It’s funny, but one of the best selling fitness games for the Wii (having sold 2 million copies and counting) isn’t an exercise game. It’s Ubisoft’s Just Dance. And as I wrote in my review of Just Dance, it’s a winner. It’s got that unique combination of fun, hipness, practicality (I’m just waiting for that next dance party where I can put my moves into action), and addictiveness. The only gripe I have against the game is its motion tracking, definitely not one of Ubisoft’s strong suits (if anyone from Ubi is reading this, two words: Motion Plus).

So as a fan of this game, I was happy to hear that Ubisoft is planning what looks to be a sequel: Dance on Broadway. Ubisoft has announced a release date of June 25, 2010 and a pre-order link is already available on Amazon. Other than that details are a bit sketchy. There’s speculation that there may be on online component of the game (imagine a dance-off between you and people around the world).

I’ll post more details as I hear them!

Ubisoft’s Your Shape is available for sale at Amazon.com for only $19.99. If you don’t have it, I’d say pounce on it while you can. The price makes it worth it if for no other reason than to get the USB camera (which you can use with your Windows PC as well as your Wii).

The game itself? Well, as I mentioned in a previous review (and my Amazon review, which you can see as the third one on the page) was honestly not the greatest game in the world. The workouts are great, but Ubisoft overreached a bit in thinking they could make a USB camera work as a precise Wii game controller (never mind that Microsoft is pouring millions and millions into making Project Natal do the same thing for Xbox).

Worse, if you read through reviews of this game, you’ll see lots of glowing reviews which were clearly fake, written by Ubisoft shills. Which is a shame, because Ubisoft is just hurting themselves and their own products’ credibility with practices like that. If they took the money they’re paying these people and put it into making more great games like Just Dance, they’d find that people would buy the games in record numbers without having to resort to misrepresentation. 

In any case, this game was an unmitigated ripoff at $69.99, its price when it came out. At $19.99, it’s a nice deal. Get it while you can!

It’s been a while since I did a good Nutrisystem post. I’m still on the plan (well, off and on), and it’s still keeping my weight pretty healthy. So I thought I’d share thoughts on the plan I’m on: Nutrisystem Select.

What it is:

As regular readers of this blog may know, Nutrisystem delivers food in one of two ways. One way is to deliver “shelf-stable” food which doesn’t need refrigeration. The best way I can describe this food is that it’s a lot like canned food. The meal is vacuum-sealed in a plastic container, which you put in the microwave. If you’re a foodie, this type of food is probably not for you, but for the rest of us the taste is pretty passable for most of the dishes. View my post of best tasting Nutrisystem meals for a list (scroll to the bottom).

The other way Nutrisystem delivers food is what they call “fresh frozen” food. This is food which is prepared fresh and then flash frozen immediately to lock in all the taste and texture. After you warm up the food, it comes out exactly like it does before it was frozen. In this sense, it’s unlike a regular TV dinner. For example, the shrimp in the shrimp alfredo is amazingly fresh with a snap as you bite into it. The garden vegetable omelet literally tastes like you just fried it up on the stove. The meatball parm melt is like a cute little brother of a Subway meatball marinara sub. And so on.

One smart thing that Nutrisystem did was partner up with Schwan Home Delivery service. If you never heard of Schwan, it’s a company that specializes in delivering this kind of flash frozen food. They helped Nutrisystem develop their product line of the right portioned meals with Schwan taste and quality.

How it works:

The Web site isn’t very clear on how to order, so here’s are step-by-step instructions.

1) Visit the Nutrisystem Site! Start now..

2) On the right-hand part of the page you’ll see buttons with the words “Learn More” under “Women’s Plan” and “Men’s Plan”. Click on the appropriate one.

3) Click “Order Now” for the regular package (Basic Select), the package for seniors (Silver Select) or a diabetic (Diabetic Select).

4) On the next page you’ll be able to choose your food plan. I definitely recommend choosing “Custom Menu”, as a lot of the shelf-stable food you get in “Member Favorites” isn’t great.

5) You can select Auto Delivery (a subscription plan) or Month By Month. I’d suggest selecting Auto Delivery (which is much cheaper), and then just cancelling the auto-delivery if you can’t use it.

6) If you chose Custom Menu, you’ll choose two weeks’ worth of shelf-stable food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Again, I’d refer to my lists of my favorite Nutrisystem foods and their customers favorite Nutrisystem foods as your guide.

7) Go through and enter your name, address, and credit card information and sit back and wait for all the food to come to your door!

How much it costs:

If you select “Auto Delivery”, the price is only $399.99 + 18.95 shipping, which comes out to less than $5 a meal ($4.99 to be exact). If you choose “Month by Month”, the cost is $444.43 for the package, which ends up being about $5.27 a meal (plus veggies and fruits you buy separately).

What to expect next:

You’ll get two weeks worth (14 breakfasts, lunches, and dinners) of shelf-stable food right away. Store those away in the cupboard or do like I do and leave the box in the kitchen.

Two times in the next four weeks, a Schwan driver will come to your door with the box of frozen food. He’ll deliver a week at a time so as to not overstuff your freezer. The box will be tightly packed with 7 breakfasts, 7 lunches, and 7 dinners. Here are the foods you get in the frozen box. They’re all very tasty, but I’ve put a star next to the ones I find exceptional.

Breakfast
*Breakfast Burrito (1)
Ham and Cheese Omelet (1)
Homestyle Pancakes (2)
*Garden Vegetable Omelet (1)
Golden French Toast (2)

Lunch:
*Chicken Fajita Melt (1)
*Chicken Quesadilla (1)
*Meatball Parmesan Melt (1)
*Steak and Cheese Melt (2)
Toasted Ham and Cheese (2)

Dinner
Glazed Chicken Tenders (1)
*Ravioli Formaggio (1)
Salisbury Steak with Macaroni and Cheese (1)
*Shrimp Alfredo (1)
*Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Shells (1)
Turkey Pepperoni Pizza (1)
Chicken Alfredo (1)

Dessert
*Ice Cream Sandwich (8)
*Creamy Fudge Bar (2)
*Caramel Swirl Sundae (2)
*Lime Crème Bar (1)
*Fudge Swirl Sundae (1)

If you already have a Nutrisystem account, you can actually order the frozen foods separately or in special bundles if you don’t want the shelf-stable stuff.