Shape Up to gamify pushups, piano dancing

Today at Ubisoft's E3 press event, Shape Up producer Charles Huteau ran onto the stage and boldly declared: "Fitness is boring."

Shape Up was pitched as "fitness for gamers". A series of exercise activities — such as step routines and pushups. "We turned each exercise into an exciting challenge," said Huteau, who explained that the game is designed to make fitness fun and competitive. "You’ll do more pushups and more squats if your fitness becomes a game," he explained.

Players will be able to compete against themselves — ghost versions of their own performances, or real-life friends. Both modes were demoed onstage.

"Your coach will train you for the ultimate boss fight," he said, before going into a demo of "Piano Step," a sort of step aerobics rhthymn minigame, which looked much like Dance Dance Revolution or Guitar Hero. Moments later, two Ubisoft producers — one representing the US, the other representing France, competed in Push Them Up, a multiplayer pushup competition.

Shape Up is coming to Kinect on Xbox One the week of november 9, 2014.