Food Network Develops Cooking Video Game for Nintendo Wii

Video game enthusiasts already know that cooking games for Nintendo's Wii and DS platforms are nothing new. What is new is that the Food Network—including onscreen luminaries such as Iron Chef, Michael Symon and The Next Food Network Star judge, Susie Fogelson—is teaming up with developer Red Fly Studio and publisher Namco Bandai to take you to virtual cooking school.

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Cook or Be Cooked, which is scheduled for release late this year, provides would-be chefs with more than 30 recipes from the Food Network kitchens. Beginners can start with basics such as bacon and eggs or spaghetti before moving on to more challenging recipes like lasagna. The Wii's motion-sensitive controller enables gamers to mimic the actions of turning stove dials, shaking out seasonings, pouring liquids and chopping ingredients. As in real-life cooking, though, timing is everything—if you cook something too long, it will char; and if you let part of your meal get cold while you're cooking the rest of it, you'll hear about it from the virtual judges.

The game's creators want to give players as authentic a cooking experience as technology will allow, down to the appearance of the food as it cooks.

"The game teaches people how to go through the motions, time food and finesse the cooking," says the Food Network's Michael Symon. "I think of it as a interactive cookbook." More than just an on-screen cooking class, though, it aims to be entertaining, too. Watch for your opportunity to earn your virtual chef's hat in late 2009.

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