THQ has announced that they have something new in the works, though there will be no crazy, silly, mayhem in Deepak Chopra’s Leela which will release November 8. In fact, Leela (not the purple haired, one eyed, martial arts master from Futurama) is not even a game. This title should come as no surprise, as THQ already said they were going to be working with Dr. Chopra, who is an expert on and strong advocate of alternative medicine. Chopra, who has been practicing for decades, now has a private practice which focuses on a strong mind-body connection for healthy living and is hoping the medium of videogames will be another way of getting people healthy.
Leela will be released for the Kinect on the Xbox 360 and the Wii and will focus on yoga and meditation. The whole program will work toward getting the Seven Chakras of users aligned for “greater well-being, opening new avenues of possibility and personal fulfillment.” Each Chakra point will have its own stage, though the point is inner harmony so there will be no winning or losing. As mentioned above, this is not a game. Becoming a chi master is serious business.
There will also be other features, such as something called “stillness meditation” which teaches various deep-breathe techniques and uses the Kinect sensor to offer guidance. Another experience will be the chance to create “mandala” which is a visual representation of your inner self. I am not making any of this up either, in case you were wondering.
Now, I have done some yoga before, at the insistence of a friend and I can tell you from personal experience that yoga is hard. Some of the advanced yoga poses are ridiculous, and I am certain people will buy this. I wouldn’t even mind giving it a go, just to see what it is, but when anyone mentions chakra to me, I instantly think of Naruto, and then have a hard time taking them seriously. So it is with Leela (which I keep saying in a Zapp Brannigan voice), but fitness games usually do pretty well since there are always moms or sisters or girlfriends that are more interested in working out than in murdering dudes with chainsaws. And just so you know, this is a real title. Destructoid is not trolling you.
