XBOX 360 Kinect

I am very uncoordinated. This is no shocker to anyone who’s seen me fall over while standing still.  There is no sport that I do not suck at.

When I used to play baseball as a child, I would volunteer for outfield and pray no one would hit the ball in my direction.  Then, as the ball would come at me, I would hold the glove over my head. And pray some more. And then, I would run. My head was a ball magnet, I knew that. And if I stayed put, I’d end up on the ground.

Forget skating.  Have you ever heard the expression, ‘hugging the boards?’ Have you ever seen anyone skate on their butt?  Lace me up and that’s what you’d get.  My parents tried expensive skates, lessons, the whole shebang.  Same with skiing.  Probably the worst skiier in history, I got scared and didn’t get off the chair lift, skii’d into a forest, and actually ran right  OVER  someone who had fallen down.  A danger to myself and others,my ski career ended at age 13.

At the gym, I’ve gone flying off the treadmill, dropped weights on my feet, and actually fallen off the step in a step class. The upside?  Being so untalented has enabled me to engage in athletic pursuits without any competitive spirit.  I know I’m going to be, at best, mediocre, so I just give whatever activity a shot and have a good time in the process.

I was very excited to be included in the Yummy Mummy Club‘s event to try out the XBOX 360 Kinect .  An exclusive night out, downtown, with a bunch of women, trying a video game?  Well, the last one, while I’m always into trying new things, wasn’t my biggest motivator.  Why?  There’s only one thing that I’m worse at than sports. And its video gaming.  Even when I play RockBand, I’m only allowed to do the singing part.  And, I couldn’t even manage Wii Fit.  In fact, I couldn’t even figure out how to to turn on the machine. So I sold it to my brother.

Anyways, back to the story, I put on my Lululemon pants, and Reebok Easy-Tones, had a delicious smoothie and some sushi courtesy of Rose Reisman Catering, and squatted and jumped through a warmup by YMC’s Sweaty Mummy Dara Duff-Bergeron.

Then, the good times  started roll.  The XBOX 360 Kinect is a motion sensor driven video game experience. XBOX bills it as ‘full body gaming’.  There are no controllers.  There are no boards to fall off of.  The doo-hicky that is the Kinect somehow in magic land projects your Avatar onto the TV screen, and mimics your every (clumsy) move.  It’s probably the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.  And the goal is to get more moving than the thumbs, turning video games into an active, participatory activity.  Now that’s a fantastic idea.

What game did we try? Your Shape: Fitness Evolved by Ubisoft.  There are others, and probably more to come.  But this game was amazing for us Mom.  Who doesn’t want to get all sleek and hot whilst hogging the XBOX from the kids?

Courtesy of 'The Star" XBOX 360 Team Playing

Want. Need. Have.  These were words that came to mind as I boxed and kicked and balanced blocks.  Then I did some kind-of dance step meets hopping thingy, and shook my hips in a hula-hooped game.  My points scores were low, by the fun factor was extremely high. There was also a personal trainer module which we did not use, and a fitness class activity that I did try, where I learned that I suck at Tai Chi as much as skill games.

So, what can I say?  I’m sore. My back hurts, my legs hurt.  I sweated and got a workout.  Definitely a ‘worthy’ purchase, this Kinect.  Put it on your list, check it twice, and failing anything else, go buy one for yourself.