responDesign, Inc (now RespondWell) is software development company that focused on "Games That Are Good For You." It was founded in 2003 by
Ted Spooner, Phineas Barnes and Daryn Chapman in Portland Oregon around Phineas's idea to create a virtual personal trainer for video game consoles. The result was
Yourself!Fitness
''Yourself!Fitness'' is an exercise video game, developed by Respondesign. It was published first for the Xbox, and later for PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows. Through a publishing deal with Ubisoft, ''Yourself!Fitness'' was ported to and rel ...
a game/program that guided users through a series of workouts to better their health. In 2006, the company made a deal with
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...
to distribute four of its "Yourself, Fitness" titles with the restaurant chain's healthy meals for a period of four weeks.
In October 2016, RespondWell was acquired by Zimmer Biomet Holdings for an undisclosed amount.
Legal
In 2004, responDesign inc. was sued, along with
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
, by writer
Roger Avary
Roger Roberts Avary (born August 23, 1965) is a Canadian-American film and television director, screenwriter, and producer. He collaborated with Quentin Tarantino on ''Pulp Fiction'', for which they won Best Original Screenplay at the 67th Acad ...
. The suit centered on the alleged use of one of Avery's ideas, Virtual Yoga, for a game created in partnership by responDesign and Microsoft.
Chief Executive
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of the company, Ted Spooner, claimed this allegation was bogus.
See also
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Exergaming
Fitness game, exergame, and gamercise (portmanteaus of "exercise" and "game") are terms used for video games that are also a form of exercise. Fitness games rely on technology that tracks body movement or reaction. The genre has been used to chall ...
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Yourself!Fitness
''Yourself!Fitness'' is an exercise video game, developed by Respondesign. It was published first for the Xbox, and later for PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows. Through a publishing deal with Ubisoft, ''Yourself!Fitness'' was ported to and rel ...
*
Serious games
A serious game or applied game is a game designed for a primary purpose other than pure entertainment. The "serious" adjective is generally prepended to refer to video games used by industries like defense, education, scientific exploration, he ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Official responDesign website
Defunct software companies of the United States