New Xbox 360 Exercise Game

November 4, 12:42 PMTampa Fitness Trends ExaminerRichard Coshott

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Rage to develop Project Natal first person shooter
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The Microsoft owned games studio Rare has confirmed a new twist to video game fitness; a “first person shooter” game is underway using a new motion tracking and voice control game interface.

Fitness video games, known as “exergames”, are commonly associated with workouts and virtual trainers. The volume of these workout titles has left the consumer with an overwhelming choice and a far removed experience from regular video gaming. Fitness has been the focus and the Nintendo Wii has been the platform of choice.
 

Rare is to become set apart from this tradition by putting a focus on game play and shifting the fitness platform to Xbox 360. Currently there is only one exergame for the Xbox 360, the Pro-Sport from Gamercize, which uses fitness machine motion to play any game without pausing. Rare’s proposed entry shows that exergaming in “Xbox Exercise” is a growing fitness trend.
 

Rare can bring much to putting the fun back in exergaming from its background in the video games industry. The games studio knows how to make games that are compelling to play. Successes from recent titles such as Viva Piñata, Perfect Dark and the Banjo Kazooie series are all indicators that fun and playability will feature heavily.
 

The technology of motion and voice control Rare will be using for its new video game has yet to be released, and is only known as Project Natal. The video below showcases what is possible using the new Xbox technology with human interaction with an artificial intelligence in a virtual world.
 

Motion control is not a new concept for exergaming or in fighting games. Sony’s EyeToy for the PlayStation 2 was introduced early 2000. The motion tracking technology is used with games such as Eyetoy: Kinetic Combat. The PlayStation 3 gets a version of the EyeToy, called the PlayStation Eye, but this yet to be adopted as a true game input device.
 

Until previews are available there is no news on how much energy playing the game will expend, or how playable one of the most intense hard-core genres of video games will be under motion tracking.