June 2008 – Page 10 – StuffWeLike

Introduction to Exercise + Gaming = Exergaming

Game People explores Exergaming.

Let’s go back to January. After a long break watching TV, eating rich meals and nibbles to your heart’s content, you now have to start back at work. You soon need something to look forward to – the first holiday of the year. Rather than a cold rainy commute to the grind you imagine yourself on the beach in the warm sun. So much for the mind, what about the body?

To get in shape for summer you resolve to join the gym or start cycling and running on a regular basis. You think that’s enough to get the beach friendly body you desire. Your new exercise regime should work, if only you could stick with it. But the odds are against you – surveys on new gym members every year show that by April their attendance is nonexistent.

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Games for Dad

Dads are a tricky subject. Some are loving and inspiring whilst others absent and off hand. Some are communicative and open, whilst others are as hard to fathom as the depths of loch ness. Some are in touch with their creativity and at ease with their feminine side, whilst others are purely manly. Although the people I’ve got to know through Family Gamer talk about their dads in different ways, they all seem to agree that they make up a big part of what it is to be a family.

However we do as fathers, or however we relate to our fathers, perhaps the most important aspect is to simple be there in each other’s lives. With this in mind it’s interesting that Wikipedia suggests the focus of Father’s Day is about celebrating ‘family-oriented activities’ together, rather than the ‘gift giving’, ‘flowers’ or ‘lie-ins’ of mother’s day.

Sunday June 15th 2008 is father’s day in over 30 countries. And it’s a great excuse to give Dad’s something that compliments their social, game playing, fun instincts. Let’s take a moment to pick out a few video games that should be a good fit for your Dad, or perhaps help your partner enjoy their Father’s time with your kids.

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MYST DS Giveaway Contest

$Myst\'s Island$

Yes you read correctly we’re giving away MYST for the Nintendo DS! Many thanks to Empire Interactive for supplying us with 4 retail copies of the game. You have until June 25, 2008 to enter! Watch the video below for all the rules.

If you don’t feel like going onto the YouTube video to write a comment, you can post one in this post.

Fit Game Divide

A Game People guest post.

Keeping fit is all about attitude. Any personal trainer can build an exercise program to suit your physical ability, free time and personal circumstances. But to succeed you need a good positive attitude. My first fit gamer article attracted a lot of people from the USA, so I thought it only polite to take a look at how they have approached fitness gaming. It turns out they are one step ahead of the UK here.

Here in the UK fitness gaming is an alien concept, I doubt if anyone in a position of power could even imagine the concept exists. While in the US, video games are used to dance, cycle, step and balance the nation to health. I spent some time reading up on the UK’s fitness focus to get a better picture of what do we do this side of the pond?

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GPG confirms Dungeon Siege III

Dungeon Siege not only represents an idea gone wrong, but also how you can waste about $50 on absolute boredom. While I have yet to play (i.e. never) Dungeon Siege II, I hear that it does not differ much from the point-click-kill-rinse-repeat formula. Seriously, the game had no storyline, no deep gameplay value, no detailed character customization, practically none of the hallmarks of Western role-playing games.

I could go on and on, but I restrain myself now to bring you this. Talking to Eurogamer Germany, Chris Taylor from Gas Powered Games confirmed that Dungeon Siege III will happen. Gas Powered Games is already working on Space Siege, a sci-fi RPG that looks like it will have some depth, but I can foresee that it won’t get nearly as much hype as Mass Effect.

As for details on the game, Taylor confirms that the game will be all about a single hero, unlike multi-character parties from the last game. This will go in tune with Space Siege, which focuses on a single protagonist and the changes he is willing to make on his body to take on alien adversaries. No other details have been announced yet, such as a release date or a platform. GPG’s games have, however, all been PC exclusives, so it’ll be a bit of a surprise if DS3 goes multi-console.

Vader’s apprentice from Force Unleashed now in Soulcalibur 4

In what appears to be a somewhat disturbing trend of cross-overs and cameos, we now have one more outlandish addition to Soulcalibur 4’s roster: Darth Vader’s apprentice. Star Wars nerds will be quick to point that there has been only one apprentice to Lord Vader, and that is the guy from Force Unleashed. So yeah, apparently he’s coming into Soulcalibur 4.

Darth Vader and Yoda have already been included into the roster, and we thought they were pretty much the only ones. For all we can guess now, though – we might have the entire Star Wars cast in a few seconds.

While Vader and Yoda were exclusive to the PS3 and the Xbox 360 respectively, the Force Unleashed apprentice will have no such restrictions and will be available to both consoles, because yeah – the loser apprentice is always nerfed enough to not be exclusive.

Meanwhile, rivalling series Mortal Kombat has got the DC Universe as a crossover. Batman vs. Sub-Zero or Lord Vader vs. Ivy? Must have!

Soulcalibur IV will be releasing on the Xbox 360 and PS3 on July 29. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, for the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and Nintendo DS will be arriving on September 16.