EA Sports Active

Picked up a copy of EA Sports Active for the Wii today as I’d heard good things from several people on my Twitter stream. I enjoyed Wii Fit for a while but the lack of variety in it eventually made it get a bit dull and uninspiring. I also question the value of some of the exercises in it - none of them save the jogging (which has some seriously dodgy motion detection) are particularly intensive, so I question how much benefit it had. Sure, I lost a bit of weight doing it but a week at the gym and I lost more than I had in a month on Wii Fit. (I made up that figure, by the way. I haven’t compared graphs. But the fact is the gym proved to be much more effective).

Don’t get me wrong, Wii Fit is great and I still think exercise using gaming technology is a great idea. But I think it has a little way to go yet.

EA Sports Active (hereafter referred to as EASA) promises more variety and, through the use of the horrible-smelling Resistance Band that is bundled with the package, greater intensity of workout. From one session on the “medium intensity” setting, I can definitely say that the intensity is there. Rather than allowing you to freely pick what you do each day and rely on your own self-discipline, one of the modes in EASA creates a 30-day programme for you and then takes you through the whole thing with nary a break. It’s paced quite nicely too, starting with some walking, running, then moving on to squats and bicep curls, some balance exercises and various other bits and pieces. Some of the exercises are similar to those found in Wii Fit but the addition of the resistance band to the muscle exercises makes them rather more challenging, which is good.

There’s also a video game-style rewards system in there, with “trophies” being awarded for various milestone achievements. This is a good thing. Wii Fit unlocked games, but once you’d unlocked everything (and there wasn’t THAT much) there wasn’t much else to aim for save your own personal betterment. Having shiny things (albeit computer-generated, intangible shiny things) to aim for makes it that much more interesting.

Besides the exercises, you can also take nutrition and activity surveys each day that help you to think about what you’re doing. This is also a good thing. Wii Fit had the Activity Log but I always forgot to fill it in. I probably will forget to fill this one in, too, but it’s the thought that counts.

So in summary? I’m pretty impressed. I’ll be interested to see how/if the intensity ramps up as the days go on.