Nintendo Wii Review: EA Sports Active The Nintendo Wii has long been proclaimed the console of choice for fitness-based gaming. Initially, this was just a result of careless misuse and lack of understanding on the part of gamers. When the Wii was first released, many non-gamers wildly flailed the Wii-mote and nunchuk around to the detriment of nearby appliances and their personal health. This was in part due to the unresponsive controls of games like Wii Sports Boxing and of course gamer error.

In the past two years, many publishers have been taking advantage of the Wii’s design to bring home games that actually tote the flag of fitness. Games like Gold Gym’s Cardio Boxing and Wii Fit have tried to supplant fitness TV programs as the method of choice for home exercise. Wii Fit took the concept one step further with the release of the Wii Balance Board. The game use yoga to help gamers strengthen core muscles by observing gamers weight and position on the board.

Now, EA Sports has made a serious step in the foray of fitness based gaming with EA Sports Active. Unlike the passive Wii Fitness approach to exercise, EA Sports Active is exactly that: active aerobic exercises. You may not expect it at first, when you open up the Active box to reveal a simple leg strap and resistance band, but EA Sports Active will actually have you breaking a sweat through correct use – or incorrect use for that matter.

EA Sports Active is packaged with a leg strap that goes around your right thigh. The strap is meant to hold the Nunchuk so that when you run, your movements can be translated to your on-screen avatar. The resistance band ties onto two handles for you to do exercises like bicep curls, rows and shoulder raises. The band is somewhat flimsy and light, and if you are not careful how you tie it to the handles it will snap off in the middle of your workout. For those not used to working out, the band will provide moderate resistance, but for anyone else the band is just too light. Luckily, I had both medium and heavy resistance bands to swap out and give myself a real resistance workout.

The Active interface is a simple holistic approach to health. You start by creating an on-screen avatar who will replicate your movements on screen as you perform them. There isn’t much variety in the avatar’s customization, but it’s sufficient to get you started. You’ll have a your daily journal where you record what activities you did during the prior day, stress levels, and any dietary choices you made. There is a chart to measure your progress as well as trophies chronicling milestones in your new Active lifestyle. The coup de gras, however, is the 30-Day Challenge workout, endorsed by Oprah’s personal trainer Bob Greene.

The 30-Day Challenge features over 25 different activities, using the Western style of aerobic exercise instead of Wii Fit’s Eastern system. There are three levels of difficulty, and beginners should definitely start with the light workout. Before you begin you will be asked if you have a Wii-Balance board. The board is not necessary to enjoy Active or feel a burn from the workout. Most of the time you will begin your workout with a running warm-up. Each exercise is prefaced by a video tutorial, allowing you to see how you should execute the exercises correctly from multiple angles. Once you begin your workout you will have an on-screen avatar you created, as well as a personal trainer in the lower right corner of the screen.

If you haven’t worked out in a while, you may definitely find yourself soar after the first or second workout. By your second workout, Active incorporates several squat and lunge type exercises that will push your leg muscles’ development. Unfortunately, a few exercises in, you will begin to notice the unresponsiveness of some of the controls. There are several exercises like squats and lunges where the game will not register your movement. The squat meter will claim that you have not gone down all the way, but push yourself to far and you will probably tear some cartilage in your knee. Then you will have to suffer through the on-screen trainer’s comments, claiming that you are not putting your best effort into the exercises.

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