News: Remembering the XaviXPORT

February 26, 2008, 11:52 PM

by brandon, via XaviX -
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You might've heard about the XaviXPORT a while back...or maybe not. I thought I posted about it some years ago, but I can't find evidence of it now. The XaviXPORT an entertainment and fitness console which uses motion sensing to allow you to box, play tennis, baseball, bowl, golf, fish, and even do aerobics exercises with a mat on the floor - and it was all released in 2004. There's also a psuedo-predecessor to Wii Fit. Trouble is they sold all of these games separately, each with a different peripheral, and they don't have the clout or polish Nintendo does...but there sure are a lot of parallels. The then-titled Revolution was already announced at the time, but it wasn't yet known that it was motion control-based. Reading a review of the XaviXPORT on G4's site is humorous not just because of the poor and pandering language, but also the fact that with a few changed words, this could be a newspaper-savvy level (that is to say low) review of a Wii:

"The Xavix gaming system is a neat idea and great for a party. The graphics are nothing to call home about, but the simple system provides hours of great group fun—and isn’t that what games are all about? However, if you are a video game enthusiast, the XaviX is not for you and I recommend you go buy a PlayStation 2 (with a wider selection of games) and get the EyeToy to get interactive with your games. But I've got to give props to the Xavix; it got my girlfriend to play video games with me."

Anyway, XaviX hasn't released a whole lot of new stuff in the last few years, but it did relaunch its site now that the Wii is out. It hasn't tried to reposition itself to be more similar, but it does have Jackie Chan all over the place as a spokesperson. You can check out some video of him demoing the system here - at about 2:30 you can see the game in action, and you will certainly note that it's not corresponding to his actions exactly, or even vaguely. Here is your comparable video of a 7 year old girl playing a XaviX game while holding a cat. It's all very Vii level. To sum up, the company is still around, knock knock knockin on Nintendo's door.

Update! Christian informs me that Kenshin Dragon Quest: Yomigaerishi Densetsu no Ken also runs on the XaviX technology, which is pretty wacky...and DQ Swords is out on Wii now!