Yoga Xbox

We've noted some recent attempts by the video game industry to coddle fitness buffs, first it was the DDR workout and next came the Kilowatt Game Controller. But the first company to actually create a fitness video game, played for the sole purpose of good health, is Portland, OR. based responDesign, with their X-Box game Yourself!Fitness. The game uses virtual personal fitness trainer
"Maya", a digital Jane-Fonda type, who plans your fitness routine and leads you through 600 different workouts (not at one time), which includes yoga, pilates, and strength training. The game also has meal plans, recipes and shopping lists to teach healthy eating. So the company is definitely trying to think outside the traditional video game box, but has pretty much crash-landed right onto the fitness-video platform, populated with marginal 90's characters like Richard Simmons and BunsOfSteel. Though one unique aspect of Yourself!Fitness could surpass the played out fitness video — an included heart monitor by which Maya can kindly monitor and adjust your workout strength. A tad unnerving, but helpful if you really want to improve your fitness. Yourself!Fitness 2005 also hopes to include a live version so that participants can use a wireless headset to interact with other players in a "virtual gym" way. The game's first release is due this fall, with a PlayStation 2 version coming soon thereafter.