The Tokyo Game Show, which took place between September 19-22, was host to a lot of weird creations, this first person shooter that forces people to eat veggies to reload being only one of them.
Since it comes from Japan, this chew’em up game may be that weird, after all. Considering the products, games, TV shows and commercials coming from this country, the Food Practice Shooter is actually tame. Takayuki Kosaka from Kanagawa’s Institute of Technology, the developer of this game, figured out that kids might be encouraged to eat more fruits and veggies if these were some sort of ammunition. I also like what the developer did regarding the game’s name. Food Practice Shooter, or FPS, might easily be mistaken with a term that is often used by gamers: First Person Shooter.
The guys from Engadget were lucky enough to do a hands-on review of the game on the spot. You can see the results in the above picture and in the following video.
After chewing up a lot of veggies, while also looking desperately at the screen in fear that the game would start without notice, the player grabs the gun and starts shooting his enemies, which coincidentally or not, are also represented by vegetables. Basically, what you would need to do in this game is to shoot any carrots, green peppers and tomatoes you seen on screen. Connected to the computer that runs the game is a headset with a sensor that measures the distance between it and your cheek. When chewing what the game presumes that are vegetables, the data is collected and the calibration process begins. That’s why it is necessary to chew a few veggies before getting to shoot enemies on screen. The high-score is displayed at the end along with the picture of the player – a rather nice surprise.
Just wait till kids start replacing the veggies used for reloading the gun with potato chips and other unhealthy snacks. Thought that childhood obesity is a problem? It will be much more than that if Food Practice Shooter gets in the wrong hands. All I’m saying is that kids should be supervised on playing a game that involves food. Either way, if this game ever becomes mainstream, make sure your kids don’t eat too many vegetables. As healthy as they may seem, excess is never good.
If you liked this post, please check the Super Mario Bros room that takes you back to 1985, and the custom glowing Tron Nintendo 64.
