With the popularity that is Wii Sports, many other companies are trying to catch the craze by developing their own fitness game. There have been a few on the DS already that help with stretching and pilates, but EA is out to make the first Wii Fit competitor. Announced today is the development/release of “EA Sports Active” which will look to enhance your workout techniques through a 30 day challenge giving you a new 20-minute workout each day. Could be interesting to see if the home work-out craze is still going on when this comes out next year. Full press release below.

GUILDFORD, UK. – November 13, 2008 – Do you find there are too few hours in the day to run a household, hold down a job and fit in a workout? Or, are you just getting bored of the same old fitness routine? EA SPORTS™, a label of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced the development of EA SPORTS™ Active, an innovative new customizable and personalized fitness product that will get you motivated to move in the comfort of your home. EA SPORTS Active will launch exclusively for the Wii™ worldwide next spring.

Developed in collaboration with fitness experts, including Bob Greene – renowned exercise physiologist, author and Oprah’s personal trainer – EA SPORTS Active is perfect for the whole family, though designed specifically for women seeking a simple, fun and cost-effective way to achieve a healthy lifestyle. The product will be the first in a new line of EA SPORTS fitness and sports performance products in development to improve the well-being of people of all ages.

“EA SPORTS Active and our entrance into the fitness space is an exciting and groundbreaking milestone for EA SPORTS,” said Peter Moore, president, EA SPORTS. “As we continue to expand our brand, we have a real opportunity to redefine the home fitness experience with a more Western cardiovascular approach and exercises that will appeal to a diverse audience, getting people off the couch and into shape while interacting with our products in a way never before possible. EA SPORTS Active costs less than a gym membership, it provides a variety of exercises unlike a one dimensional in-home fitness contraption, and it delivers an interactive experience that you don’t get from a DVD – this is a true fitness revolution and a space in which we intend to be leaders.”

EA SPORTS Active features a wide variety of interactive activities combined into a circuit that target both the upper and lower body as well as cardio, and supports two players to allow family or friends to get fit together. EA SPORTS Active provides a new level of motivation with on-screen, real-time feedback on your workout such as calories burned, while also allowing you to adjust intensity levels. EA SPORTS Active will include two specially-designed leg straps that hold the Wii’s Nunchuk controller to track lower body movements, as well as a resistance band to support a number of upper body strength training exercises.

“One of the most frequent questions I am asked is how to get fit at home – especially from busy mums. EA SPORTS Active provides a fun and effective workout that targets your upper body, lower body, and gets your heart pumping in just 20 minutes a day,” said Greene. “It’s a great way to get moving when you can’t get outside or you only have a short amount of time at home. In addition, I like the variety of exercises that it provides – one of the many reasons it has earned the Best Life seal of approval.”

EA SPORTS Active features a “30 Day Challenge,” a fitness road map for players to reach their fitness goals with the guidance of a virtual trainer. The Challenge provides a new, 20-minute workout every time a player exercises, including clear instruction, feedback on technique and positive encouragement throughout the workout. Each circuit will feel different and increase in intensity as fitness levels improve to help you work up a sweat and work toward your fitness goals. Users can also create their own custom workouts that vary in activity, duration and intensity, and the Wii Balance Board will add functionality to many exercises.

EA SPORTS Active is in development at EA Canada in Vancouver. It has not yet been rated by the ESRB or PEGI; visit www.esrb.org for updated rating information. Media can find photos and a trailer of the game at www.electronicarts.co.uk/press. For more information, please visit www.easportsactive.com.

Image courtesy of videogamegeek

First of all sorry to all my fans for not posting anything lately, but my computer got a virus somehow *cough* porn *cough*.  But I’m back now, so that is all that is important.  Now on with the news.

This past Monday saw a pretty weak Virtual Console lineup as the biggest thing was Mega Man 3 being released with two new Wii Ware titles.  Mega Man 3 is the first game in the series to introduce the slide and charge buster to Mega Man offensive repertoire

WiiWare™

Brain Challenge™ (Gameloft, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone, 1,000 Wii Points): Just like your body, your brain needs to be exercised to stay in shape. Boost your brain and relieve stress through various minigames in a personal session to get a detailed evaluation. Challenge your friends’ brains in delirious party games to see who is the smartest. Test your brain’s abilities in Visual, Memory, Logic, Math and Focus minigames. Compare yourself with friends by challenging their brains in three multiplayer modes. Develop your resistance to stressful situations that could happen in real life. Use a customized Mii™ character to create personal sessions. Choose your favorite personal coach. Track your overall performance with detailed statistics and graphs. The special Kid Test and Senior Test modes will gather everyone around the game.

Yummy Yummy Cooking Jam (Virtual Toys, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone-Animated Blood, Comic Mischief, 1,000 Wii Points): Yummy Yummy Cooking Jam is a frenetically active cooking game in which you must serve food to your customers as quickly as possible. This could be a simple task, but the customers aren’t very patient, and you’ll find a multitude of annoying insects that make the noble mission of satisfying your small gourmets’ stomachs much more difficult. In the game’s Career Mode, your goal is to become the best chef in the city. To do so, you have to prove your worth by cooking in four fantastic restaurants: the Hot Dog, Hamburger, Pizza and Mexican Restaurant. Enjoy playing Yummy Yummy with your family, serving delicious food to the most surprising characters: vampires, ninjas, extraterrestrials and mafia thugs. Put on your chef’s hat, sharpen your knives and turn up the heat.

Virtual Console™

Mega Man™ 3 (NES™, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone-Mild Cartoon Violence, 500 Wii Points): In the year 200X, the notorious Dr. Wily, now reformed and working for the forces of good, works hand-in-hand with Dr. Light to build a new type of peacekeeping robot. When a new set of eight Robot Masters escapes the lab to wreak havoc on the world at large, only Mega Man can save the day. This time, Mega Man must rely on his new slide move and canine companion Rush to conquer the stages and vanquish evil. A new character, Proto Man, adds to the mystery and appeal of this seminal title in the famous action-game series.

Direct Youtube Link

Also big news with the ESRB.  The ESRB has updated their website to include more in detail descriptions of games so that parents can understand what they are buying for their kids this Festivus season.  I like how more info is getting to parents this way, but I don’t think most parents will go to the website and get this info.  Most will probably still look to rely on what is on the box, but this is at least a step in the rigt direction.  Below is an example of the new description for Call of Duty World at War, in the past the description would not go into this much detail about what can be seen and heard during gameplay.

Call of Duty: World at War is a first-person shooter in which players assume the role of Allied soldiers in both the European and Pacific Fronts during World War II. Combat can be intense with extensive use of camera effects (e.g., slow-motion, blurring, and screen shakes) and realistic sound effects to highlight the tense and frenetic nature of each battle. Fighting is fast-paced with players using a large array of military weapons (guns, grenades, and flamethrowers). Collateral damage includes sprays of red blood when enemies are shot; maimed appendages from explosions; and flailing and screaming when enemies are set on fire. Cutscenes and historical footage can contain graphic depictions of prisoner/POW executions. Strong profanity can be heard during gameplay (e.g., “f*ck” and “sh*t”).

Finally, we have figured out a new way to post videos so I will look to have a big post about the release of Midways Mortal Kombat vs DC game that is coming out soon. Hopefully this title will take off as with current reports, Midway is really needing a hit on their hands to avoid more layoffs and possible sale of the company.

So I’m trying something new in regards to posting multiple stories of the day instead of multiple posts throughout the day. We’ll see if it lasts.  Anyway, I have three interesting stories that have gotten my attention this morning involving the best fighting game ever, a presidential candidate and the xbox.

First it appears that the ESRB has rated Marvel VS Capcom 2 for the Xbox360 and PS3. The ESRB website has been very accurate in the past in regards to games coming out that have not been announced (they were correct about Mega Man and Mega Man 2 for the virtual console). Now if this is correct and MVC2 is coming to Xbox live and the PSN network, we will be getting a fantastic fighting game for a reasonable price along with the possibility of online matches. With copies of this game selling on eBay for up to $100, this will be a huge benefit to us fans who don’t have copies anymore or for those who want to give the game a try.

With Microsoft launching their new Xbox Experience (basically replacing the old dashboard and offering a smattering of new features) it was noted that the update would require 128MB of save space. This really doesn’t work too well for all the Arcade owners who do not have a hard drive or limited memory card space. So in order to eliviate the pain, Microsoft has opened the website www.xboxstorageupgrade.com. This site will allow you to enter in your console serial number along with the console ID and it will be determined if you are eligible for a free 512MB memory card or a refurbished 20GB hard drive for $19.99

Finally it appears that even video games can not escape presidential campaign ads. Recently if you go online with EAs hit racer, Burnout Paradise, you will see billboards promoting Barack Obama. These ads have been paid by his campaign and are 100% legit. Interesting to see this going on, but it really does make sense. Young voters love their god damn video games and this is a great place to attract their attention. If only we had a new Top Gun game, then possibly we could have McCain as a downloadable costume for the Maverick character….one can dream I guess.

Images courtesy of Kotaku