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EA Sports Active More Workouts Nintendo Wii

Jan Brookes' guide of EA Sports Active More Workouts. Subscribe to this column via RSS or Newsletter.

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Column:
Frugal Gamer

Format:
Nintendo Wii

Genre:
Fighting

Written on:
20/11/2009

Second opinion:
Fitness Gamer (Wii)

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EA Sports Active More Workouts is the first sequel/expansion to be released for EA's Nintendo Wii exercise game. More Workouts continues the trend of more serious and health beneficial actives. This now includes clear instruction on performance, feedback on technique and reports of calories burned in real time. The new Six-Week Challenge, Full Body Circuit Workout Routines and Warm up and Cool down exercises ensure a rounded workout. Add in the enhanced Personal Trainer, Track Your Journey and Workout Your Way modes and you have a tool that can be shaped to fit your individual needs.

EA Sports Active on the Nintendo Wii established itself as the fitness experience for those on the more serious end of the health regimes. This is built on the fact that it is developed in collaboration with fitness experts. The driving force has been to create an experience that would hold its own in a gym setting as well as being able to accommodate in the lounge.

More Workouts is a new version of EA Sports Active that introduces, as its name suggests, a new challenge and increased fitness variety. The package has now grown to features over 35 new exercises that can be performed straight out of the box or customized to suite your requirements - upper or lower body, cardio.

Those that have played the original game can choose to import their profile and training record into More Workouts. Although a small feature this is key if EA are going to substantiate EA Sports Active as an ongoing health platform rather than just a transitory game. And more than that, seeing your history popping up in the new game is a great motivator for more exercises.

More Workouts on the Wii adds plenty of its own incentive too. Firstly there are a clutch of new challenges and activities. The Six Week Challenge gives you a customisable weekly schedule and virtual trainer check in. The Full Body Circuit Workout Routines are designed for the Nun-chuck leg strap and resistance band and work upper and lower body. Then there are the new Abdominal Exercises that help tone abs and strengthen the mid-section.

All this is wrapped up in some well advised Warm up and Cool down activities that ensure you stretch muscles before and after workouts to avoid aches and injury. Along the same lines, the Track Your Journey mode also enables you to pitch your efforts appropriately. There's even and all-new nutrition and fitness tips. Finally, the Workout Your Way mode enables you to set-up circuits based on your individual interests and fitness levels.

The game as a whole has had a presentation update to bring users to the tropics. This adds a more positive warm aesthetic to proceedings that are reflected in some of the more novel activities such as water-skiing and paddle surfing. A small change, but one that can make a big difference to motivation.

My family enjoyed EA Sports Active, but it was the older members who favoured this over Wii-Fit, New U, My Fitness Coach or Jillian Michaels' Fitness Ultimatum (yes we have pretty much all of these). Whereas the other games offered a quick blast of activity and exercise, it was only EA Sports Active that really felt like an alternative to buying a Gym membership. This was seen in the fact that we would get dressed in exercise garb before a session, and feel the burn during and after.

EA Sports Active was a big hit, but the sequel EA Sports Active More Workouts on the Nintendo Wii proves that this wasn't a splash in the ocean but part of a wider strategy. The new locations, activities and support for the first game's records make this a superb purchase.

Game People family video game reviews support Association of Family Gamers. They also offer niche and anecdotal dad, mum, teen and senior video game reviews.

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