EA Sports Active 2

by Electronic Arts

Product Features

• Pre-made circuits feature a variety of familiar activities that target upper body, lower body as well as cardio
• Start off with a light jog, followed by bicep curls and get your heart beating with some cardio boxing
• Your trainer will be the focal point of the experience guiding you towards your own version of personal achievement
• Feedback will be given throughout your workout, keeping you on track to reach your fitness goals
• The 30 Day Challenge: take the 30 Day Challenge and experience tailor made workouts to your level of fitness

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B003O6C0V4
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.9 x 2.9 inches ; 1.1 pounds
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: November 16, 2010
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (326 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #468 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #9 in Video Games > Wii > Sports
  • #72 in Video Games > Wii > All Games
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: Nintendo Wii

Amazon.com Product Description

huge range of fun fitness activities

Synopsis

Revolutionize your workout regimen with EA Sports Active, the ultimate interactive fitness program that's designed for you. Get fit with a holistic approach to fitness that combines nutrition and lifestyle factors, with a variety of activities, all from the convenience of your living room. From customized routines that target upper body, lower body and cardio to a guided 30-day challenge that tests muscle endurance, coordination and agility, stay in shape with fitness made fun and easy.

 

Unlimited customizable workouts

Build muscle

Features

• Active Fitness Made Fun & Easy: Pre-made circuits feature a variety of familiar activities that target upper body, lower body as well as cardio
• Start off with a light jog, followed by bicep curls and get your heart beating with some cardio boxing
• Benefit of a Virtual Personal Trainer: your trainer will be the focal point of the experience guiding you towards your own version of personal achievement
• Feedback will be given throughout your workout, keeping you on track to reach your fitness goals
• The 30 Day Challenge: take the 30 Day Challenge and experience tailor made workouts to your level of fitness
• Circuits will change as you progress each day, and EA Sports Active will track calories, intensity and progress throughout your journey
• New Way to Play: slip the nunchuk into the specially designed leg strap and hold the Wii Remote in your hand to track your movements from both your upper and lower body
• A resistance band is also included to increase the intensity of exercises such as bicep curls and shoulder presses
• Workout Your Way: circuits can be customized to your interest and fitness level -- choose your duration, intensity level & set your own goals for calories burned and workout score
• Workout with a Friend: burn calories with a friend as you both workout through routines together in a co-operative mode
• Track Your Progress: expand your Fitness IQ and keep track of your workouts inside and outside of EA Sports Active with the in-game journal
• Wii Balance Board compatibility

Product Description

EA SPORTS Active 2 with Total Body Tracking will feature an innovative wireless control system powered by motion sensors in leg and arm straps that provide complete freedom of motion. Additionally, it will feature a heart rate monitor that provides constant on-screen monitoring, allowing users to capture intensity and optimize performance over time. Users will be able to track and share their workout data online through automatic uploading from their online connected console to their personalized EA SPORTS Active profile. EA SPORTS Active 2 with Total Body Tracking will make working out simple, fun and effective wherever you are.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

548 of 559 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Workout Game on the Market, November 17, 2010

By 

Cherie Alexander (Allen, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: EA Sports Active 2 (Video Game)

I've only had the game for 1 day but I spent quite a bit of time playing with it and I also have the Active 1 game. The quirkiness of Active 1 where you have to point or orient the remote and nunchuck ever so precisely to get the game to register your movements has been eliminated as the remote is rarely used and the nunchuck is completely gone. I am a little disappointed that of the 3 versions of this game (Wii, PS3, and XBOX) the Wii version is the only one that isn't completely hands free because there are times you must hold on to the Wii remote. In fact when I saw the packaging with the picture on the box showing the woman doing arm exercises still holding on to the remote I was a little mad because that was one of my biggest gripes with Active 1. However it's not that bad and I'll explain further.

Here are the best improvements to the game from Active 1.
1. The leg strap - the Active 1 leg strap is awful and breaks after a short time using it. Plus you are constantly retightening it as it continues to slip down your leg. However with Active 2 all of the straps are an elastic fabric with loop on one side and rubber gel lines on the back to grip. I did a very hard workout last night involving lots of sprinting and I didn't have to adjust the leg strap (or any of the straps) once. They stayed in place and because it isn't lycra covered neoprene I think it will last a long time.

2. Hands Free Exercises - I'm not sure if all the arm exercises are hands free but all the ones I tried were in fact hands free where you do not have to hold the Wii remote. This is fantastic because with Active 1 I couldn't use a resistance band with nice foam grips and the nylon handles that it came with hurt my hands. Now I don't have this problem. Plus now I can use hand weights when I want to. You may be wondering how it registers movement on the arm without a sensor but they changed the arm exercises slightly from Active 1. Now the arm exercises have you move both arms at the same time (both arms do the tricep kickbacks, bicep curls, etc) rather than one arm at a time and the game just assumes you are moving the arm without the sensor. I also love that now you don't have to waste time putting the nunchuck in the leg strap and then taking it out for a different exercise as you do in Active 1. The game moves much better because you don't have to do those things anymore.

3. The Heart Rate Monitor - I like the addition of the heart rate monitor. It is nice to see how hard you are working. Supposedly as you continue to workout it will track how well your hear rate recovers which would be cool to know. I think it probably results in more accurate calorie calculation as well.

4. The game is MORE like a game - Active 1 is nice because it was like having a personal trainer at home. However you will work harder with Active 2 and have more fun. It has a mountainboarding exercise where you have to jump from one leading foot to the other and has points you can get on each side. You also have to squat and jump and then run up hills. In addition it has a Fitness Trail - Sprint Outrun exercise where you have to actually catch up to and outrun 6 runners on the trail. The thing is that when the other runner sees you getting closer they start running harder so they are hard to pass. This got my heartrate up to 185 bpm trying to pass the other runners. It definitely pushes you harder. I am disappointed that additional motion sensors aren't sold at the release of the game because I would like to race my husband on some of these games and will be buying the extra sensors as soon as they become available.

5. The Wii Balance Board can be used to weigh yourself. However don't feel the need to get the Wii balance board if you don't have it because every exercise that uses the Wii balance board also has the same exercise which doesn't use the Wii balance board. In fact I probably won't use the balance board much with Active 2 because there is a flaw in the game concerning its use which is irritating to me. I'll list the flaw in the diappointments below.

6. Custom Workouts - There are 13 Upper Body, 22 Lower Body, 11 Full Body, 12 Cardio, 26 Fitness exercises (including boxing, step aerobics, mountainbiking/boarding, dance, & kickboxing), 6 Core, 15 Basketball, 15 Soccer, 8 Warm Up, and 8 Cool Down exercises to choose from. Most are between 1 and 2 minutes long with some like the Step Aerobics actually lasting 10 minutes. You can create a custom workout with a combination of any of the these exercises to make longer or shorter workouts as needed.

7. Online Community - With Active 2 you can join online workout groups which hopefully will help you stay motivated. I joined one and time will tell if it really helps me but it can't hurt and it's nice to see there are other people like you trying to get fit.


Here are my disappointments
1. I wish the game were completely hands free. I feel like the PS3 and Xbox versions are better than the Wii because they are truely hands free. I have read some reviews on the Xbox though and it seems the Kinect is not all worked out yet so maybe just the PS3 version is better. I haven't had a chance to do all the exercises but I won't be surprised if I don't run across an arm exercise that requires the remote be held since the packaging show a woman doing this. I just don't understand why the PS3 version comes with 2 arm sensors and the Wii version doesn't. In addition the PS3 and Xbox versions will be able to download new workouts in the future but the Wii version won't be able to. If I had both the PS3 and Wii game consoles then I would have bought the PS3 version of the game.

2. I wish the extra motion sensors were available now as it would be fun to play with another family member. Sure they could do it with you but you'll push yourself more if you can race them. EA has stated they will sell additional leg/arm sensors but hasn't given a date as to when yet.

3. I wish the workouts on the 9 week challenge would allow you to choose how long you want to workout. All of the workouts are around 30 minutes long. I would love to have the option of doing a 1 hour workout. I can achieve this with the custom workouts but it would be nice in the challenges too. The game will also formulate a workout for you based on what you want to workout but again it will only make a workout that is up to 30 minutes long.

4. The resistance band that comes with it is still cheap. Go buy the resistance tubes with nice handles for $10 - $15.

5. Active 2 has an annoying flaw concerning the Wii remote and balance board. First the Wii remote is not needed for much of any given workout but the game is constantly looking for its presence. Therefore when you don't use it for about 3 min or so the remote shuts off to preserve batteries. As soon as it does the game is interrupted until you can push a button on the remote and turn it back on. I have resorted to pushing the A button on the remote in between each exercise just to make sure the remote doesn't turn off. The same thing goes for the balance board. The workout may only use the balance board for one exercise at the beginning of the workout but the game will keep looking for its presence throughout. When the balance board shuts off the game stops until you turn it on again regardless of whether the balance board is being used. Leaving it on for an hour during a workout just to actually use it only 2 or 3 minutes is a waste of batteries.

All in all though this is a fantastic fitness game. I workout with a trainer too that does much of the same things throughout his class. He is impressed with the game and will be helping me choose which exercises to do so I can make some great custom workouts. If you don't lose weight and get fit with this then it's because you eat too much and don't actually play the game very often.

110 of 113 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Just Got Even Better, November 17, 2010

By 

Nutwiisystem.Com (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: EA Sports Active 2 (Video Game)

EA Sports Active has long been the king of the hill as far as Wii Fitness Games go. EA Sports Active: More Workouts was an excellent follow-up title. So the burning question was: what could EA Sports do next for an encore?

By far, the thing that frustrated me the most about the first EA Sports Active was its use of the Wii's Nunchuk controller. Aside from being spotty in its accuracy, I would constantly get tangled in the wires.

EA Sports did something very smart and did away with the nunchuk altoether. Instead, it included its own wireless controller which straps right on to your leg (it communicates with a USB receiver you plug into the top of the Wii). So now, you have full range of motion. The system does an excellent job of tracking your leg movements.

EA Sports has also included a Built-in Heart Rate Monitor, which also communicates wirelessly with the game. So throughout your workout you can track your heart rate (displayed on top of the screen along with your calories burned). The Heart Rate Monitor also doubles as a controller that detects your arm motions for many exercises. For certain exercises you still need the Wii remote, and you can optionally use the Balance Board for a handful of exercises as well. The title also still comes with a resistance band (which is slightly less flimsy than the previous version).

One thing I really love about the new EA Sports Active is the innovation it put into the activities. There are over 70 to choose from, ranging from basic exercises to sporting events. As in the original version, most sporting events basically consist of you doing repetitions of exercise movements that approximate the movement that your on-screen character does. What I really like about EA Sports Active 2 is that they've incorporated some more interactivity and "video gaming elements" into the activities. For example, in the skateboarding and mountain biking activities, you need to leap at just the right moment to avoid obstacles or perform jumps. In the Basketball event, a cursor will move over the basket, and you need to time your jump correctly to score.

There's a new 9-week exercise regimen that you can follow. It's not just a random assortment of exercises each day, it was clearly put together by a real fitness expert. You choose four days of the week to exercise (leaving three days to rest). Each day, you work progressively on different fitness goals. Each day starts with warm-up stretches and ends with cool-down activities, and there's a good variety of activities throughout to keep the workouts interesting.

Another great improvement is the ability to work out with (and compete against) someone else, if you purchase a second set of controllers. There's something about competition that makes exercise go by so much faster. If your Wii is connected to the Internet, you can also challenge your friends (or complete strangers) online or join an online workout group.

One annoyance, as other reviewers have noted, is that because many of the exercises don't use the Balance Board or the Wii remote, both will time out throughout the game, which interrupts the flow of the exercises. I understand that their intent is to save battery power, but at the very least it would have been good to have an option to prevent the controllers from shutting off (for example, those who use rechargeable batteries don't care as much).

Overall, I'd say that EA Sports has maintained their position as the king of the hill as far as Wii workout games go. It comes at a price, but when you compare the $100 you pay to gym memberships or exercise equipment, it's definitely a small price to pay. Highly recommended.

236 of 251 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not worth the money - yet., December 1, 2010

By 

osugrad85 "osugrad85" - See all my reviews

= Fun:1.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: EA Sports Active 2 (Video Game)

I own both the original EA Sports Active and EA Sports Active More Workouts and have been very happy with both (Wii versions). The original was a good start and More Workouts was a home run. So, I had high expectations when I purchased EA Sports Active 2 (Wii version). What a disappointment.

First, as all Wii owners know, the Wii remote turns off when not in use after a few minutes (designed feature to save batteries). This is not a problem, unless you are using EA Sports Active 2. Even though the Wii remote is not required for most of the workouts, when the remote turns off Sport Active 2 stops whatever it is doing and prompts you to turn the remote back on. This also happens with the Wii balance board, whether the board is being used or not, when it turns off (again, a designed feature to save batteries) Sports Active 2 stops whatever it is doing (mid exercise) and prompts you to turn the board back on. The fix for the balance board issue is to change the program's setting to opt out of using the Wii board. They only fix for the remote issue is pressing the A button every few minutes.

Also, the program takes a lot of time to transition from each exercise resulting in a lot of standing and waiting (and hear rate dropping which defeats the purpose of aerobic exercising).

Speaking of heart rate, I thought the heart rate monitor function would be great, and it would be, if it was anywhere near accurate. For some reason, when doing a light aerobic exercise, the heart rate monitor gave very high readings (I routinely workout with a heart rate monitor and have never seen readings as high was what Sports Active 2's monitor was showing).

Also, for many of the aerobic exercises with high reps where each rep is counted based on body sensor movement, only about 70% of the reps are counted. This wouldn't be so bad since I don't mind doing extra reps, but the game's trainer badgered me about trying harder to the point that the exercise was more annoying than entertaining.

It's like a whole new team of programmers created Sports Active 2, because these issues were non-issues with the previous versions.

After reading of similar problems and complaints on the EA Sport Active forums, I was able to return mine to my local merchant for a full refund. Maybe in a few months to a year, EA will address these issues and correct them. And, even the, I will check the EA Sports Active forums before I purchase another EA product again. Until then, I'm sticking with More Workouts.

Bottom line: Buyer Beware! Check out what others are saying at EA Sports Active forums before buying this product.

Update: For those of you who own EA Sports More Workouts and want to go cordless (chucking the nunchuck cord), try a wireless nunchuck. I purchased the Kama brand wireless nunchuck that's Wii Motion Plus compatible and have used it for several workouts with More Workouts. Works great! Same motion capture as with the corded nunchuck and fits in the leg strap perfectly, but no cord! So, save your money for now until EA gets their act together, and instead drop a little money (I found mine locally for $20) and purchase a wireless nunchuck. A wireless nunchuck is something you can use with other games too.

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