Hot on the heels of Mastiff's announcement of their Major League Eating game, Ubisoft has announced My Weight Loss Coach for the DS, a game which attempts to coerce our portly peers to dust off the Cheetos crumbs and get active. While Major League Eating hasn't been confirmed for the Wii, Nintendo would be incredibly remiss in not snapping the title up and bundling it with My Weight Loss Coach, the irony factor alone would sell at least three copies (which is three more than would likely have sold in the first place).
My Weight Loss Coach includes a pedometer peripheral which can be updated via the DS, the data from which can be converted into "Real Life Landmark Checkpoints", a system of recognizable measurable distances that are based on examples from life. Each profile created on My Weight Loss Coach creates an evaluation of your improvement potential as well as objectives based on your recommendations, so if you're really really fat your improvement potential is low, the game won't set you up with unrealistic goals.
Personally I can't think of a better way to gently inform your friend, lover, family member, or complete stranger that you'd like to see a little less of them. Much like the bevy of weight loss accessories sold via infomercials in the wee hours of the morning, I'm sure that My Weight Loss Coach will be the key to whipping sedentary gamers into shape. If nothing else at least it won't take up as much room in your closet as all the other neglected excercise equipment.
SAN FRANCISCO — February 11, 2008 — Today Ubisoft, one of the world's largest video game publishers, announced that it will publish My Weight Loss Coach for the Nintendo DS(TM) system. Developed in Ubisoft's Montreal studio under the guidance of both a fitness coach and a nutritionist, My Weight Loss Coach is a program designed to focus on taking positive steps to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
"My Weight Loss Coach allows us to approach casual gamers with something innovative," said Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Ubisoft. "The game creates customized coaching sessions based on skill level, and, for the first time on DS, includes a pedometer. My Weight Loss Coach not only allows users to take control of their physical well-being, but it does so in a fun and engaging manner."
My Weight Loss Coach features include:
• Personal Profiles: Create your personal profile and evaluate your improvement potential, then set up your objectives following the recommendations based on your personal profile
• Input Reward System: Log your progress on a daily or weekly basis, tracking your physical activity and nutrition habits
• The Pedometer: A peripheral device that comes with the game and can be easily updated through your DS, it's the best way to control your daily physical effort, challenge yourself and balance your food intake
• Real-Life Landmark Checkpoints: As a reward, all the physical activities you achieve and good nutrition habits you acquire are converted into measurable distances based on real examples
My Weight Loss Coach is rated E for Everyone by the ERSB and will be available this summer.
The "My Coach" brand, part of Ubisoft's Games for Everyone division, is made up of a series of games that encourages players to improve themselves while being entertained at the same time. Other titles in the brand include: My Word Coach for a stronger vocabulary, and My Spanish Coach and My French Coach for foreign language development.
Next page: More Ubisoft stories
 Article contributed by Qais Fulton
15 comments | showing # 1 to 15
|
3:07 PM on 02.11.2008, 
The best and worst '4th' videogames EVER!
Retroforce Recap: so what about those dirty games, now?
Check out Into the Night with Chris Crawford & Jason Rohrer
The best videogames of 2009 ... so far
Destructoid interview: StarCraft II's Dustin Browder
Videogame characters that I would have sex with
Top ten Jeff Goldblum games (because I think he is dead)
My Father the Phone: A tribute to Ness's dad
