Martial arts hit PlayStation 2

We catch up with Tom Holmes, the producer of EyeToy: Kinetic Combat to find out more about the ancient martial art of Hung Gar Kung Fu

Originally used as a fitness and training programme by the Shaolin Monks of 17th Century China so that they could defend themselves from attack, Hung Gar Kung Fu arrives on PlayStation 2 courtesy of EyeToy: Kinetic Combat.

Why Hung Gar Kung Fu?

We were looking for an activity that featured a wide array of interesting movements and at the same time could take place over a relatively small surface area. Hung Gar proved to be ideal as it is designed to condition the body through specific cardiovascular exercises, and secondly it is usually taught in classes in a relatively confined space - so it's also ideal to do in your living room.

Was there a Hung Gar consultant involved in the development of the game?

From the outset we worked with Leon Dogan, one of Europe's leading Hung Gar Instructors. Leon trained at the Grandmaster Lam Cho's legendary Kung Fu school in Hong Kong. We were honoured to work alongside him and his contribution has really helped shape this product.

How did you go about recreating an ancient Hung Gar Kung Fu training experience whilst maintaining a 'PlayStation' look and feel?

Authenticity was vital and therefore that was the starting point. We looked at the methodology used to teach the art and then set about looking at how that could not only be replicated on PlayStation 2 but enhanced.

For example, we identified that when taught in large classes it was easy to make mistakes that could be missed by the Instructor if his attention was elsewhere for a few moments - hence us developing "Motion Matching Technology", where the PlayStation 2 constantly monitors a person's movements and assesses how accurate they are in comparison to the actual Instructor and provides feedback.

Why was 16 weeks chosen as the exercise programme duration?

EyeToy: Kinetic Combat contains four zones - Dragon, Tiger, Mantis and Phoenix - which are inspired by the different Hung Gar animal forms. The notion with the 16 week training programme was that the user can work their way through all four zones chronologically, spending one month focussing on each.

In Personal Trainer mode training we worked alongside some of the UK's top Personal Trainers to ensure that the intensity of our workouts gave people sufficient time to recover between training sessions.

How were you able to deliver personalised feedback?

During the Motion Matching sequences, the user appears on screen within an outline of their Instructor. As he performs the various movements, the player is required to stay within his outline. If this occurs the areas of correct motion are highlighted green. However, if the user begins to move outside of the instructor's outline, the areas where this occurs are highlighted red to show where mistakes are being made.

In this way the user is always aware of how well they are performing a movement, and can adjust themselves accordingly. There are also visual cues on screen, such as graphs and grades so that the player is always aware as to how well they are doing. Additionally the player will receive performance feedback from their Instructor, designed to keep them motivated throughout.

The Last Word...

What we've done with EyeToy: Kinetic Combat is give this 17th Century martial art a very 21st Century spin through our use of cutting-edge PlayStation 2 and EyeToy technology.