Ubisoft makes Examiner.com sweat (Your Shape / Just Dance)

November 9, 11:18 PMSF Gaming Lifestyle ExaminerMiguel Concepcion

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Last Friday, Ubisoft gave special guests and journalists the opportunity to preview two of their more physically intensive new titles for the Nintendo Wii. In a densely packed casual games market, the company has added some stand out features to set themselves apart from other games in the fitness and dancing realms.

The morning presented the camera-enabled Your Shape featuring Jenny McCarthy, which looks to be the most personalized fitness video game to date. Three years in, it is rather surprising that it took this long for a developer to come out with a camera peripheral for the Wii.  Ubisoft Marketing Manager Renelly Morel (who also goes by the Fragdoll name, Psyche) showed how the camera scans the player, giving her a full body analysis to help tailor a unique workout plan. By answering a series of questions involving goals, enthusiasm, and picking a body part to work on, this workout plan becomes even more customized for the user.

With the camera, the game takes the bold step in showing the player on-screen during their workout. Hopefully this mirror effect should further motivate even the most out of shape gamer. Not relying on any Nintendo accessory, Your Shape does not use the Wii Fit balance board nor does it use the Wii Remote during the workouts. The game instead encourages the use of traditional exercise equipment like yoga mats, weights, and balance balls. Ensuring that Your Shape holds the user's attention in the long run, Ubisoft did not hold back on the content. The game features over 480 exercises as well as 75 music tracks. You can also turn down the game music and use your own tunes instead.

 

Later that evening, at-home fitness gave way to dancing as Ubisoft fired up Just Dance with the help of Raider and 49er cheerleaders. Much like the no-accessory approach of Your Shape, Just Dance does not rely on a dance pad. Using just the Wii Remote, players simply follow the on-screen moves. The diverse range of tunes was certainly a selling point, featuring songs like 'Cotton Eye Joe', 'Womanizer', and the Junkie XL remix of 'A Little Less Conversation'.

After one beer and two glasses of wine, I had no excuse to not join the Raiderettes and the Gold Rush Cheerleaders in a dance session. As a moderate Anglophile, I decided on 'Girls & Boys' by Blur. The girls decided to make it easy on me by selecting the shorter version setting (all the songs are available in their full length version as well). With a moderate difficulty rating, dancing to Blur's 1994 hit proved to be a painless exercise with the exception of a couple (accidental!) bumps with one of the cheerleaders. The score totals at the end put me in 3rd place in this 4-player game, leaving me with the odd satisfaction that I out danced an NFL cheerleader.