OK, OK ... calm down. I'm not insinuating with that headline that Nintendo's upcoming Nintendo DS non-game Personal Trainer: Cooking is a way for me to put my wife to work in the kitchen. On the contrary: my wife is going to love it because it's probably going to get me to actually start cooking.
I'm not going to lie -- I'm one of those guys who thinks preparing something as simple as mac and cheese is more difficult than getting in my car and going to Taco Bell. With that said, my wife (and my son, interestingly enough) does most of the cooking in my house. I'm scared of preparing food, simply because I don't know what I'm doing in front of the stove or with a cutting knife. With Personal Trainer: Cooking, I have a feeling Nintendo is going to change all of that for me.
Details after the break.
The game features 245 recipes from around the world, and will not only detail their ingredients, but what to do with them. Don't know how to fillet a fish? Check the video tutorial. Not sure how to saute carrots? Personal Trainer: Cooking has got you covered with the details of the process, and what you'll need to make it happen.
Personal Trainer: Cooking really looks like it's going to make it easy to throw together some tasty, fancy-looking meals, detailing everything from preparation to the ingredients to the total cooking time (and even total calories). You can sort recipes by region, ingredients, and the game will even allow you to make substitutions for ingredients based on taste or allergies.
The game also utilizes the Nintendo DS microphone for voice activation; simply saying "Continue" will let the game know you're ready for the next step. This is useful in the kitchen, allowing you to set the DS down and get your hands dirty while preparing your meal. On the loud Media Summit floor, the game was easily able to recognize my voice; I can only hope there won't be any Brain Age-like issues ("Blue! BLUE! BLUE!!!!") that will leave you hanging in the middle of throwing together a dish.
Really, Personal Trainer: Cooking seems like a pretty amazing tool, for both beginner cooks like myself, as well as more seasoned pros. (The fish they were serving, made using the software, was to die for.) It's easy to laugh and write off the software simply because it's not a game; I certainly did. But seeing the real-world, useful application of Personal Trainer: Cooking in person has definitely opened my eyes a bit.
I certainly plan on picking this up when it ships on November 24, just in time for Thanksgiving. And no, you can't come over for dinner.
Contest:
9:07 AM on 10.06.2008
| 
I don't understand it though, my girlfriend will happily look forward and play this but won't even consider playing mario galaxy or something. I swear to God if there was a game called 'tax return trainer' she'd want it.