilip V. Jeste, MD, and his team of researches at UCSD gathered up 19 seniors diagnosed with SSD and had each of them play Wii Sports for 35 minutes, three times a week. "The study suggests encouraging results from the use of the exergames," Dr. Jeste reports. "More than one-third of the participants had a 50-percent or greater reduction of depressive symptoms." Additionally, most participants claimed that learning to to play those darned vidja games was actually pretty easy -- even enjoyable. Uh-oh. Red flag! You see, had Dr. Jeste continued his study, he might have found that his guinea pigs would soon discover that Wii Sports can easily be played with the slightest flicks of the wrist and, ah yes, it is nice to just sit back on the couch again, but, oh boy, this game is really getting boring, so let me just get on the dag blasted google and see what -- here we go -- "the best videogame right now," okay, the yahoo's answer says: World of Warcraft. Warcraft, eh? That certainly sounds better than bowling. Couldn't hurt to give it a quick gander ... click.
Finally, a Wii exercise game with a bicycle accessory
You may see a Wii exercise bike accessory and think it's ridiculous. We think it's about time. Not because there's never been an exercise bike controller before, but because there has. The Life Fitness Exertainment System did the video game/exercise bike interface back in 1994, allowing players to pedal along with Mountain Bike Rally or Speed Racer. However, you had to order the thing, and it cost around $3500.While the bike accessory with Big Ben Interactive's Cyberbike has yet to be priced, we are certain it'll carry a more modest price point than the Life Fitness system. Unless the company has to make back what it'll lose when Ubisoft sues it for calling its other newly-announced exercise game My Body Coach.
Your first look at Your Shape's camera
[Update: Trailer has been removed at Ubisoft's request. You see, it was only approved for European consumption due to lack of an ESRB rating ... on the world wide web.] Ubisoft has released a video for GamesCom highlighting Your Shape, the Jenny McCarthy-endorsed, camera-focused exergame for Wii. The video highlights the game's camera, giving us a good look at the device and an explanation behind the technology powering it (hint: it's not rocket science). While it bares resemblance to Project Natal, unlike Microsoft's peripheral, Ubisoft's device and Your Shape will actually be out this year -- more precisely, this December. We know, it's a crazy concept for a game to release during the 2009 holidays.
Japan gets Wii Fit Plus on October 1
Japan will get Nintendo's new and improved version of its fitness title on October 1, as andriasang discovered the above advert showcasing the date for Wii Fit Plus. Not only that, but you can also see a price there: ¥2,000 (about $20) for the game alone, ¥9,800 (about $102) for the game and Balance Board bundle. Who knows if it'll be priced accordingly when it hits the States this fall, though we think it's a safe bet. If there's one thing a gaming blog knows best, it's fitness and exergaming software.[Thanks, Mr. Khan!]
