In my recent review of The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout for Kinect, I mentioned that it’s a decent game and a nice thing for fans of the TV show to get. I may have to amend that statement already. Because last week, THQ released a free add-on to the game which I think may catapult it into the realm of “must have”, at least for past, present, and potential fans of the TV show.
On week 19 of the Season 4 TV show broadcast this month (May 2011), they mentioned the Xbox Kinect. You can watch it here (start at 27:30 for where they talk specifically about the Xbox).
What was announced as The Biggest Loser TV Show Challenge, a free download available on the official Xbox site. It lets you literally compete virtually against the actual contestants on the real show. You can do the exact same workout challenge that they’re doing and compare your performance to theirs (they’re doing it on an Xbox too, playing their own virtual characters with the same scoring system, so you’re comparing apples to apples).
While incorporating things like the Biggest Loser Ranch, Challenges, and Bob and Jillian into the game were nice bells and whistles, this add-on pack takes the game to an entirely new level. Anyone who owns an Xbox and The Biggest Loser game is instantly brought into the world of the game itself, as if you’ve been invited to go on the show yourself.
It’s a brilliant move, and a great collaboration by THQ, NBC, and the producers of the TV show. And while Your Shape definitely is the stronger of the two titles from a purely technical perspective, tying together The Biggest Loser TV show and video game in a meaningful way like this adds a whole new dimension to both experiences.
Here’s hoping for many more tie-ins like this between TV and video games, and let’s hope that the integration gets deeper and more substantive. It may just be enough to get fans of the TV to buy the video game