Thursday, May 21, 2009
The good folks over at Joystiq.com have reminded the DS community that Personal Trainer: Walking will be hitting the stores next Tuesday, May 26. This next entry into the "fitness" genre hopes to help gamers and non-gamers alike have a little fun with exercising. This is one of the games that hasn't had too much press release or advertisements, so if you've never heard of it that's ok, let's break it down!
Exercise with the Nintendo DS
Personal Trainer: Walking comes with two pedometers that you can wirelessly connect to your Nintendo DS system! Check out your activity rhythm, or walking habits, and see if the duration, timing and number of steps are all the best they can be. The Activity Meter provides helpful comments on whether you achieved your target and will even compare your walking performance to an animal! Personal Trainer: Walking will also set you fun Mini Targets after your results have been checked. A digital Personal Trainer at your fingertips!Product Description
Looking for a fun and helpful way to exercise? Personal Trainer Walking tracks users' progress and makes going for a walk a little more fun. It comes with two Activity Meters! Simply place the Activity Meter in your pocket or bag (or attach it to your belt with the included Activity Meter Clip Connector) and carry it around with you as you go about your daily routine. If the number of steps you've recorded in one day exceeds your daily step target, the light on the Activity Meter will change from red to green. You then transfer the data recorded by the Activity Meter to the Infrared Game Card. Once the data has been transferred, you can see the results on your Nintendo DS system and check your life rhythm! The Activity Meter will track your daily step count minute by minute, so you can take a look at any day and check your activity with a number of graphs. Up to five years of records can be saved on the calendar, giving you a clear portrait of your life rhythm over time—you can even write and save notes.[Continue reading at Amazon.com]
Go ahead and get all of the jokes out of the way, but I think this is pretty cool. I use to carry around a pedometer at work(until my son hid it a few months ago), but I know a few of my co-workers use one every day. It was actually surprising, and fun, to see how many steps you could get in on a single day. Since I work as an IT specialist at UMBC, I'm constantly running around to different buildings and offices, and was amazed to see that I could land anywhere between 9,000-12,000 steps. I think my highest was around 20,000 steps - that was a crazy day.
Anyway, I really hope that this game/gadget takes off, as it's a shockingly fun way to get a little exercise in while you're at work. The one thing I think I will miss from the included pedometer is the LCD display, as I could check my numbers instantly with my other one. But at the same time, it's a great idea that you can transfer your data over to the DS and check your stats along with other info and charts. And hey, you get to attach your Mii to this game as well!
There's probably a good chance that I'll pick up Personal Trainer: Walking, and this is a good way to get another pedometer since my son has added my original one to his hidden treasures somewhere in the house.
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