My Weight Loss Coach (Nintendo DS, 2008)

First off, I would like to clarify that this isn't exactly a "game" per say, but more like a personal health assistant you can carry with you wherever you go. The "game" comes packaged with a pedometer that allows you to upload your steps by connecting to the DS via the GBA slot. A fairly novel idea don't you think?

For what it is it offers an extremely nice package and contains a bit more depth than what you would expect from the "self improvement on the go" trend that has been redundantly multiplying on the DS.

Aside from being able to measure your step distance in accordance to real life milestones(such as the great wall of China), it allows you to measure things like BMI(body mass index), which any health nut will know is based on a calculated balance between your weight and height. It then uses these calculations to determine what is a good goal for you to pursue and whether you should lose, gain or maintain your current weight. You will get a set number, which is based on your metabolism. This number will determine how much or how little you should eat to maintain a balanced diet in accordance to the goal you have set for yourself. You get a fairly broad list of different food items to choose to feed to your little stick figure trainer and each of those food items has a preset value of energy units(each unit representing approximately 50 calories). So as you feed your little stick character the things you eat throughout your day, the required energy units you need for the day slowly count down until they reach zero, which is supposed to equate to a balanced diet for the day based on your metabolism.

Along with the meal goals, it gives you a full set of various activities and exercises. For example, if you walked around and shopped for 2 hours, that would equate to a full two extra energy units you would need to make up for the energy you spent. So guess what? You can eat more to compensate for that energy expenditure, giving you a little personal motivation to do more activities so that you can possibly eat more food without the extra side of guilt with that.

You are also given several challenges you can perform throughout your day which is broken up into a few categories, one being the "minute challenge, and another being the "24 hour challenge". Basically the minute challenge is a quick challenge you can do right at the moment(like 15 jumping jacks), while the 24 hour challenge offers you a task to complete throughout the day(like taking the stairs instead of the elevator for a day). At other times you may be given a mystery challenge which won't show itself until you have obligated yourself to complete it, a neat little aspect to help keep things interesting.

So overall I give this game an excellent rating. For health freaks like me, it's perfect for how disorganized I am. Not only do I have a personal nutritionist to gauge what I eat, I also have a journal to record my weight and fluctuating BMI. You are able to backtrack several months back to any particular day to see exactly what you were eating as to diagnose any possible cause for those fluctuations. The game is indeed true to it's title, and I recommend it to anyone who is interesting in not only bettering their health, but also their overall lifestyles.

If I was a hopeless couch potatoe this may have jump started me into fitness but I think the program is rather elementary and the food diary is a joke. The pedometer is cumbersome and easy to reset. I like the challenges but that's about it.