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EA Sports introduces Active 2.0 at GDC, complete with sensors galore
By and large, EA Sports' Season Opener event here at GDC was underwhelming, but one glimmer of newness did manage to shine through. Nearly a year after Active hit stores (video after the break) and encouraged Wii gamers to drop those unwanted pounds before hitting the soft sand in the summer, the company has announced that Active 2.0 (a working title) is currently in development for Wii, PS3, iPod touch and iPhone. We're told that a "new suite of fitness products" will be launching in the fall, with the Active 2.0 program delivering "true fitness results by featuring an innovative wireless control system powered by new leg and arm straps with motion sensors, a heart rate monitor to capture intensity and a new online hub to track and share workout data." Outside of that, details are nonexistent (like how exactly the iPod / iPhone components will factor into this equation), though we get the feeling that Xbox 360 owners may be left out of the party. Here's hoping we're wrong. %Gallery-87839%
EA SPORTS Active for Wii in stores now, taunting us with its toned abs
Well, we have to admit a certain principled aversion to any console game that involves jumping, the flailing of the arms, cardio-whatever... anything, really, that Richard Simmons might approve of. It's bad enough that we're being asked to turn in our traditional controllers in for a balance board, but are we really supposed to believe that Electronic Arts -- the company that single-handedly ruined our health during the 1980s as we stayed up for weeks at a time on the quest to save Skara Brae -- could, or should, present the world with a "personal trainer in a box?" Well, if you're one of those people, you'll be happy to know that EA SPORTS Active for Wii is now available in retail stores Stateside, with worldwide release slated for May 22. Video after the break.
EA SPORTS Active is hardly the Wii Fit slayer we were hoping for
Our exercise-averse bones were certainly shaking at rumors of EA's supposed onslaught on the Wii Fit-dominated "video games don't have to be fun, they can also make you sore and grumpy" market, but we must admit we're a little disappointed in the end product. EA SPORTS Active for the Wii eschews Nintendo's Wii Fit peripheral entirely, instead opting for a leg strap to hold a nunchuck controller and track the movements of your rippling thigh, while an electronics-free resistance band is there to make everything harder. The good news is that Bob Greene, Oprah's personal trainer, was involved in Active's creation and the wide assortment exercises it will subject you to, so you know it's going to turn you into an eternally beautiful and endlessly influential TV talk show host in a few short weeks. Speaking of, did everybody see that 30 Rock episode with Oprah in it? Can we just give Tina Fey all the Emmys right now, or do we have to wait until next year? Video of EA's Active is after the break.
