From what I can tell, Bandai’s YUU HO KEI pedometer game involves ordering your foot soldiers out to battle with you – by making them walk – and then walk some more. The more distance you cover, the closer your army gets to the battlefield, and the closer you get to becoming a Samurai master.

But this pocket-sized gadget isn’t just for fun. It actually seems like a pretty nice pedometer, capturing data from your activity, and letting you upload it to Bandai’s website so you can keep track of your progress – a la Apple’s Nike + iPod kit. And it doesn’t just use a cheap motion sensor to figure out your footsteps – there’s a true 3-D accelerometer under the hood. Those Samurai warriors were sure crafty buggers.

No word on if or when you’ll be able to find this thing outside of Japan, but if you happen to live there, you’ll be able to grab one from the Bandai online shop for ¥4725 (appx. $49 USD) when it’s released later this month.

[via CoolThings via TOKYOMANGO]

Unlike meters that just count your steps, the Seiko SlimStick uses modern dual-axis accelerometers to track the magnitude of your movements, giving greater value to more intensive exercise. Just clip the compact SlimStick onto your clothes or stick it in a pocket, and it’ll track your activity level.

The SlimStick can count calories burned over the course of the day, amount of time you were active, the number of steps you walked as well as an overall exercise quality score. It’ll store up to twelve weeks of summary data, so you can check your progress over time.

All those smarts fit into a sleek brushed aluminum case that’s just about the size of a pack of chewing gum. They’re available in silver, pink or gold metal finishes, and retail between ¥5,775 and ¥6,984 (appx. $55 to $67 USD). Seiko is currently selling these only in Japan, where you can find them at AssistOn.