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| From: UBI Soft
Category: Video Games
List Price: $39.99
Buy New: $31.91
You Save: $8.08 (20%)
New (26) Used (8) from $28.21
Avg. Customer Rating:  42 reviews
Sales Rank: 888
Platform: Nintendo Ds
ESRB: Everyone
Media: Video Game
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Age: 5 - 20 years
Operating System: Nintendo DS
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 0 x 0 x 0.1
MPN: 16410
Model: 16410
UPC: 008888164104
EAN: 0008888164104
ASIN: B000X25GWW
Release Date: June 24, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Brand New! Sealed!
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| Customer Reviews:
 pedometer a pain September 25, 2008
Pedometer clip is hard to attach to any but the thinnest clothes. Pedometer resets itself all the time - I assume the reset button is too sensitive and I am bumping it. The food and exercise input is not exact enough for anyone who is obsessive, but it will at least keep you accountable. This is a GREAT use of the DS and I hope Ubisoft redesigns the pedometer reset button and I would be happy to get a "My advanced weight loss coach" that is more exact with calories and has more sophisticated trivia questions and such for those of us who are lifelong dieters and are looking for a database/log of food and activity but don't need to be told that fried Chicken has more calories that celery....Oh, and my biggest gripe of all is that Ubisoft has no easy way to leave them feedback, so I had to come over here and gripe.
 My family always says... September 17, 2008
If you want me to do something, turn it into a game. Well that's exactly what this program does for weight loss. The only downside is paying a little extra for a not so great pedometer - my solution to that is when it eventually dies (which if I drop mine a couple more times I'm sure it will) I'll just get a really good pedometer and enter my steps manually. However, the pedometer part is just a fraction of the game - the rest is definitely worth it.
my weight loss coach September 16, 2008
0 out of 5 found this review helpful
I have not had a chance to use it yet,but am looking forward to it.
Very Kludgy Interface but you do get a free pedometer September 16, 2008
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
My Weight Loss Coach DS is an awesome idea. It comes with a free pedometer, that you can plug into your DS! It lets you track your steps each day easily. The rest of the 'game', though, is a mixed blessing.
The game is broken out into a number of areas. Each day you plug in your pedometer so it knows right away how many steps you took wearing it. I already own a pedometer which plugs into a computer, and I have to say my other one is much better. This one just counts total steps. The other one actually tracks them by hour and by intensity - so you get an instant graph of how active you were each hour, which were quiet steps, which were energetic steps and so on. It's much more helpful.
You can input other activities you've done, but it's a very kludgy interface. You choose an icon of what type of general thing you did - housework, team sports etc - and then manually spin a clock dial to point at an interval. It won't even let you check the box if it's under an hour worth of effort.
Then there are challenges - both food and activity related, both short term ("do now") and longer term ("do by tomorrow"). Sometimes the items are easy - hide the salt, clean out the fridge. Sometimes they are more complicated, like go out jogging. However, sometimes they are just non-doable for some people. Go jogging and don't come home until you spot an animal? Go bake some bread from scratch? Organize a team sport and get your family and friends to play? I can easily see some gamers getting frustrated by these types of challenges because they simply don't have the supplies or ability to do them in their environment.
The DS will say something like "do 20 lunges" but give you no idea how to do them. You have to go find your manual and look it up. With other activity DS games I have, they explain the activity to you and have animated demonstrations.
Even some of their "coaching tests" seem not quite kosher. They rate you down if you drive a car to the corner store rather than walking. Some of us don't have "corner stores" within safe walking distance.
For daily food tracking, they don't use calories or carbs or other normal units. They use "energy units" which means the things you're learning will be completely unhelpful in the real world. Also, the interface is again extremely tedious. Let's say you ate a serving of turkey. You have to go paging through the general food types, find the poultry area and drag down a poultry item. It then separates into different types of poultry - turkey, chicken and breaded chicken. You drag one of the turkey items onto the person. You have to do that with every single food you eat, all day long.
I definitely appreciate what it is trying to do, and I imagine most people would find it cute for a week or two, but I really don't see most users going through that tedious interface for more than that.
Finally, the game is very much set up for completely sedentary people. Its idea of activity is to stand and sit 10 times. If you are not in the "obese" range, I am not sure their activities are really going to help you become more healthy. Even for obese people, I think there are many other better options out there to help you improve your health.
Still, if you really love your DS and don't own a pedometer, this isn't a *bad* choice. I am all for people using whatever works for them. If you don't mind this interface and enjoy the little challenges, then have at it! Being active this way is far better than being inactive.
Rating: 3/5
A good start, but needs improvement August 27, 2008
The game in itself is cute and entertaining. It does well in suggesting challenges to get moving and actually thinking about what you're eating, but it has definite room for improvement.
I was aghast when it told me I was in a healthy BMI range. I know from experience that I'm healthiest and at my fittest weighing 30lbs less than I do now, so I had to actually lie to the game to make it suggest weight loss goals to me. I had to tell the game I was 30lbs heavier than I am, and 2 inches shorter. I don't think a game should decide for you if you should lose or maintain weight; that should be a personal decision and you should be able to adjust goals accordingly.
The way of keeping track of calories is pretty cute, selecting options from a list and feeding your little avatar person. What I don't like about it, is that the calorie content of the options is very generalized, estimating calorie content for the different food options. I'd like to be able to enter in my own calories if it differs from what it presented. Also, I wish there was an option to judge your diet based on nutrition and healthy choices, not just calorie counting.
I've had the game for about 3 days now, and it really isn't bad for being the first one like this on the DS. It's not as comprehensive as I'd hoped, but it's good for what it is. I agree with the other review that said they should release a second one with more customization options.
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