Yet Another Dance game for Kinect: ZUMBA Fitness
UPDATE:
Our full review for Zumba Fitness on Xbox 360 Kinect has now gone live, and can be read here.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Those hoping for the announcement of more hardcore titles for Xbox 360′s motion sensing camera, Kinect, will have to wait a little longer. Today international publisher 505 Games has ”announced a November 26th release for the Zumba® Fitness interactive video game based on the successful dance fitness program that has helped melt the pounds and inches off seven-and-a-half million Zumba® enthusiasts in 105 countries. Launching first on KinectTM for Xbox 360® the Zumba® exercise game is a one-of-a-kind game that pairs Latin rhythms with red-hot international dance steps so you can have a blast as you party your way into shape, unencumbered by a controller.”
“In the Zumba® “exergame”, players can learn and perfect nine different dance styles: Reggaeton, Merengue, Salsa, Cumbia, Hip-Hop, Mambo, Rumba, Flamenco and Calypso. The game features 30 different infectious music tracks and routines–some exclusive to the game–led by Zumba® creator Beto and celebrity instructors Gina Grant and Tanya Beardsley. No matter what your skill level, the Zumba® game is accessible to all with Learn the Steps training, plus Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced routines in five dynamic venues. As you hit each move in rhythm with your on-screen Zumba® instructor, the stage transforms into a high voltage party atmosphere with special effects and additional crowd dancers.”
“The Zumba® Program’s popularity has taken fitness clubs around the country by storm, so when the opportunity to work with such an exciting brand came up, we leapt at the chance,” commented Ian Howe, Managing Director, 505 Games. “We’re proud to offer something genuinely different to complement the Kinect for Xbox 360 launch line up of third party titles and can’t wait for players to try it!”
“Players can partner with a fellow dancer to try to earn the highest collective workout score or dance off against each other in Zumba® Attack multiplayer mode. Players can also log in to Xbox LIVE® and coordinate a Zumba® online class with up to eight friends. Future downloadable content will introduce new music and dance routines to keep the party going.”
Published by 505 Games, Zumba Fitness for Kinect for Xbox 360 launches November 26th. The Wii and PlayStation Move versions of the game will launch in early 2011. Kinect will be available from the 4th November in the USA, and 10th November in Europe.
We got our hands on Kinect at the Eurogamer Expo last month; site idiot Adam Radcliffe had the forsight to record his experience with Harmonix’s Kinect offering Dance Central, which you can see below:
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I liked the premise – but the interface is incredibly frustrating. Especially in the tutorials – it seems to either see you, assumes you’re doing everything perfectly and skip though in seconds without actually running much of the tutorial steps, or not see you at all and you do the tutorial forever. There should have been a “proceed?” gesture or at least a default routine with an optional skip/goto.
I am incredibly disappointed and frustrated!! The tutorials are ridiculous. I was trapped doing arm moves for eternity, with a graphic flashing at me saying, “Watch you hips!” Then on moves that were really difficult, the tutorial went at warp speed, with absolutely no instruction. The system did not recognize my movements at all. The game froze several times for no apparent reason and I had to navigate through many menus to continue. I am a tired mommy who was really looking forward to getting some exercise and doin’ some salsa in my jammies. Arrrgh. Now I am just in a bad mood.
I bought the Zumba for the Kinect about a week ago. I can honestly say, this game is kicking my butt and I love it! I’ve had so much fun playing this game, and have gotten exactly what I was looking for as far as a ‘workout game’ goes. I would reccomend this game to ANYONE!
The interface sucks. if you can get into a dance routine it is fun. I had friends over to dance, but we could not get xbox zumba to function. I will return this or sell it for cheap. way too frustrating to try to work
My sister and I downloaded the demo on live, we loved it instantly. Then we bought it a week later. It was amazing and working fine until the third day. We couldn’t get it to really work at all, but then I signed in on our live account and realized that we needed to do an update for the game, then it instantly started working just fine. It has been amazing, and it’s been an ass kicking workout. It’s a great game to have, I just hope they don’t have to update it every so often.
Worst game ever. Seriously, I love Zumba, but this just leaves me feeling uncoordinated and stupid. And I am not either of those two things. Tutorials are useless, they go too fast, and don’t break down the moves, stupid fake woman keeps telling me I’m doing great, and I’m clearly not, so it’s not responding to me, just puts in generic “encouragment” at regular intervals. So disappointed. I’m going to sell it on ebay and buy we a wii zumba. It’s got to be better than this rubbish. Merry Christmas to me. Not.