Junior Member
I know it's been mentioned, but I feel a need to vent my own personal frustration.
I got this game at x-mas and I've been using it since then. Most of it is ok, especially given that this is the first generation of such games EXCEPT that the personal training is started to get me really frustrated and the lack of support is causing to reconsider my purchase.
Why?
1- The game simply refuses to recognize certain moves and this is severely affection my progress and making the game repetitive since it insists on making me do the sessions over and over until I get the moves right. Things like leg curls and the cross ski movements simply will not register no matter what I do. I even had somebody sit there and watch me to make sure I wasn't just doing it completely wrong.
2- Te structure of the sessions is annoying. What I mean is that lets say the exercises for a session are EX1, EX2, EX3. You'll get something like: EX1-EX2-EX3 rest EX3-EX2-EX1. If EX3 is particularly strenuous, it has you doing it 2 times in a row. Didn't it register with somebody that this might be a bit much?
While #2 is more of an annoyance, #1 is starting to make me question my purchase and I think I will be trying another game. Not only that, but unless Ubi bothers to address these problem in an update then I don't see myself buying any subsequent game or recommending them to anybody else.
Which leads to something else: Ubi doesn't seem to really care about their defective product. People like me and my wife, who are what can best be described as "early adopters" for this technology are constantly asked by friend and acquaintances about whether this game it worth using. This includes people from my wife's Weight Watcher's group, which greatly expands the circle of influence our opinion has.
As it stands now, my opinion is to stay away from Ubi games and try something else until they at least demonstrate a willingness to address the issues in their defective product.
EDITED TO ADD: Yes, I have read and followed all the tips I have found: adjusted the tracking, re-calibrated the sensor, wear contrasting clothing, etc. I can get perfect scores on some movements but no luck getting the problem movements to register.
Junior Member
Re: #1 - movement recognition. Thought I would share what i discovered today.
First, I agree, is is real frustrating when you are doing the exact same movement, and the game does not recognize it. Believe me, I have taken to talking back to the trainer in language not suitable for this forum, and gesturing in a certain manner as well.
I also recalibrated the machine, and made sure my workout clothes are not loose. Same result.
What I found today is, on two exercises, I changed my movement a bit, and FINALLY it started to register. For ex, in Nice and Easy routine, there is this Tap Side Tab Back exercise, I was getting zero ALL the time. Today I stood straighter and brought my knee higher, BINGO it registered better. Ditto on Side to Side Lunge - found if I stood up straight in between the lunges, it registered as expected.
A key point here is, if you do exactly what the trainer is doing, or appears to be doing, it can lead you astray. As best I could tell I was doing it just like the trainer, with no results. Today I said, eff this, going to tweak my movements a bit, and the change paid off. So it seems, if you are in this situation, divorce yourself from the trainer, and the machine, and give some thought to how you might do the exercise a little differently.
Member
Ain't that the truth!Believe me, I have taken to talking back to the trainer in language not suitable for this forum, and gesturing in a certain manner as well.
I love the Cardio Boxing and I've enjoyed most of the exercises in Cardio routines, but I am reaching the limit of what I can tolerate with the unfounded criticisms of my actions during Personal Training. I think you are right, stewatahunt, trying to follow the exact motion of the on-screen trainer often leads to bad scores. So many people are saying the same thing in other threads too... you need to modify or tweak your actions to get a good score.
I have come to the conclusion that the technology is limited and simply cannot see exactly what we are doing - I think we've been giving the camera too much credit. As a result it has to guess a lot, particularly because it is often trying to judge depth. I have no criticism of this. Like most people we are very grateful to Microsoft to have developed an incredible piece of kit. My criticism, however, is with Ubisoft. During testing they must have been aware of the limitations of the sensor, particularly with the diversity of user body shapes/sizes, clothing, environmental lighting conditions, and so on. So why have they made the trainer so critical? I get continually frustrated when she says between exercises, "Oh, before I forget..." I know when I first started I was not doing the routines as well as I could, but now I have pretty much perfected most of them. So I get quite annoyed when I keep getting told I can do a particular aspect better.
I know this is going to sound pathetic, but I have found myself on a couple of occasions putting my fingers in my ears and chanting something like, "I'm not listening. I'm not listening." at the end of a particular exercise because I just know what's coming next... she's going to complain about something which I know that I wasn't doing wrong.
I would like to see Ubisoft release a patch which allows you to control the sensitivity and level of correcting - it would also be nice for her to say once in a while, "Oh, before I forget... that was awesome. And I think you look sexy in that outfit!" Well, perhaps that's wishful thinking - particularly if you saw my outfit. But did Ubisoft not think more encouragement should have been built-in?
Junior Member
stewartahunt, I do believe there is truth in what you are saying. One gets frustrated and doesn't believe it could EVER be something he is doing wrong-- it must be the stupid game!!
However, I also think there is a flaw in some of the workout programs. When you cannot get a simple movement to register (e.g. Leg Curl) leads me to believe there is something that needs to be changed within the game. (If I need to stand straighter, tell me that instead of "you need a wider stance.") I tried "everything" to get the Leg Curls to register (bending my knees all the way, bouncing between curls, calibration, lighting, angles, clothing, etc.) I had to do something completely different (kneeing forward, or facing backwards) to get "full credit" for the exercise. (And even though the point is to work out, and not really to get game credit, you cannot progress until you get a high enough score.) Most importantly, the same exercises (ex. Leg Curl, Squat Punch), in a different training session (ex. Michelle Bridges, Cardio Boxing), seem to work perfectly. (With tons less "stand wider" reminders.) This leads me to believe that the Personal Training Cardio section has flaws.
So before giving up the game completely, I would suggest trying another program to see if you have the same trouble.
For a first gen game, I think overall Ubisoft has done a good job; the game really has potential. However, it is the lack of customer service (e.g. fixing known issues in gameplay) that prevents me from recommending their product to others.
Junior Member
hahaha - Love it!Originally posted by euler_13:
it would also be nice for her to say once in a while, "Oh, before I forget... that was awesome. And I think you look sexy in that outfit!"
I think I would prefer my workout games to have no speaking at all. (Or at least an option for no talking.) After all, it is just a computer and it becomes repetative after a (very short) period of gameplay. Just replace the voice with an upbeat music selection!!
Junior Member
While the camera system is not perfect, I will add this little tidbit.
Today, my roommate was struggling with side lunges, as she has been since I got the game. Watching her workout and movement, seeing what was onscreen, and knowing what my typical movement is, a simple and fairly small adjustment in body position brought her from doing 10% on a session up to 85%.
As someone said above... of course the game is to blame, it couldn't be how we are actually doing the game
Senior Member
For those of you who are having difficulties with the trainer vocal comments in personal training sessions, I have to agree that the voice can be frustrating because it is often incorrect. I posted this thread some time ago Nice & Easy revisited – trainer voice all out of wack! and while it specifically deals with the Nice & Easy program I think the problems with the trainer voice are wide spread throughout the personal training sessions.
My advice to those having trouble is to keep your eye on the small green circles and your exercise percentages and don't listen to the trainer voice particularly when it conflicts with the other feedback information. You might try turning down the sound on your TV a bit. I do wish there was a way to adjust the trainer voice volume down in the game and turn the music up a bit. And try not to be so sensitive to the trainers comments - it only a computer generated voice with a very limited repetiore of comments, it's not even a simple AI.
This is going to sound silly but I get annoyed when the trainer says "Perfect" if I get 99% on a session. I shout back, "It's not perfect you ninny. Perfect is 100%!
Junior Member
Member
Member
Over 8000 calories into the game...
The Michelle Bridges routines are generally very good and I've personally only found tracking to be a minor issue on very few exercises. However, after not being able to tolerate the tracking in the standard Cardio personal training routines and giving up on them I thought to myself... I'm sure Ubisoft have been listening to all the issues on these forums - which we have all been told are being faithfully reported back - and they will have carefully considered all the grumblings on other websites, so the extra (paid for) DLC: "New Year, New You", is bound to have addressed many of those complaints. I couldn't find any reviews of it and concluded, erroneously, that it must reflect the general satisfaction; people only tend to complain when things are bad and rarely take time to praise things when they go well. However, it seems that this game has hit an all-time low for me with "New Year, New You".
I don't know where to begin!? I have tried to be patient with "New Year, New You", as there are a couple of new moves, but I can confirm that the tracking is truly appalling. Not only will you have the tracking indicators flashing between grey and green, if you're lucky, and almost permanently grey in some cases, but you will keep being told you are out of rhythm on a number of the exercises. Getting told to, "Keep in time with the trainer".
I've been using this game long enough now to have perfected most of the actions, but I cannot express in words suitable for this forum how awful "New Year, New You" really is. If anyone is thinking about purchasing this download - don't do it! The only thing you'll workout during each 31 minute routine is how much you have been ripped off with this particular DLC.
Don't misunderstand me. I still think that YSFE is a great "game", and I accept that there are bound to be limitations with the technology. I absolutely love the Cardio Boxing and think it is excellent (despite very occasional and minor tracking issues) - including the Platinum DLC, which I paid for, enjoy, and consider good value for money. I even enjoyed the Bollywood (can a guy admit that?). But Ubisoft should be deeply ashamed of charging customers for "New Year, New You". Another gripe, albeit minor compared to the frustrations you will experience in trying to get it to register your movements, is that you have no control over your on-screen outline. It is automatically set to that version which has a real-time video capture of you. I don't have a major problem with my body image, but I hate looking at that rendered blob on the screen. Ubisoft, you should be ashamed!
