The Nintendo DS has blossomed into a veritable portal for a myriad of different platforms that includes many different types of media: games, internet, and even a host of applications to make everyday life a little easier. Though some may be quick to denounce its merits as a PDA-like apparatus since that would douse its “hardcore” status, it’s hard to deny the fact that the DS is a handy little tool even for those who prefer not to utilize it for gaming. The Personal Trainer series illustrates this point well, inspiring non-gamers to purchase a DS with which to attempt to better their life through one of the skill sets taught via the title. For example, Personal Trainer Cooking was released, touted as a virtual cookbook that would help you learn all there is to know about cooking healthily and quickly. While most gamers were quick to snub their noses, I was intrigued. I’ve always had an interest in cooking, but never had the slightest idea where to start. After trying my hand at Personal Trainer Cooking, it’s safe to say that I believe the Personal Trainer series has something exciting on its hands that both hardcore gamers and non-gamers can both enjoy.

A friendly chef character greets you upon turning on the game, or application is more appropriate, since PTC is more of an application than a game. In fact, there are no gaming elements to it at all, unless you try fruitlessly to give it some. When you open up the main menu, you’re given a colorful selection of recipes to sort through. You can sort by name, country, ingredients needed for a certain dish, or you can search for a particular entrée, soup, salad, or even desert. It’s a very user-friendly interface that is quite simple to understand. The inviting colors and warmth are comforting even if you haven’t the slightest idea of where to begin with a certain dish. 

The recipes included within range from incredibly simple (how to boil an egg, making macaroni and cheese), to medium-difficulty (beef empanadas, pot au feu), and even those dishes that you never imagined you’d be able to cook correctly (potstickers, soufflés, duck). In this, even seasoned cooks can find something suitable for dinner or even a quick lunch. Meats, vegetables, and even sweets are covered within the ingredients list, and even though you will come upon some more exotic ingredients, many recipes will offer a substitute for what was originally called for, such as omitting a certain expensive wine or cooking oil and opting for stock instead.

Some of the recipes are a bit of a strange take on familiar favorites, such as meatloaf. The game presents more “classy” options for cuisine and the “proper” way to prepare them rather than what you might find in a text cookbook or from a family member or friend’s instructions. Meatloaf calls for two kinds of ground meat (beef and turkey), and a pan to be layered with bacon, which is admittedly a bit strange to me, having grown up on what I consider “normal” meatloaf. With that said, you may find yourself scratching your head at some of the methods suggested and the ingredients for certain dishes, but that doesn’t detract from the application’s simplicity.

When you’ve decided on a recipe, you are greeted with a colorful photo of the finished project, a list of ingredients that you can check off via the stylus, and a brief overview of instructions. These are more preliminary steps in order to get you started on the right foot, rather than to help you cook. Once you’ve used the ingredient list, prep time, photo, and various other aspects of the recipe page to decide what to make, you can click an icon that will prompt the chef from the introduction screen to say “Let’s get started!” From then on, each page will dictate a different step of the recipe.

The chef will read directions off to you, and you can either read them yourself or put the DS in a central location (preferable away from your cooking space!) and have a listen. When you’re ready to go to the next step, you can touch the screen via the stylus or you can even talk to the application, prompting it to repeat the step, go back to the previous on, or advance to the next step. This is quite the handy augment especially if your hands have gotten a bit dirty, and I found myself getting a few laughs from the fact that I was “talking” to a simple little DS application, the last time I had used voice recognition having been on Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X., it felt silly. Still, if it works, it works! 

If you need some extra help, Personal Trainer Cooking even features a list and explanation of commonly used kitchen utensils, ingredients, and why they are used the way they are. This is especially helpful if you’re new to making your way around the kitchen, and a feature I appreciated very much when I was clueless as to which stock would be appropriate for the recipe I whipped up.

Aside from a library of different images of each step of the recipe, there are a variety of videos included demonstrating how to perform certain maneuvers. They’re of great quality and you may find yourself sifting through all of the videos simply to see what you can discover and learn about the food you may be preparing.

If you’re watching your weight the menu even presents a calorie and fat gram count that can be manipulated by changing the number of servings you will need to prepare. Though many of the foods are unapologetically “non-diet” foods, this is a big step toward cooking for yourself responsibly and becoming more wary of what exactly you’re taking in on a daily basis.

Personal Trainer Cooking is a benchmark in the evolution of the gaming industry, if only because its not really a game.  Its an application that just happens to fit snugly inside Nintendo's ubiquitous little portable, and works extremely well.  The entire package is presented in a clean, efficient manner that should be inviting to anyone who makes the decision to pick it up. It’s a simple and effective tool that can be an invaluable aid to aspiring chefs at any stage in the learning process, and for that I’d say it’s a neat little tool to pick up especially for those of you who would like to move past ramen and leftovers from Tumbleweed in the fridge. It just goes to prove that, despite the fears of many “hardcore” gamers (even if I fit into that category), the DS can and is being used as a versatile and even educational tool that has many opportunities in its future to become more than just an excellent gaming platform.