Let's face it, it's never been more un-hip to be out of shape than it is now. Seems like everyone's either going to the gym or working out at home, sweating alongside some lumpy guy or gal on a TV going "And-one-and-two-and-three-and-four-and-stay-in-shape -don't-puff-that's-great!" Speaking of fitness videos, 90% of the people who buy them are women, a telling statistic that publisher responDESIGN finds very interesting, because they're looking to grab those wives/girlfriends/sisters/gamers with its upcoming exercise game for the Xbox called Yourself! Fitness, a virtual personal training experience designed to melt flab and build self confidence, and it very well may become the sleeper hit of the year.

Yourself! Fitness is the ultimate exercise experience. Forget about DDR and Samba de Amigo as being "fitness" games. They are, but only in the loosest sense. No, what we have here is your very own personal trainer inside your Xbox. Her name's Maya, and this very attractive lady, composed of a whopping 22,000 polygons is much more than just eye candy. She's your personal assistant, your guide, and a best friend.

You begin by selecting a profile, creating a name, and informing Maya of some personal information such as your gender (The game's targeted towards women, but men can use it.), your pulse, and weight. Maya then conducts an upper and lower body evaluation and informs you of your efficiency. Lastly, she works with you to create a workout schedule using the game's calendar. You can work out for as long or as little as you like, though the temptation to delve into the game's depths may be too tempting to resist, for you see, Yourself! Fitness contains 480 exercises (Including a 30-minute yoga workout!) that cover numerous focuses such as weight loss, cardio, upper body strength, core body strength, and flexibility, just to name a few, and there's a tutorial that explains how to perform each exercise in detail. With the average workout video containing a mere 60 exercises, Microsoft has just about guaranteed that there's something here for everyone.

Let's go back to Maya. Much more than a CG hot body, this super fit personal trainer can do some very cool things, such as asking you how you're feeling (And following up with you the next day.), monitoring your daily progress (She'll recommend you adjust your schedule if you're missing workouts.), and checking to make sure you're doing those exercises just right. When you first start out, she carefully explains each one, suggesting that you examine the tutorials as you go. If you stop accessing them, she'll just bust out with an exercise under the assumption that you know what you're doing. However, if at any time you need the tutorial for help, she'll remember, so the next time you do that exercise she'll say something to the effect of, "I see that you're having trouble with [Insert exercise here.]. Let's go over it again." Oh, and don't even think about skipping sessions. She knows! She knows!

But that's not all she knows. If you happen to have an old exercise bike or some other equipment in your house (You know, the stuff you bought for the holidays and swore you'd use.), you can integrate them into your workout, and the best part is, she does all of this with you. She's not just standing onscreen shouting at you to suck it up and do that last push up. If you're doing sit-ups, Maya's doing sit-ups.

Another complaint about exercise videos is that the scenery never changes. Not so with Yourself! Fitness. You can work out in the snow, on the beach, and in the mountains, and those are but a few of the many locations. You can even select the type of music you want. Genres include Latin, dance, 80s, hip-hop, and many more, and Maya moves to beat! Sadly, the game doesn't make use of the Xbox's soundtrack-ripping feature, but that's because she's programmed to exercise with the music.

Lastly, the game not only tells you how many calories you've burned, but it will also put you on a diet and inform you how many calories you should eat. Yourself! Fitness suggests healthy meals. It even has recipes on how to prepare them!

Mark my words: This game's going to kick major butt! Don't scoff at the idea, because if Yourself! Fitness takes off, it may be the first in a series of Xbox exercise games and I couldn't be happier. With so many of you clamoring for originality in an industry that produces too many unoriginal clones, your prayers have been answered! October 1 is going to be the first day of the rest of your new lives. Break out your spandex and prepare to sweat!