Simon Parkin reports:
''Here's a question you should ask before you even switch the DS on: are we here to be entertained or are we here to get healthy? Because My Health Coach: Weight Management is the latest in a recent run of Nintendo DS titles to blur the lines between video game and health product.
While other titles in this fast-expanding new genre emphasise the 'game' element of their experience as much as the supposed fitness benefits, My Health Coach focuses almost entirely on the latter. Bundled with a bulky but consistent pedometer (used for recording the number of real-life steps you take), this is an experience aimed almost solely at helping players to make small but beneficial lifestyle changes. 'Play this game and get healthier': the message, like the functional, monochrome presentation, is simple and clear, even if developer Ubisoft is careful not to claim it will help players lose weight, only 'manage' it.''
Eurogamer writes: "You don't have to scroll down any further than this to know that at least one of the games in this roundup is destined for a date with direness. Dip your hand in any random pile of DS games and 75 per cent of the time you're going to be grabbing hold of something unpleasantly squishy. Perhaps that's why this set of reviews contains two games that aren't actual games. Good old lifestyle software, the result of the DS's immense popularity with people who don't traditionally fall into the gamer bracket. And, surprisingly, one of them is rather good. Who'd have thought? Don't worry there's the traditional roundup stinker in here as well. Who are we to disappoint?"
Ubisoft's sent a timely reminder today that My Health Coach: Manage your Weight is available Down Under, and the publisher says it's time to look at alternative ways to make a difference with your health, especially given today's news that Australia is now leading the world in obesity.
UK TV star Angela Griffin has signed on to promote Ubisoft's My Health Coach: Manage Your Weight in a three-month publicity campaign.
Griffin has appeared in a multitude of TV dramas including Waterloo Road, Cutting it, Holby City and Coronation Street and will be available for interviews in support of the title.
