Jenny McCarthy makes her way on to the Nintendo Wii with Your Shape, another fitness game for the ever growing fitness genre on the Wii. The box features the game and a USB Ubisoft branded webcam. That’s right there is no Wii mote needed or any other extra peripheral. Simply plug-in the camera into one of the USB slots located on the back of the Nintendo Wii, pop in the game and you’re ready to start.
First and foremost I need talk about the USB camera. It’s white, small and features a stand that will expand to provide a very stable environment which allows me to place it on top of my LCD television and it looks very stylish. Living in an apartment the lighting is not the greatest during cold Canadian winters, so my shape on the screen was dark. The game still seemed to track my moment but with the camera being such an integral part of the game maybe a higher end camera would have been in order or should I invest in better lighting?
The game starts by having Jenny McCarthy your own personal trainer take you through setting up for profile where it asks basic information such height and weight. Don’t worry ladies you can password protect your profile to keep everyone from knowing your weight. Everyone in the house could also have their own profile. Once this has been completed you’ll be asked to pose in a few positions so the game can input a digital representation of your body on screen for you to track your progress. Once this is done you’ll be asked to complete a fitness evaluation that will give you a grade and that will tell you how fit you are. Based on this evaluation the game will create a workout schedule for you.
My grade was a “B” and I was told by our host Jenny that I needed to workout 5 days a week in order to get fitter. I selected to do my workouts in quick 20 minute intervals so I could do this before I went to work. The game works by Jenny doing an exercise on screen and you are suppose to mimic the same moves properly and correctly and if you do not, she will tell you that you are not doing it correctly and tell you to go watch a tutorial video. I didn’t like this, I would have had her tell me in my work out how do the exercise rather than taking me out of the experience. Half of the time I had no clue what these exercises were yet a lone how to do them. As I explained earlier there are issues with the camera picking up my movements. Because of this I got told I needed to improve constantly. When the camera picks up your movements correctly and you’re working out, I had some fun, my legs were sore and I felt some burn. The sound track in Your Shape is really up beat and motivational for workouts and it really does help you get through the final sets when you’re tired. There are a ton of exercises available in the game including Yoga, Running, walking and there are special challenges available for gender specific work outs like active mom, bikini ready and new year’s resolution.
All in all this was a decent attempt at another fitness game on the Nintendo Wii console. The deficiencies with the USB camera not being that good, not being available to select your whole body to workout at once, and the fact the game takes me out of my workout to teach me exercises which it shouldn’t and most importantly this really isn’t designed for a male to use. With that said stick with the Wii Fit Series.
Pros:
- You can add your own workout equipment to the game
- Personal Trainer whenever you want
- Upbeat sound track
Cons:
- USB Camera
- Game relies too much on having the optimal setup, not every family has that
- Bad Tutorials
- Not Designed for Males
Feed Your Console gives Your Shape: 6.5 out of 10
Developer: Ubisoft
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