So I did what everyone else did and bought a Wii Fit. And quickly learnt it was a waste of money. Wii Fit, at least the original one, is not a terribly ideal means of getting fit. The exercises are limited, and you have to constantly select each one individually, breaking up the routine of your workout, which is terribly counter productive. If you're really dedicated towards it, and perhaps if you have little experience with any physical activity at all, Wii Fit is a good starter, but I would not recommend it for anyone who wants to be a little more serious with their workout.
Look at 'dem state of the art graphics and colour design!
I then got My Fitness Coach(: Get in Shape), and it kicked my ASS. The best way to describe this game is if you've ever seen those TV shows or Video/DVDs where some guy basically does an aerobics routine, and you follow along? That's this game, however, because it is a game, instead of just the one workout you repeat over and over, the game can mix up the routines and exercises, and you can change the intensity depending on your limits and wishes. There are also routines based on what you want to do - lose weight, improve cardio, build up upper body strength, or even, yoga routines, which are pretty cool. I tried yoga and pilates and aerobics at a gym once, and they were all pretty interesting, so I guess that's why this game appealed to me so much. Plus, as I mentioned, it actually made me feel sore at the end of it, made me feel like I was doing something, and made me work up quite a good sweat.
Nnf, nff, work it, Maya, get down wid yo bad self!
However, I ended up falling out of the routine of this game, I forget why now - if I just got busy or sick or bored, and as I have a habit of doing, once I stop doing something after a while, I have a hard time getting back into it. I decided what I needed was a new game to make exercising seem fun and exciting again.
And that's where EA Sports Active - the original Wii game - came in. And it was great. It was less aerobics, more a general all around workout - it was what Wii Fit should have been in my opinion - it had fun 'games', it had stretches and exercises, but they actually put them all together into one easy workout that flowed together. It was colourful and fun and challenging and I felt it for days afterwards. Sure, it wasn't perfect, that damn leg strap almost always fell down my leg while running no matter what I wore or didn't wear, sometimes the sensors didn't pick up my movements, and some areas of the body seemed to be brushed over more than others, but for an exercise game, it was about as good as it was gonna get at the time.
Let's dance!... awkwardly!
But again I fell out of the habit, and lately I've been wanting to get back into the habit again, and it just so happens they've brought out the sequel on all systems, EA Sports Active 2. My boyfriend actually bought me the PS3 version for my birthday, knowing I was interested, and I was excited to get it and see how it compared to the original.
My first impressions: actually, not good.
Mostly, because of the inconvenience Active 2 provides for first time users. My boyfriend also got himself a copy so we could work out together. Having never played the first one, he didn't realise the resistance band needed constructing. He got into his first workout and then the game said the next exercise was going to use the resistance band, and oh whoops, it wasn't constructed. And no where - NO WHERE - in the game or booklet that he or I could see, does it explain how to make the resistance band. Luckily I still have the first Wii version which has instructions in the booklet - but why OH WHY don't they have the same page in the new game? They have SO. MANY. INSTRUCTIONS on how to use the sensor arm bands, but NOTHING on the resistance band. By the end of it all, my boyfriend got so frustrated by everything that he gave up on the first workout.
Gee EA, way to get people motivated and feeling good about working out. :/
The stuff of nightmares!
When it came time for my workout, I had a similar experience, but with the sensors. I still had my old red resistance band from the first game, so I just used that for my workout, but setting up those stupid sensor bands took forever. I also feel they occasionally get in the way of my workout - especially during floor exercises, like knee pushups or side planks, where the arms or leg sensors come in contact with the floor; even during hammer curls, I can feel the bands scratching my arms when I press my forearm to my bicep, which isn't bad per se, it's just more annoying than anything. I also cricked my neck during the reverse crunches (which OMG ARE HARD), because I couldn't get the right balance due to the sensor bands on my arms, and while trying to adjust and looked awkwardly up at the TV, I pinched something unpleasant.
I was also surprised to see that the stupid questionnaire health survey was back. My boyfriend doesn't really agree with me on this one, but I find the questions rather redundant. Maybe because I've already answered most of them a thousand times already in the first game, but I found them redundant even then. An actual food and sleep diary, perhaps on the online website, might have been more useful than the quiz, so you could properly track what you eat and see where you could improve on your diet and how much time you're dedicating to sleep. As for asking me how important I think exercise is each day or how hard I worked out or all that other wishy washy bullshit, it just annoys me and I never really know how to answer it so I just usually put a 5 or something. I've also heard mixed opinions about the whole 'eating more = healthier' debate too, so it's interesting they try and push that.
I also find it VERY frustrating that I can't work out towards my programed course WHEN I want to. Instead, I can only work out on the 4 days that I've been scheduled for. If it's my scheduled rest day, TOO BAD, YOU CAN'T WORK OUT. Well, you can, the game provides other one time work out regimes which is cool, but why can't I power through my program? I should be able to do that without having to try and trick the program by changing my schedule (which I haven't even verified is possible) or changing my ps3 date and time. It seems very counter intuitive. "Oh hey, I feel good, let's exercise today." EA: SORRY, DENIED. "Wut?"
So, in short, some minor inconveniences and some disappointing carry-overs from the first game to the second, didn't leave me feeling as excited and invigorated about the game as I would have liked.
My downstairs neighbors especially love it when I do jumping routines.
I have used Active 2 a few times since my first workout, and having gotten over those first few hurdles, I can say the workout routines are as good as I were hoping for, and the added online community factor is certainly interesting, although not as comprehensive as I was hoping for, but seeing as it's still in its BETA phase, perhaps they'll improve it over time.
And I am feeling good about getting back into working out, so I suppose on that account, EA has done the job. Let's just see if I can actually stick with it long enough to get all the trophies, lol.
Additional note: I was trying EA Sports Active 2 out again today. Having completed my scheduled programed workout, I was feeling good and still had some time, so I thought I'd do a short preset workout to burn some extra calories. Not only did I notice that the sensor trackers are often very glitchy as to whether they'll track your progress or not, and not only does the game leave you little time to get setup between exercises and takes too long to explain new ones - or re-explain ones it's already explained, - but the game CRASHED on me entirely right after my cooldown. I guess I can't say whether this was the game, or the PS3's fault, but either way, I lost all of my data from the workout, since it apparently only saves at the end. Very, -very- annoying. (Also, the 16 minute time saver preset workout is brutal for only a quarter hour's exercise. Wow.)
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