So for the uninitiated, this game is basically a fitness game developed in conjunction with some branch of Nike. It utilises the Eyetoy camera to run you thorugh a series of games to boost (and I quote) stamina, body conditioning and relaxation.
It comes with a special wideangle lens which attaches to the front of your Eyetoy to, uh...widen the angle. This is my first experience with the Eyetoy, so I thought it'd be interesting (the 'game' comes in two flavours, with Eyetoy, or without - both have the attachment in a sponge holder stuck into the memory holder slot of the disc case).
Well, first off, the presentation is pretty top notch - tutorials teach you how to play each game, and many options to help you set up the eyetoy sensitivity and so forth. The entire pacakge is definitely presenting itself as a fitness regime - the games are organised into four groups: cardio, toning, combat, and mind&body. You can choose to set up your own routines, or enter a 12 week fitness program with a personal trainer. Included are warm up and strech down exercises. The manual and game are constantly stressing fitness hints, from diet, heart rate (letting you know whether a particular bout is too easy or hard for you), and others.
The games themselves are pretty straight forward (I didn't try them all - I'd be dead if I did), but include things like:
*smash the blue balls dropping without smashing the red ones (requires you to contort into some funky positions at times)
*smash bricks that appear
*smash blue things, while dodging some bouncing red ones.
and so on. They actually gave me a pretty decent workout, but then, I'm notoriously unfit, so go figure.
Now the Eyetoy itself was both bad and good. Options for bright and dim rooms were good, but I couldn't seem to get the game to acknowledge a part of my room with dark curtains. Upping the sensitivity worked for a bit, but later, the camera was continuously hitting the left most option in the menu (menus are controlled by movement too), not to mention the tutor kept saying I was too close, when I obviously wasn't. I get the impression the software itself is pretty good, but the camera just isn't picking up enough resolution, or contrast to really be accurate. I could use a different background if, well, I had one. And you can give up the notion of using this in a small space - you need a large one to jump around in.
Ok, so all in all, I think the package is good and probably achieves what it sets out to do, but either the Eyetoy just isn't there yet, or my surroundings are terrible. Either way, I'm not sure I will keep this.
It comes with a special wideangle lens which attaches to the front of your Eyetoy to, uh...widen the angle. This is my first experience with the Eyetoy, so I thought it'd be interesting (the 'game' comes in two flavours, with Eyetoy, or without - both have the attachment in a sponge holder stuck into the memory holder slot of the disc case).
Well, first off, the presentation is pretty top notch - tutorials teach you how to play each game, and many options to help you set up the eyetoy sensitivity and so forth. The entire pacakge is definitely presenting itself as a fitness regime - the games are organised into four groups: cardio, toning, combat, and mind&body. You can choose to set up your own routines, or enter a 12 week fitness program with a personal trainer. Included are warm up and strech down exercises. The manual and game are constantly stressing fitness hints, from diet, heart rate (letting you know whether a particular bout is too easy or hard for you), and others.
The games themselves are pretty straight forward (I didn't try them all - I'd be dead if I did), but include things like:
*smash the blue balls dropping without smashing the red ones (requires you to contort into some funky positions at times)
*smash bricks that appear
*smash blue things, while dodging some bouncing red ones.
and so on. They actually gave me a pretty decent workout, but then, I'm notoriously unfit, so go figure.
Now the Eyetoy itself was both bad and good. Options for bright and dim rooms were good, but I couldn't seem to get the game to acknowledge a part of my room with dark curtains. Upping the sensitivity worked for a bit, but later, the camera was continuously hitting the left most option in the menu (menus are controlled by movement too), not to mention the tutor kept saying I was too close, when I obviously wasn't. I get the impression the software itself is pretty good, but the camera just isn't picking up enough resolution, or contrast to really be accurate. I could use a different background if, well, I had one. And you can give up the notion of using this in a small space - you need a large one to jump around in.
Ok, so all in all, I think the package is good and probably achieves what it sets out to do, but either the Eyetoy just isn't there yet, or my surroundings are terrible. Either way, I'm not sure I will keep this.
