We here at ShrinkGeek are clearly not the only folks excited about the latest fitness game for the Nintendo Wii, EA SPORTS Active. Nintendo announced on Monday that the game sold more than 600,000 units in the first two weeks of being on the market.
With numbers like that it shouldn’t be much of a surprise to learn that Nintendo is already planning to roll out the first expansion for the game in time for the holiday shopping season.
In addition to the game itself, EA SPORTS Active comes with two additional accessories – A leg strap and a resistance band. My first half an hour or so with the game was spent reading the instructions on how to use these two contraptions. The resistance band has two canvas hand grips that will need to be attached to it but the process is fairly straightforward. The leg strap, however, was a bit more convoluted. I don’t feel it was difficult to figure out at all, but finding the right placement on your leg so that it’s comfortable AND doesn’t slide is a bit tricky (at least it was for me).
Once I proved I was more intelligent than some rubber and velcro I fired up the game itself. EA SPORTS Active does not use the default Mii avatars that are standard in the Nintendo Wii so when you’re setting up your profile you’ll need to create a new one. I don’t consdier this a bad thing, personally. One of the features I do not like about the Nintendo Wii in general is the overly cartoonish facet of the Mii’s and how they dominate many of the games from Nintendo itself. Call it a psychological hang up if you will, but the Mii’s make me feel like I’m playing a game designed for children and it just doesn’t work for me in Wii Fit.
I feel like I need to put a disclaimer out before I write this particular post, and so I shall.
Despite appearances to the contrary this site has not been taken over by the Nintendo Fanboy network.
What sparks me to state that before continuing is that I’m about to heap praise on Nintendo yet again for supporting video games that promote health and fitness. This time, however, they’ve done something that I personally wouldn’t have seen coming. This new contender in the “getting gamers healthy” game is for the Nintendo DS.
If there is any one console on the market today that has the greatest potential for helping video game fans get in shape it would have to be the Nintendo Wii. The interactive nature of the motion detecting controllers practically forces you to actually get up and move while playing many of the popular games available on that system (I mean, you COULD sit on the couch while playing Tennis in Wii Sports, but that might just make you a toolbox). Nintendo took the fitness potential of the Wii one step further back in 2007 with the release of Wii Fit and the game buying public couldn’t get enough of it. The game and balance board combination was so popular that one creative individual came up with a website just to track when and where it was available. Soon similar games followed, including one from fitness expert Jillian Michaels (of The Biggest Loser fame).
The Virgin Healthmiles program that I wrote about in this post now has a membership program that individuals can sign up for. The initial fee is $29.99 and that includes the first month, and just like your typical MMORPG there is a monthly fee after that of $12.99. Considering the fact that you can earn up to $500 in rewards in a year you only have to make it to Level 3 to see a “profit” from that in your wallet (and you’d most definitely see one on the scale). For more information check out the information and registration page on the Virgin Healthmiles site.
In January of 2008 I sent out an email to several of my friends. In that email I mentioned the fact that there weren’t any fitness sites that I was aware of that really targeted the Geek crowd and that, as Geeks who were somewhat experienced in that field, we should do something about that.
I may or may not have mentioned making money in the process. I’m kinda fuzzy on that part. I’ve been subequently told by that my business model of “I come up with a really good idea and people give me lots of money” was missing a few steps.
I thought it was a good plan, really.