For too long the general perception of gamers has been that of a bunch of couch potatoes with greasy hair and generally slobbish behaviour - I say this in the past tense as things have certainly changed a lot lately. With the advent of the Xbox 360 Kinect more and more games have started to use your whole body as the controller. Now that it’s no longer just our thumbs getting a workout we should see a new generation of gamers with lean and fit bodies walking the streets. Or should I say ‘dancing in the lounges?’

With this in mind we’ve seen a few fitness games being published, but I use the term ‘games’ loosely as up to now these titles have been more of an exercise routine rather than a fun game to play, and this turns out to be the very best part of the latest fitness game from Ubisoft, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2012: It’s a lot of fun!

Working out is not always fun, but playing games is. So why not work out while having fun? Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2012, as the title suggests, is an evolution of how you exercise and it wouldn’t have been possible without the Kinect. The basic principle of the game is to perform actions as they appear on the screen and doing these actions will allow you to work all the required muscles as per the different requirements and goals of your workout.

But first things first.

Your Shape will ask a few basic questions about the purpose your workout serves you. Are you trying to build muscle, lose weight or just get fit? It then works out a fitness plan that suits you and your goal. It also creates an avatar of you unlike any other I’ve seen. It’s still basic, but uses real-time imagery to create your likeness rather than your silly, disproportioned Xbox avatar.

Then, it’s off to the workouts themselves. This is the real achievement of the game, where fitness and fun meet. Following your fitness schedule you start off with a basic warm-up, followed by some hard exercises and then a cool-down at the end. Without giving it too much thought I jumped straight into the warm-up and thinking I would not really be challenged by a game, I set the intensity to max. Oh. My. Word. That was my first mistake.

The warm-up comprises a few stretches and then some light cardio work. The most fun activity is skipping rope. Just like playing rhythm games where the beats flow down the screen, you now have footprints scrolling down. You then need to jump on the footprints with your avatar. At first it was silly, but then you start doing slaloms, wide jumps, narrow jumps, one-legged jumps and even hurdles. Very soon I realized I was working up quite a sweat and I wasn’t dressed properly at all. That was my second mistake.

As you finish warming up (or in my case, boiling up), you get into proper exercise. These are sufficiently varied so as not to get bored of the exercise, but rather get tired with them. Since getting tired is the big idea we will overlook this little blemish. If you want to work your legs you need to follow the on-screen gym coach and do a variety of movements focusing on your legs. Squats, lunges and a few others I have never even heard of.

Then there are also exercises for your arms, abs and even butt! Do some crate punching or less exciting sit-ups, but then it throws you into something completely unexpected. And don’t even think about cheating the trainer. After doing a whole bunch of knee-push-ups I was getting tired. So I cheated, just a little. The coach was quick to tell me “Get all the way down!” I got such a fright I actually listened. Cheating was my third mistake.

Pretty soon I was sweating so much I had to put a towel down on the floor before I slipped in the puddle! But rather than stop exercising I just carried on - it was just too much fun to quit! Every exercise has a scoring system that gives you points that equate to calories burnt, and of course being a competitive gamer I had to try and break my previous records right away. So I did the same exercise again to break my score. And that was my last mistake… especially the next morning.

The reason Your Shape is so much fun is the variety on offer. Rather than running on the spot, you’re taken through the city streets in places like London and New York City, and the game even comes with a tour guide giving you fun facts about some of the landmarks visible. To spice it up even further, the game will set you challenges like running faster for 15 seconds.

On top of everything, Fitness Evolved 2012 also includes a fun, interactive menu system and interface. For example, rather than clicking ‘OK’ to continue at the end of your workout, you punch numbers on the screen representing your calories burned. Yes, you punch them and they break into pieces - say goodbye to those calories!

Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2012 is about as close as you can get to hiring personal trainer and purchasing a gym membership, and less expensive too! Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 is the trainer at the gym, but in your living room - sign up now and have your Kinect work for you!

- The Good: Great workout while having a blast
- The Bad: Sweat on the carpet is bad!
- The Hot: Cheaper than a personal trainer and a gym membership

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