Despite the time zone issues we jumped at the opportunity to interview Will on his involvement with miCoach “the” at home coaching fitness system for athletes and with rugby players like Will & Ma’a Nonu involved it is set to be a winner with the rugby audience.
So we got straight to it and after a short intro on InTouch the grassroots website we started firing questions at Will on the game
Q) Will what inspired you to get involved in this project?
“The reason i wanted to get involved was its a good initiative getting people involved in fitness is good and getting young people involved especially and to be able to do this indoors and your not by yourself, combined with training and if its a sporting idol this encourages more people to enjoy it”.
Q) Its good to see our rugby heroes as well as soccor etc lots represented?
A)” Yes the fact that rugby is involved shows the rugby audience is getting broader and to be involved along with other sports tennis, soccor etc it just shows where the games is.”
Q) What was the idea behind your part and what did you have to do?
“they wanted me to be myself, there are moments in the training programs whether its encouraging the people etc where it really is me talking. Then there’s the masterclass which a player can unlock and get to see what the athlete does at their highest level training
that was the most fun
we had two days of production in London, first day was all the voice recordings, the next day was going through the exercises doing reps etc then I had to be on screen introdugcing myself two great days and good fun.
The training is specific to rugby & excercises for the particular rugby position, so Johhny Wilkinson is a fly half so for me a half back and the specific training I do for that.
This stuff is core to what I do in my own programs for half back training, the way it was done was very professional and thats why i was happy to be involved”
Many thanks to Will for taking time out to explain his role and we look forward to many people getting rugby fit through this exciting game, full details from the developers are below
adidas AND 505 GAMES BRING miCoach TRAINING SYSTEM TO CONSOLE GAMERS
Digital training platform, miCoach, from adidas breaks into retail outlets across Europe. Are you ready for the ‘Summer of Sport’?
HERZOGENAURACH, Germany, and MILTON KEYNES, UK – July 14 – Global sportswear brand, adidas, and international publisher of video games, 505 Games, brings the long-awaited adidas miCoach console game to aspiring athletes on Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and Sony’s PlayStation®3 across Europe from today.
adidas miCoach, delivers a feature-rich, sports-specific approach to home console training systems and offers unparalleled connectivity, further enabling the millions of people worldwide who interact with the miCoach system through mobile apps and micoach.com to extend their training programme into their living rooms.
Boasting full motion-controlled support and complete optical body tracking with PlayStation®Move and the Kinect™ for Xbox 360 sensor, players can train alongside their sports heroes with over 400 exercises dedicated to optimising fitness levels for particular sports activities and add their achievements in the game to their existing miCoach exercise regime. PlayStation®3 users can also benefit from full USB heart rate monitor support for a truly complete picture of their performance.
miCoach features 18 of adidas’ globally recognised athletes across 6 different sports on-disc and via downloadable content; including Kaka, Manuel Neuer, Will Genia and Ma’a Nonu for you to train side by side with.
In addition to training alongside players, every athlete presents a master class specific to their sport and there’s a special bonus master class from the manager of current La Liga Champions, Real Madrid’s, Jose Mourinho
Simon Drabble, Director of miCoach business unit for adidas said “we are very excited to be bringing the miCoach console game to market, allowing you to train alongside your own heroes in a fun and engaging way.
“We’re taking our successful miCoach platform and broadening its reach to an even larger audience, by combining console technology and training for sports. This supports everybody to become better athletes, regardless of their fitness level.”
Tim Woodley, Head of Global Brand at 505 Games said “It’s been fantastic to partner with such a globally recognisable brand as adidas and on as ground breaking a product as adidas miCoach. We’ve seen athletes of all levels respond to how complete and; literally; exhaustive, the training offered by miCoach is and can’t wait to hear how consumers benefit from adding the game to their existing training schedule”
“Bringing something truly new to the sports training and fitness segment on consoles, integrating it into the wider miCoach eco-system and capitalising on a packed summer of sport in 2012 is just the start of a great relationship.”
The miCoach game has been in development for one and half years with UK developer Chromativity (formerly Lightning Fish Games) under exclusive license from adidas.
Please visit news.adidas.com to stay up to date with the latest adidas news. For more information on miCoach visit www.micoach.com
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About adidas
adidas is a global designer, developer and marketer of athletic footwear, apparel and accessories with the mission to be the leading sports brand in the world. Brand adidas is part of the adidas Group, a corporation that includes brands such as Reebok, TaylorMade and Rockport.
About 505 Games
505 Games is a global video game publisher focused on offering a broad selection of titles for players of all ages and levels. The company publishes games on all leading console and handheld platforms as well as for mobile devices and social networks. Product highlights include Zumba® Fitness, the Cooking Mama World series, Rugby World Cup 2011, Naughty Bear and IL2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey.
505 Games is headquartered in Milton Keynes, UK with offices in Los Angeles, Lyon, Munich, Milan and Madrid and a network of distribution partners all over the world. For more information on 505 Games and its products please visit www.505games.com
Kinect, Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE are either trademarks or registered trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.