Nintendo Okie

 

 

A little over a year and a half ago Nintendo released a new peripheral in conjunction with a game.  That peripheral was the Balance Board and the game was Wii Fit.  That started a trend that hasn’t slowed down since that time, the birth of the exercises genre on Wii.  We’ve seen a number of titles try to capitalize and put their mark on the phenomenon and be the best exercise software on the system.  Earlier this year, in May, Electronic Arts got into the game, so to speak, with the release of EA Sports Active and now they’re looking to improve on an already quality program with EA Sports Active: More Workouts.

 

EA Sports Active: More Workouts is essentially an expansion to the title released earlier this year and it is exactly what the name implies; more workouts.  You do not need the original title to take advantage of More Workouts, though if you didn’t buy EA Sports Active you will have to buy the resistance band and the leg strap separately as they are not included in the package.  My recommendation is that you go out and purchase a couple different resistance bands so you can find the perfect one to suit your needs.  There have been problems associated with the official one included breaking under pressure.  In all this game features 84 workouts overall, 24 pre-set workouts and a new and improved six week challenge.  

 

The new six week challenge improves on the previous “game’s” 30 day challenge in a number of ways.   The biggest has to be the ability to change your schedule at any point or move workouts from one day to another.  It’s just as simple as pressing a couple buttons and it happens instantly.  You initially set this up when you first begin the six week challenge, but if you find that certain days aren’t working and you would like the change them it’s very simple to do so.  It’s a small touch, but an important one as it makes it very easy to tailor your workouts to your schedule.  They have also added a few new exercises that target key areas like the abs, which were not present in their previous outing.  They’ve also made some of the workouts into a bit of a game to make things more fun while you workout.  Things like squats are now incorporated into a water skiing event where you will squat under or jump up to catch flags along a course.  You’re still getting the same basic workout they’ve just added a bit of a game element to make things more interesting.  Before and after each workout session now there are warm up and cool down periods.  These really help get you into the right frame and mind and get your muscles ready for what’s to come, but there are only about four stretches to each session and they’re the same every time, which could become tedious.

 

The game comes with a small book that has recipes and healthy lifestyle tips from Oprah’s personal trainer Bob Greene.  This book has a number of healthy alternatives for meals and snacks that will help you to begin living just a bit healthier.  The game software itself also comes with a journal that you can use to track your activity levels outside of your exercises program as well as what you’re eating.  It’s used mainly to get you thinking about what you’re doing on a daily basis and understanding ways that you can make small changes that will affect you in a big way.  I found over the course of the first week of having the game I was consciously thinking about what I was eating or taking the stairs once or twice just to get a better grade on my journal for the day. 

 

For those unfamiliar with what you’ll be doing in the game you have a pre-set workout, where you can choose to target the overall body, cardio exercises or certain key areas of your body.  The workouts last from 10 minutes up to around half an hour.  Through that period of time you’ll do a number of different exercises, many times you’ll do a couple sets of the same exercises back to back.  The Wii Remote and nunchuk are used in combination to help make sure you are performing the right movements.  Some of these exercises have you holding both inputs and many of them have you insert the nunchuk into the leg strap to help perform proper leg movements.  The resistance band will be used to add some tension and help increase muscle strength as well as flexibility.  You have the ability to choose a male or female training partner and you can customize your own on screen avatar with a number of different outfit options. 

 

There are some problems with motion detection, especially where the nunchuk is concerned.  The motion capability of the device are not as accurate as they really need to be. This will cause you to have to exaggerate some movements or just shake the nunchuk once you’ve reached the proper position to have it register the movement.  It’s not a huge gripe, but it could pose some problems especially as you get later into workouts and you start to get tired.  The introduction of Motion Plus and possibly using two remotes would go a long way to solving that problem.  You can also use the balance board if you have one, but it’s not required to use this software.

 

I’m not the most physically fit person.  I’m not overweight, but I am a little out of shape and I’ll be taking advantage of having this in the house.  EA Sports Active: More Workouts is a great solution for people who are looking to workout, but haven’t felt comfortable going to a gym and don’t think workout DVDs are helpful.  The Wii Remote and Nunchuk help in making sure you are doing the proper movements and you can increase the tension of the resistance band by making it shorter meaning you can increase the tension as you get more comfortable.  You can have a second person working out with you if you life.  Wii Fit is a great first step, but EA has taken the ball and made a very quality workout program that anyone looking to get into better shape should take advantage of.  The ability to target certain areas, customize your workouts around your schedule and increase resistance as you go all make for a very accessible, easy to use exercise solution.  EA should now take advantage of Wii’s online capabilities and use that to add even more functionality to an already solid experience.  One last piece of advice.  Always wear good shoes. 

 

Final Score: 4/5 Above Average