GeekSugar

Personal Trainer: Cooking Coming to the Nintendo DS!

GeekSugar — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 06:00:17 -0700

The first title in Nintendo's Personal Trainer series for the Nintendo DS, Personal Trainer: Cooking, makes whipping up recipes fun and easy! I had the chance to check it out last week in action and I must admit, I'm an avid cook, but with Personal Trainer: Cooking, it's like having your very own personal chef with you in the kitchen! Acting as an interactive cookbook, with this game you can access over 240 recipes from around the world and a private cooking instructor will provide video demonstrations and talk you through any recipe you choose.

As you browse recipes (by ingredients, calorie count, cooking time, difficulty, etc), all you have to do is tap a box to mark ingredients you need to buy and your DS will automatically store them in your in-game shopping list for later. And if your hands get covered with dough or other ingredients, you can use the voice command to continue the steps! This game will be hitting store shelves November 24, although there's no word on pricing just yet. Stay tuned for more titles in this series!

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Personal Trainer: Walking Hits Stores May 26

GeekSugar — Thu, 21 May 2009 10:30:15 -0700

Nintendo is really trying to get us in shape for Summer! Set to make its official debut on May 26 here in the US, Personal Trainer: Walking works by sending data between a wireless activity pedometer (which you can place anywhere - even inside a bag!) and the infrared game card in your Nintendo DS or DSi to track your walking progress.

Your DS will record your daily step count, minute by minute, so you can always go back and see your activity level. And because the card can store up to five years of records, you'll see if you're improving from year to year!

Personal Trainer: Walking costs $49.99.

Lisa Kudrow Uses Personal Trainer: Cooking on Her DS

GeekSugar — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 13:00:12 -0800

I've already had the chance to see Personal Trainer: Cooking in action, so I know just how convenient and handy it can be for novice chefs like myself. In an upcoming commercial for Nintendo, Lisa Kudrow uses Personal Trainer: Cooking to show her niece how to make Kung Pao chicken. Thanks to the software's voice activated instructions, you can easily move through the instructions without having to touch anything, as you'll see Lisa utilizing in the video below.

New Lime Green DS Lite Gaming Bundle From Nintendo

GeekSugar — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 01:45:28 -0700

It's always the way. As soon as I think Nintendo has outdone themselves with another great DS bundle, they come out with something even better to make us drool and wish we had that color instead. For instance, how hot was the gold DS and then the fire engine red and powder blue DS Lite bundles? Irresistible! But I think their latest takes the cake - a lime green DS Lite bundle which comes with a tropical chic case and the Personal Trainer: Cooking video game. Just in time for Spring and Mother's Day, these new bundles will be available in retail stores on May 3.

Must Haves For June

GeekSugar — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 04:02:03 -0700

June is shaping up to be quite the month in the geekosphere! What with the E3 gaming expo, Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, and the release of three highly anticipated smartphones, my head is already spinning with excitement and anticipation. In addition, there are some remarkable gadgets and fashionable accessories that are worth taking a look at this month as well!

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Personal Trainer - Cooking

GeekSugar — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 20:16:25 -0700

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EA Sports Active 30 Day Challenge: Week Four

GeekSugar — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:00:12 -0700

As I near the homestretch of my EA Sports Active 30 Day Challenge, I am thoroughly impressed with how much muscle strength I've gained and how I feel generally healthier. After my issues with the Wii sensor and resistance bands last week, I decided to skip the bicep curls and upright rows since I couldn't seem to get my new resistance band to work with them (yes - even when I was going reallly slow and following the instructor!). Thankfully the game still gives me lots of upper-body workouts so I don't really notice that the other workouts are gone. I think I've lost around four pounds so far, but I'm not so concerned about the weight loss as I am about turning fat into muscle.

To find out what else happened during the challenge this week, just read more.

Although this game provides you with two or three rest days during your weekly workouts (when I started, I seriously thought 30 days meant you work out for 30 days!), there have still been days I've had to miss. What I love is the fact that the game picks right up where you left off, shows you your progress, and doesn't get mad at you (like a personal trainer) when you skip a day. But what sucks about a video game is you can't say, "Hey, I actually went to the gym on the weekend, can you factor that into my progress?!"

I was chatting with my sister on the phone last night and because she just had a baby, she's trying to figure out ways to work out that don't consume a ton of her time . . . and ones that she can do at home to stay close to her little one. She was thinking about buying Wii Fit, but I think she'll really love this game with the cardio and variety of workouts. I'm going to take it with me during a visit next week, so we shall see!

Now let's see how the Green Pixels crew are doing during their fourth week of the challenge!

geeksugar's EA Sports Active 30 Day Challenge Begins!

GeekSugar — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:55:01 -0700

Get ready, get set, because I've teamed up with the ladies over at Green Pixels for our 30 Day EA Sports Active challenge! I'm all warmed up after a some fun cardio and strength training exercises, and am excited to see what week two will bring.

Included in the EA Sports Active kit (which costs $57) is the Sports Active Wii disc, a leg strap which will hold the nunchuck in place while you hold the Wiimote, and a resistance band to increase the intensity of certain exercises like bicep curls and shoulder presses. To get started, I was able to create my very own personalized character, customize circuits based on my interest and fitness level and I even got some words of advice from my personal EA Sports Active trainer - Bob Green (as in Oprah's fitness guru Bob Green). This game not only provides you with various workout routines, but that it combines nutrition and lifestyle factors into your challenge as well! And if you have a Wii balance board, Sports Active is balance board compatible - which means you can decide whether you want to include it in your workouts (some days I use it, some days I don't).

Unlike Wii Fit (remember geeksugar's challenge last year?), this game is intended to get you moving and sweating with exercises like cardio boxing, volleyball, squat exercises, cardio dancing and more (tennis is one of my faves!). Let me tell you, the exercises got me sweating so the short cool downs after each workout were very much needed! The intensity you select will determine how long your workouts are (medium intensity routines can range from 25 - 40 minutes).

If you have EA Sports Active it'd be great if you could join our challenge as well! No matter where you are at - starting or finishing your challenge - it'd be great if you could participate. All I ask is that you leave your feedback about the game and some progress notes in the comments below. Keep checking back every Wednesday to read my updates and progress!

Check out how the ladies (and man) over at Green Pixels are feeling after their first few days!

To see more photos of my experience getting started with EA Sports Active just read more.

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Use Google Doc's New Fitness Template For Tracking Workouts

GeekSugar — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 07:30:03 -0800

Just like Gmail labs, Google is always adding fun and useful template ideas to Google Docs. The latest ones that caught my eye are the workout templates, which were designed by fitness expert Karon Karter.

Just like other Google Doc templates, you can access Karon Karter's personal cardio training docs, weight training docs, and Pilates training docs for free.

What I love about these docs is the fact that you can track your own individual progress, or you can share your progress with a trainer or running group - just like 6-pack achiever Larry did with this fitness tracking spreadsheet that he shared with his workout buddies - how awesome is that spreadsheet?!

Wii Music: Don't Call It Rock Band

GeekSugar — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 09:00:41 -0700

After I got my party on with Raving Rabbids and had my fill with the Personal Trainer Chef Edition, it was time to rock out with the Wii!

Wii Music (coming out Oct. 20), is Nintendo's answer to Rock Band, but is only similar to it in the sense that you're standing-up and interactively making music. Elements of competition are removed, and replaced with the ability and encouragement to play songs any way you want.

Using the Wiimote and Nunchuk controls, you can choose among a ton of instruments like piano, violin, guitar and the cat and dog (you read that correctly), and then play with your friends to make stylized versions of classic songs. The music is a bit more midi-sounding than Rock Band or Guitar Hero, the avatars just Miis, and all the songs super family-friendly, which makes Wii Music a really great option if you want to expose kids to a music game, but aren't that comfortable with the graphics and songs that the other games provide.

Check out the video to see it in action and hear what "Material Girl" would have sounded like if Madonna were a kitteh cat!