E3 06: EyeToy Kinetic: Combat Impressions

LOS ANGELES--EyeToy Kinetic dared to ask gamers to get up off the sofa and get into games physically, and it could accurately be described as the first interactive fitness video game. The second version of the game, named EyeToy Kinetic: Combat, focuses on martial arts and will be released in October in Europe.

The game is based on Hungar kung fu, which is a 17th-century discipline that was used by Shaolin monks to increase fitness levels. It includes lots of sideways movement, punching, and kicking and includes a lot of techniques similar to those taught in exercise classes today. The game will feature an instructor who will assess the movements you make, something that the development team calls "motion matching." After learning a specific series of moves, you can put them to the test in a series of minigames and spar against computer opponents.

Like in the previous game, the workout is split up into four various zones. In combat, you will work through the zones chronologically, moving from the basics and stepping up the intensity of the workout gradually. Hungar kung fu is split into animal styles: dragon style (which focusses on the basics of movement), mantis, crane, and finally phoenix. Four weeks is spent on studying each zone, and it's designed for beginners who have never participated in contact sports or this sort of video game before. At the end of the programme, you will be given a grade by the tutor that should push you on to take the routine again to improve your score.

The EyeToy camera is fitted with a wide-angle lens for the Kinetic series so that the full range of body movements can be accommodated in the game. Aside from the main 16-week programme, there's a freestyle mode that allows you to build your own routine, which can be saved to the memory card, and a quick play mode that has single and multiplayer minigames. One of the latter is a collection of boss characters from the main game, which can be fought by two players in alternate rounds.

EyeToy Kinetic: Combat will be getting us into shape when it launches in October, so stay tuned for a review of the game later in the year.