Yourself!Fitness Lawsuit
It has been almost two years since the lawsuit against Yourself!Fitness was first reported. It seemed like a silly case. Roger Avery, the screenwriter for Pulp Fiction, was suing Microsoft and ResponDesign for the idea behind Yourself!Fitness.
Roger Avery stated that Microsoft had come to him for ideas on how to encourage women to buy an Xbox and he came up with the idea of a game that takes you through yoga poses.
That previous statement is an example of everything that is wrong with the gaming industry regarding women gamers: they asked a man to help them attract women gamers.
Why is it so hard to ask women?
As silly as it sounds that Microsoft might have asked some screenwriter what they should do to attract women gamers, it seems even sillier that Roger Avery thinks he has a case. The idea of having a game at takes you through yoga poses is such a small part of Yourself!Fitness. In fact, I only have used that section of the game in order to write about it in my review. I used to use Yourself!Fitness a lot and when I did, I never used the yoga section. In fact, I can’t believe that this lawsuit has gone on for so long.
Because of the lawsuit, a sequel to Yourself!Fitness has been delayed, if not cancelled. Here is the latest information from the Yourself!Fitness forums:
Yourself!Fitness was a revolution in the exergaming industry, but their demise isn’t going to kill the idea. DDR Supernova and the new game, Dance Factory, are two examples of recent games that include physical activity with gaming.
Hey, Microsoft, next time you need information about what women want in a game, try asking a woman. You might get better results than, “Uh, maybe if the game did yoga or something. Girls might like that…â€
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