Nintendo's personal trainer: cooking

Thu, Dec 04 2008 at 9:09 AM

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Green Gadgets

Yesterday, it was the iPod and food podcasts. Today, it's the Nintendo DS and a food trainer. If you’ve ever wanted private cooking lessons, Nintendo has found a way to simulate that experience with their just released Personal Trainer: Cooking.

Here is the description from the website:

It features a DS Chef, your own private cooking instructor who talks you through 245+ recipes from more than 30 countries worldwide. It's a combination of interactive cookbook and live cooking demonstration that'll have you cooking like a pro, even if you've never lifted a ladle before.

You and the Chef will collaborate on a wide variety of recipes, with videos of techniques, explanations of ingredients and expert advice. With its innovative interface and the interactivity that only the DS can provide, it's a perfect learning tool for the budding chef.

As you browse recipes, just tap a box to mark ingredients you need to buy. The DS will automatically store them in your in-game shopping list. Later you can take your DS to the store and check off the ingredients as you put them in your cart.

Search for recipes by ingredients, calorie count, cooking time, difficulty and more.

Hands covered in batter? Keep your DS clean using voice commands to continue to the next page, repeat a step, go back and more.

The only other DS product that has ever interested me was Brain Age. That was until I found out I have the brain of a 120-year-old and no time to do the training the game offered to improve it.

Why am I interested in it? Not for myself. I like my recipes the way I like my books. On good old fashioned paper. But I’m raising two boys in this technology age, and both of them like to help me in the kitchen. My nine-year-old is at the point where he can turn on the stove and use the smallest of my Henckels. My six-year-old is not far behind, and he’s my little sous chef. He loves to cook and bake.

I think being able to use their DS once in a while to help cook a meal might appeal to them. Still, I’m not running out to buy it right away. Something like this needs to be their choice, and I’d probably wait until I can buy an inexpensive used copy before I bought it.

What do you think? Does Personal Trainer: Cooking sound like a good idea to you? Would you use it?

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