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UFC Personal Trainer
Because of Kinect’s controller-free technology and full body motion tracking, it has quickly become home to a number of fitness titles such as Your Shape Fitness Evolved, EA Sports Active 2, and The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout. Even though each of these fitness games had some worthwhile features, a few problems with body tracking (and in some cases bugs) were detrimental to these experiences as a whole. With UFC Personal Trainer, the team at THQ and Heavy Iron have taken a look at what worked in other fitness games such as EA Sports Active (and what didn’t) in order to develop robust features and create an overall positive fitness experience for users.
UFC Personal Trainer as the title implies is a fitness game that helps users train like UFC pros. The game was designed by the National Academy of Sports Medicine and leading MMA experts Mark DellaGrotte, Greg Jackson, and Javier Mendez. Users can customize routines or follow 30- to 60-day programs designed to build strength and endurance using Kinect’s tracking technology and voice navigation (there will be 70 exercises and 51 routines to choose from). Users can also modify programs to meet their fitness levels and objectives whether it’s to lose weight, increase strength, or build stamina and improve performance. UFC Personal Trainer will also include personalized instruction, fitness tips, and goal tracking for better results.
The title was initially designed for the Wii, but further on in development a decision was made to release the game on PlayStation 3 as well as Xbox 360. With Kinect-exclusive features including voice commands and additional workouts, THQ says the 360 version is the optimal version. During a demo with the Kinect version of UFC Personal Trainer it was clear the team took great care with the menu system. Both voice controls and voice gestures were very responsive as I worked through the polished interface. I was also able to try out a bit of kickboxing where I followed green arrow prompts to punch and kick a punching bag, and though the moves were simple, it definitely got my heart pumping.
We’ve only seen a glimpse of UFC Personal Trainer thus far. Stay tuned for the full scoop as our resident UFC fan Ben Reeves gives the fitness title a go for review (coming soon). In the meantime, check out the screens below.
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