It’s no secret that the Wii has become the center of fitness gaming, spearheaded by Wii Fit. Yet while the Balance Board has arguably become one of the most popular pieces of fitness equipment in homes, it’s also tended to become one of the most popular doorstops as well.
It’s a common phenomenon in exercise: people feel motivated to purchase some big new contraption with goals of slimming down and living healthier, enjoy it for a while and then turn it into a clothes hangar after boredom or a sense of futility sets in. It’s not something you should feel too badly about, but if you feel like you may be one of those people, do you really want to plunk down $90 for something that will start collecting dust in a month or two?
Thankfully, there are a glut of other fitness-centric games available for the Wii at cheaper prices, many that take advantage of the Balance Board but do not require it. If you want to try a console-based fitness regime but are not very confident in your willpower, why not consider one of these alternatives. That way, if you find you want more and pick up Wii Fit, you can apply the Balance Board into your original game or games, too.
For a potential starting point, I’ve taken a look at some Wii fitness titles currently on the market. EA has its Sports Active series with the original Personal Trainer ($59.99) and add-on More Workouts ($29.99), Ubisoft has the boxing-centric Gold’s Gym Cardio Workout ($19.99) and Konami has the, er… walk-centric Walk It Out ($29.99). I’ve placed my experiences with each title in a side-by-side-by-side comparison to aid any potential decisions of these or similar games. Keep in mind these are not opinions from a fitness expert, but your average Joe pudgy gamer.
Some mini-games included, but anything that gets you moving is good!
The Game Plays Like…
EA Sports Active
A magic, all-around workout video whose routines can be switched up every time you use it. Routines focus largely on squatting, lunging and work with a resistance band in the form of direct repetitions or sports-like activities.
Cardio Workout
Guitar Hero with fists. Routines demand throwing different punches and dodge maneuvers in rhythm to ultimately build combinations. As the name implies, focus is also on constant leg motion and maintaining an elevated heart rate.
Walk It Out
Dance Dance Revolution for Dummies, requiring you to march to the rhythm of songs to move about a virtual world in paces ranging from a leisurely stroll to a light jog. Left foot, right foot — it never becomes any harder.
You Will Need…
EA Sports Active
A resistance band and a leg strap to hold the nunchuck for certain workouts. Both come packaged with Personal Trainer or separately as an “Accessory Pack.” More Workouts does not come with these items, but includes a sample of pages from one of fitness guru Bob Greene’s books; the perfect size for setting a bowl of ice cream upon. The Balance Board is optional.
Cardio Workout
Either a remote with nunchuck or a remote for each hand. I don’t have to tell you which setup is better and less likely to cause you to strangle yourself, do I? The Balance Board is optional.
Walk It Out
A remote and nunchuck, although the game will also accept use of the Balance Board or a Wii DDR dance mat.
A list of the stats that Walk It Out tracks. Looking good!
It Looks…
EA Sports Active
Clean and relatively well detailed, with workouts set in open, pleasant outdoor scenes — ones you likely don’t have if you bought these games to begin with. The characters look more realistic, as well.
Cardio Workout
Gold’s Gym in name only. It’s pretty clear that the license was tacked on after the game was made, unless I missed something that says chibi-ish characters and the ability to have green hair are trademark demands of Gold’s Gym’s clientele.
Walk It Out
Geared more toward families and kids, as evidenced by the opening video featuring an agonizingly happy and whitebread real-life token family and disturbingly cheerful, real-life Stepford fitness expert. Survive that and you enter a relatively safe and attractive chibi-ish world.
The Controls…
EA Sports Active
Tend to work well but are not perfect. There will be times the games do not recognize your motion, sometimes leaving you in a somewhat painful and compromised position until they catch up with you or ask you to try again. My gym-addict friend told me that holding such positions are still really good for me, so I hope he appreciates it the next time I meet him and hold my knee against his solar plexus.
Cardio Workout
Will feel unresponsive now and then, leading to missed punches or moves when you don’t think you deserved them. There’s never really any penalty or holdup for missing anything, though, so it doesn’t feel as frustrating.
Walk It Out
Seem to depend on your pockets if you are using the remote and nunchuck. You are asked to pocket the nunchuck to register your steps, but I’ve found it doesn’t tend to read as well if it’s flopping around in a deep pocket. Wearing pants with shallow pockets or — even better — the EA Sports Active leg strap is the way to go, but even then not every step will register. It still doesn’t seem too much of a problem, though, if you still have good rhythm.
A bit more cartoon than you may expect for a Gold's Gym experience
The Music…
EA Sports Active
Has a large, varied blend of generic rock, pop, urban and world instrumental tracks that I found quite upbeat and fitting. You can skip tracks from within the middle of a workout and set up your own playlists, although I’ve never found a track I disliked enough to bother.
Cardio Workout
Is a MIDIland and feels relatively cheap. Most of the tracks work well enough to get into rhythm, with one large exception being one of the most pitiful
renditions of Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” I’ve ever heard. Unfortunately, the game loves to use this track during mini-games, but you can choose what you want to hear elsewhere.
Walk It Out
Will likely make or break the game for you. It’s a pop-heavy lineup of well-known and not-so-well-known tracks that you would expect from any DDR game. There are tons of tracks to pick up and play as you see fit, but you will still likely either love, tolerate or hate.
The Trainers…
EA Sports Active
Tend to be responsive and offer good advice, but are so encouraging sometimes in Personal Trainer they almost feel patronizing. This seems to be dialed down in More Workouts.
Cardio Workout
Are all basically similar: not unpleasant but can sound a little robotic telling you what to do in the routines. Bob scares me, though.
Walk It Out
Are like night and day. Warren is cool. Nancy is the airheaded princess of the harpies.
I don't know about you, but this song definitely makes me want to walk
The Incentives…
EA Sports Active
Try to coax you into overall healthy choices by asking you every day how motivated you feel, how much water you’ve had and what kinds of foods you’ve eaten. It’s helpful if you’re truly motivated that way; otherwise it’s too easy to ignore or even cheat.
Cardio Workout
Are the basic “earn gold, buy new clothes” and unlockable-with-time mini-games.
Walk It Out
Are surprisingly motivating. As you walk through the initially barren world, you can click on capsules littering the landscape to build the environment around you, earn additional music tracks and open up alternate routes. Each capsule costs a certain amount of points acquired through steps and up to three can be “banked” at a time at the top of the screen. That means as long as you keep clicking on capsules, there’s always something asking you for just a 100 or so steps more. It’s amazing how far this can take you.
An Average Workout Takes…
EA Sports Active
20-30 minutes
Cardio Workout
About 20 minutes
Walk It Out
However long you want to keep moving
While the perfectly white furniture and rug is not including, the resistance bands and leg strap can certainly help
After the First Day…
EA Sports Active
You may feel ready to die. That means it’s working. Seriously, though, it will start to feel easier.
Cardio Workout
Your arms and legs may be a little sore.
Walk It Out
You’ll be surprised how far you actually walked.
You Will Feel Like a Complete Dork When…
EA Sports Active
You realize that the best way to keep your leg strap from slipping off is to don tightly-fitting lower-wear. I won’t tell you what I use, but it’s not pretty.
Cardio Workout
Someone catches you performing one of your combos in the mirror of your workplace restroom.
Walk It Out
Someone walks in on you marching in your room to The Black-eyed Peas. But, as Fergie says, you’ll be too “three thousand and eight” to care. …No, I don’t
know what that means, either.
For Added Challenge…
EA Sports Active
Buy a stronger resistance band.
Cardio Workout
Buy some wrist weights
Walk It Out
Chew gum at the same time?
Nothing like a good scenic workout to get you pumped
Overall, if you’re looking for an all-around fitness program, it’s hard not to recommend EA Sports Active. Of the three games analyzed here, it offers the best agenda for extensive fitness, including more core and strength-related activities whereas the other two games focus mainly on cardio and endurance. EA Sports Active will require more commitment of will than the other titles, however, and if you don’t think you can realistically do that, it may be more reasonable to invest in one of the other cheaper titles. Movement of any type is still a good thing.
And if you know you’re not in great health, please talk to your doctor. They can help you decide what kind of activity would be of greatest benefit to you.
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