Video Game Review: Nike+Kinect Training

Nike+Kinect training was developed by Sumo Digital, Microsoft Studios, and Nike and was released on October 30,  2012. The following February, the Nike+Kinect training team development was nominated for a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Games award.

The game allows users to earn and compete with others players with NikeFuel points, a unit that measures athletic performance. In others words, it tells how fit you are. The game is available on the Xbox 360 platform. It also belongs to the genre of exergame and fitness. Its game rating is E (Everyone) and, according to the official website of Xbox, this rating means that the game has content that’s only suitable for ages 6 and older. Games that have this title may contain minimal, fantasy, or mild violence, and/or rare use of mild language.

The popularity of this game is average and I say this because some people will see this as a game where you can have fun but it’s not, actually. According to one critic on the website of Metacritic, “Nike+ Kinect Training is not fun, and it’s not supposed to be either. It takes training very seriously and does a great job of motivating you with a lot of good and demanding exercises. The presentation isn’t great and the trainer gets out of sync sometimes when trying to correct you on something. Overall, this is still one of the best training programs available on Kinect. But it’s just not a game.” (Eurogamer Sweden)

When you start the game for the first time it will ask you to provide your height, weight, birthdate, and gender. It does this to give a more accurate training. You also have the option to choose your personal coach, either Alex or Marie; they are both based in real athletes.

After you have chosen your coach, you will have to choose your goal, which can be to get strong, toned, or lean. Depending on your goal, you will need different tools. You don’t really have to have much equipment on hand, but you do need a lot of space because you will be moving a lot, and I mean a lot! You also have the option of changing your goal any time if you wish.

Once you have picked your personal coach and set your goal, you will be doing an assessment which will test your abilities and you will also do a fitness challenge. Then you will be given scores on athleticism and fitness. Based on your results, you will be given a workout calendar that’s completely personalized and you can choose when to work-out.

The approximate time for a workout will be 30 minutes. After your personal training is set up and complete you can chose to do a quick start, challenge drills, or a five minute session.