There is a new fun and fitness-oriented virtual reality video game on the market called Wii Active, from the EA Sports brand. Wii Active is the first fitness game to compete with the highly popular Wii Fit program by Nintendo. Lets compare Wii Active to Wii Fit, and my commentary on the fitness gadget industry…
Wii Fit. Wii Fit was the first widely successful Wii based video game to use the fun and fitness, exercise as the ‘game‘ theory. Uses a board based program: Wii Balance Board.
Price: Around $90.
Activities: Yoga, Strength Training, Balance Games, Aerobics and tracking features.
Maker: Nintendo.
Wii Active. Wii Active is the new video game to use fun and fitness. Uses a jump-rope like hand-held device based program: the Nunchuck.
Price: Around $60
Activities: Various activities including running, dancing, punching, sports, and a wide variety of movement activities.
Maker: EA Sports, endorsed by celebrity trainer bob Greene.
Notable: Marketed mainly to women. Has an active online community that features weight loss profiles and a motivation center.
Big differences?? I see price as a major point. Yes the Wii Active system is only $30 less, but that thirty bucks can be a significant value when consumers are deciding on which brand to buy. The other difference is the interactive gadget. The Wii balance board vs. the Nunchuck. Arm/hand based vs. bottom/foot based balance board. Depending on your activity favorites, the gadget may also be a determining factor. Those who love boxing/upper body activities may be excited about the Active. While yoga or lower body activity fans may be balance board loyalists. Since the Wii Active from EA Sports is still new, came out on May 19 2009, we will have to wait for the consumer demand to say yay or nay.
*Have you tried either of these? Post your experiences in the comments section.
*I have not personally tried either of these products. I don’t own a Wii or any video game console. But I do have an opinion on the philosophy of video game/trend/gadget fitness values….
Fitness Tech Chick. I’ll be the first one to admit that I love fitness technology trends, gadgets and innovations. As a teenager, I was always the first one at my community sports club to try out a new innovative brand of workout machine. The new StairMaster 3000, the latest elliptical machine and that handy new heart/fat monitor gadget. I tried them all and loved them all. Good healthy fun. But as much as I loved those trendy new gadgets, I never stopped to ask myself how trendy workout gear influenced my lifetime wellness. Today, years later, I do not use a StairMaster 3000 or 4000 or a trendy workout machine or even a futuristic heart monitor to keep me fit. My fitness values were not formed by healthy gadgets. My health values were formed by real exercise lessons that I learned in PE class, after-school sports and with my active family.
My lifetime fitness values: A simple pair of tennis shoes, the ability to go for a jog whenever I choose, the ability to recognize my likes and dislikes of certain sports, knowing that I love yoga, long mountain hikes, tennis, skiing and basketball.
Question: Are these Wii Fit and Active programs acting as a crutch for users? Is computer game fitness simply “the latest” gadget that may not stand the test of time? Consumers may use Wii fitness to get a few good years of exercise into their lives, but couldn’t you say the same about ‘trends’ like the thighmaster or 80’s home aerobic videos? When their time has passed, what then? I hope that Wii users, especially kids, are getting a wide variety of fitness activities–and not only the virtual reality kind. Onto my values…
Life cycle Fitness Values. In college I lived in a small dorm. There were only two ways to exercise: 1) Fight for a machine in the crowded gym. or 2) Break out my tennis shoes and go for a jog on the not-crowded track. Yay track. I certainly didn’t have a StairMaster3000 in my dorm room. But that was OK because I knew how and where to workout, move and get active without a fancy gadget. And this is my point. We can’t teach our kids to rely on technology as the main form of exercise. The point of exercise is to move, run, jump, sprint, laugh, spin, travel, run, hike and swim out and about. To move. To go. And simply jumping around in one place-your living room-might get the immediate results done, but may not be a lifelong solution to building fitness values. Someone could easily say: “I play tennis on my Wii, but I’ve never picked up a racket.” Sounds unauthentic. And almost sad , to me. What do you think?
www.nintendo.com/wiifit
www.easportsactive.com
I own both Wii fit and Wii active. I use them together because Active doesnt have any ab or chest activites. Active gives me a work out – I have been on hard and really work up a sweat. I was working out at the gym so I feel like I need more cardio but having one car and being limited on time I think it is better than not working out at all. 🙂
I found this thread as a result of a search. i just bought a Wii and have been told about both programs. From what I have read hear, it sounds like both programs, either individually or combined can be of great help to both starting and maintaining an exercise program.
I also agree that there is nothing like going out and doing things, compared to staying in. However, sometimes its raining, to cold, to hot or some other valid reason where going out to exercise just isn't possible. As a result, either of these programs sound like a good way to continue one's exercise program when they can't get out of the house.
My thanks to those who have provide their experiences with each of the programs.
I agree with some of your views, virtual fitness should not replace getting up and out to get active. Being a mother of 3, this is the sole reason it took sooo long before I purchased the Wii (tired of seeing kids adicted to games, and not enjoying the outdoors or team sports).
I have purchased both Wii Active and WiiFit, and love the fact that I can do them late at night when I would normally be lying on the couch watching tv. Also my mother, who cannot get out and about due to medical issues, has been getting active. She can adjust the intensity, she can sit to catch a breath when she needs to. We have seen an improvement in her physical strength and it has only been a week.
I bought wii fit this summer and was totally happy with it but have now bought wii active to go along with it and love it even more. I wish that it combined some of the features of wii fit (like weighing in) but it has more cardio and I love the strength exercises. I'm looking forward to getting the wii active more exercises because it adds stretching which isn't in the original which I think was a miss.
I'm considering which one of these programs I should buy. I'm leaning towards the EA Active. Fot those who like the balance board v.s nunchuck you CAN use BOTH with the EA Active.
I bought wii fit this summer and have absolutely loved it! I have lost 25 lbs in 90 days which is amazing for me. I weight myself every morning and exercises for 1 hr every evening. I have found it easy because the exercises are fun and some of them like the basic step and basic run I can do while watching TV. Tomorrow I'm going out to buy the wii active because I think it will help to be able to switch it up. I would like to know how they go together because I log my fitness on the wii fit. I can put it into the activity log but wish that the graph on the wii fit would merge with the wii active. The graph really helps hold me accountable for my weightloss and my daily activity. I love it!
I have both the Wii fit and Wii Active. I love both of them. My weight loss really kicked into gear, however, with the active. It can be a butt kicker. I use both systems religiously.
I'm looking forward to the Jillian Michaels version coming out in the fall.
For me, it was an investment well worth it. I look forward to working out with both systems daily.
I have both the Wii fit and Wii Active. Had the fit since middle of June and active mid July. I love both of them. My weight loss really kicked into gear, however, with the active. It can be a butt kicker. I use both systems religiously.
I'm looking forward to the Jillian Michaels version coming out in the fall.
For me, it was an investment well worth it. I look forward to working out with both systems daily.
The Wii Fit Balance Board has a weight limit of 330 pounds (and that's "Version 2"–the first version had a 300 lb. limit).
The Wii Active thigh strap has no weight limit. On the other hand, some folks are having problems with poor craftsmanship.
Two keys to fitness success — 1) finding an activity you enjoy and can stay with and 2) having a range of fitness activities to avoid overuse injuries.
I've tried the Wii Active and think it's a good addition to outdoor activities — for kids and adults.
The Wii active provides a wide range of activities, including some that I'd never try otherwise, like kickboxing and skateboarding. You can adjust the intensity level and make every workout different. If you're motivated by rewards, you can work toward earning dozens of tropheys in different categories.
You can set up the Wii to encourage you to meet fitness goals you set yourself. And the Wii will "rate" your daily fitness, which includes a Wii workout, your diet for the day, amount of sleep and stress level.
A good way to workout if the weather is bad or if you need to be inside to watch children, wait for a phone call, or check on dinner preparation.
I own both the Wii Fit, Wii Active, and Gold’s Gym Cardio Work out. All three offer different options depending on what your objectives are.
The Wii Fit is great at tracking, and at the Muscle/Yoga, but I find falls flat on Cardio (Aside from the running which all 3 programs have). Rarely will my heart rate break 70% of resting doing any activities. I have had this the longest and maybe I am more use to it. The thing I don’t like is that you have to do out of the exercise you are in, and back into another one. If there was a way to program your workout, it would make this program better.
Gold’s Gym is a far superior program for cardio workouts, but not nearly as good at tracking and muscle. Aside from the pre-programmed work-outs which I find are the best of all three for getting my heart rate up, it really lacks in most other areas. I know that with extended use it will tone the upper body very well with all the punching. Also of note is the price, I only paid 19.95 for it!
Wii Active Is probably the best of the 3 for a total body workout. Where it really excels is the pre-programmed and varied routines which will make you sweat, get your heart rate up, and is total body, with a stronger emphasis on the lower body. I have only had it for a week, but there is a few things about it that the other two can not compare to. First it allows for Multiple (As in 2) people doing the same exercise. This to me is a major advantage over the other programs. Second, it seems to progress with the workout and get harder. The 30 day challenge is a great setup which will make it easy for some people just wanting to turn it on and go. It is also highly customizable. I have created some custom work out that focus on an area for a little extra after a pre-programmed. The one thing I wish it did was Better tracking of weight and progress. It can and Does use the balance board so that should have been an easy thing to accomplish. All in all, so Far I am very happy with it.
I will continue to use all three in a rotation with the Wii active being the most heavily used of them.
Hi Guys,
Wow…. ea’s Wii Active is killing me completly… it is indeed way more effective than wii fit, which I own as well… where you have short breaks with Wii Fit to decide about your next exercise – Wii Active bombards you constantly with new training units.
The music of Wii Fit is more calm… which is nice when you are interested in yoga… Wii Active remindes me more of a real fitness arobic session at a fitness studio… (electro, house beats)
How ever there are things which are nicer with the wii fit… I tell you now the 3 most imortant ones…
1st… Wii Active, for my opinion, is more oriented at workouts for the lower body part like legs… bottom…and so on
2nd… Your daily body analyse does not use wii fits weighting feature.
3rd… Some of the training units are a bit weird programmed…
even though you are doing what expected the trainer corrects you… for example when the wii remote isnt pointing 180 degrees to the bottom … I belive ths was working better with wii fit.. sometimes this can get a bit bugging…
If you can try to use them together… I would recommend.
The Wii Fit is a fun tool for inspiring fitness, especially in under-active adults. Seeing that little Mii pack on the pounds gets people off the couch and doing something. We own one and have had fun with it – mostly the yoga with me showing off how well-balanced I am. We have not tried the Wii Active, and I kind of doubt that we will given our lifestyle. However, if you are looking for a great way to get under-active kids off the couch, I recommend Bandai’s ActiveLife Outdoor Challenge. It comes with a mat like DDR and uses the “mii”. It has 2-player mode and I admit that my calves were aching after an hour of virtual mountain boarding.
I love my Wii Fit. I’m mildly handicapped and can adjust the motions to my ability. It’s gotten me off the recliner and active. Seeing me moving has inspired my kids, too. They get loads of fresh air, sunshine and exercise, but participating with Mom inspires us both.
Wii Active looks awesome!!!
And it is only $59 which is the right price for a program like this. Can’t wait to give it a try. I’ve heard good things about Fit too. But you know nothing can beat the outdoors.
I have used Wii Fit an love it. However, I do agree with you that it should not be the only fitness activity for people, especially school-aged kids.