Playing Kinect games on the Xbox 360 is all set to become a wholly refreshed experience with the Kinect PlayFit app launched by Microsoft recently. Available for download now to Xbox Live users in the US, this feature will make its way to other territories later this week.
PlayFit is actually a new fitness dashboard which is meant to aggregate and track the calories of gamers as they indulge in various Kinect-specific titles on their Xbox 360 systems. The dashboard will display their personal stats over time, and will even allow them to watch global leaderboards to learn how they stack up against Xbox Live members from around the world.
Calorie stats will be available to be checked in daily, weekly, monthly categories as well as in total. Moreover, aspects like personal bests will also be tracked by the feature. Credit will be generated for all the calories burnt while playing Kinect games. And players will be able to earn Achievements, Gamerscore and Avatar Awards as well.
Touted as the first of its kind on a video game console, PlayFit has been built keeping in mind a survey which stated that nearly 75 percent of respondents believed that video games must include a component that encourages physical activity. Furthermore, 70 have apparently mentioned that physically active video games can complement or supplement traditional exercise.
Gamers in the US who wish to take advantage of Kinect PlayFit can now download it for free by visiting the Kinect Central section on their Xbox 360 home screen and choosing the Fitness & Dance option in the upper-right corner. It will be released in other regions later this week.