Your Shape with Camera (Wii)

"Your Shape" from UbiSoft is a direct descendant of their earlier "My Fitness Coach" program for the Wii. Indeed the on-screen coach Maya still uses the spoken exercise descriptions and instructions from the earlier title, though everything else in the program is entirely new. Unfortunately Maya seems to have been going a little cardio mad though and is no longer her toned fit self, but is now somewhere between size zero and extreme anorexia.The "My Fitness Coach" approach had been to construct unique and random exercise routines dependant on choices made by the user, and then trust the user to follow the routine, much like a workout video - just random. "Your Shape" continues this approach, but through the use of the supplied camera is able to monitor you as the exercises are performed.It seems that the use of cameras as input devices is going to be "the next big thing" in video games, however this program and the camera highlight some of the issues that people are going to find. My first issue with the camera was that the clothing I used to work out in blended in very nicely with the background, so it wasn't until I changed my clothing to contrast with the background that I had much success getting "Your Shape" to properly recognise my movements. That first issues pales into insignificance compared to the next issue I found - Space. To monitor your actions, you need to be at least 5-6 foot away from the camera, and to have an area about 2.5m wide x 2.5m long x 2.5m high, and free of clutter including protruding lights. I couldn't even hazard a guess at how few homes have an area that size in front of a television that is free of clutter.Then there's the issue of equipment: In "My Fitness Coach" you are able to use hand-weights/dumbbells, a step/deck, and a Swiss/balance ball in many of the exercises, in "Your Shape" this ability has been removed; I guess it's just too complicated to monitor with the camera. The result is a decrease in the variety of exercises and a decrease in the intensity of some of those exercises.Up to now I've been a little negative about "Your Shape", which is perhaps a little unfair. When the program does work, it works like a dream. It's impossible to stress how much more natural the feedback it gives is compared to it peers such as the truly awful EA Sports Active or the balance board based Wii Fit (Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2009 is not even worth mentioning). If I had the space then this program would probably be my home fitness program of choice, but I don't have that space and so for now will continue with it's older sibling "My Fitness Coach" and "My Fitness Coach Cardio Workout" (the shape boxing one from UbiSoft).A great program that highlights the issues most of us are going to find with programs designed to get their input via cameras rather than convention controllers.

I do try to keep fit at home and have had Wii Fit for sometime. However it is good to have some variety which is why I sent for 'Your Shape' as it looked interesting.The first thing I would say is that it is very easy to set up. Simply switch off the Wii console, plug the camera into the USB slot on the back and place the camera on top of the TV - and don't worry it is well designed to fit on the flat screen TVs.Once you have done that you enter your details, check the camera to make sure that you can see all of your body on the TV screen and you are ready to go. You set up your profile giving your weight, height and year of birth and the camera scans your body shape. Next you work through a brief workout to test your general fitness and then you are ready to exercise. You can select which parts of the body you want to exercise and set up a calendar for exercising with a choice of how long you want to exercise each day.Overall I have to say it looks good and interesting. It offers a varied exercise routine and you can see yourself alongside the on screen 'coach' so that you can see if you are getting the timing and actions correct. If you aren't it warns you and tells you which area you need to correct. It also gives you a score to tell you how you are doing.I have to say I enjoyed using it - the feedback is helpful if you want to do the exercises correctly and you don't need to worry about leg straps like you do with EA Sports active or hold the remote once you get started with a routine so the exercise flows more freely. In my view it is a good product which I suspect I will enjoy using,You do need to make sure that your body contrasts with the background you are working out against otherwise the camera might not get a true reflection of your movement and it doesn't help if you have cats and dogs (or children) running around in the room whilst your are exercising - other than that it seems to work very well.

After becoming bored with EA Sports Active I decided to give Your Shape a try and I've been pleasantly surprised. I like that you can set an overall goal as well as being able to target different areas of your body for each workout. Generally the workouts are split into 3 stages usually a cardio segment followed by exercises relating to your overall and then workout goals. You also have the option to incorporate weights, a step bench and a Swiss ball into your workouts.I've been using this game for about a month and I've not found the workouts repetitive (yet). I'm of average fitness for my age and the difficulty seems about right for me. I would've liked the option to skip certain exercises during the workout and, as others have said, Ava (the trainer) is not always consistent, telling you one second that you're doing it wrong (Arms!) and the next you'll see 'Perfect' flash up on the screen but these are small niggles.Finally, although I thought the camera would be just a gimmick, it's actually quite handy to be able to see yourself next to the trainer to see if you're doing the exercise correctly. This is especially good for the yoga sections where posture is all and despite having done yoga for years, it's shown me some things that I wasn't doing properly.