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Get a cheap Personal Trainer: Walking without walking too far

by JC Fletcher { Nov 17th 2009 at 11:45AM }

If you hope to save all of your footsteps for entry into Personal Trainer: Walking -- really make them count by having them tabulated by a video game -- this Amazon deal is perfect for you. The game, with two Activity Meters, is Amazon's Deal of the Day for $29.98.

You may have to do some uncounted walking to pick it up (trips to the mailbox or the front door, a small amount of day-to-day movement until it arrives), but at least you don't have to walk around a store to pick it up, dooming yourself to several steps that don't contribute to a running total on your DS.

Fitness group 'underwhelmed' by Wii Fit exercises

by Richard Mitchell { Nov 11th 2009 at 6:30AM }

The American Council on Exercise recently conducted a study on the effectiveness of Nintendo's Wii Fit, and was "underwhelmed" by the results (PDF link). The study examined what the ACE dubbed to be the "most aerobically challenging activities," including the Free Run, Island Run, Super Hula Hoop, Free Step, Advanced Step and Rhythm Boxing. The study found that Free Run burned the most calories, averaging at 165 calories burned during a thirty-minute session. The next highest was Rhythm Boxing at 114, not exactly the fat-melting miracle one might hope for. Said Dr. John Porcari, "The Wii Fit is a very, very mild workout."

The ACE noted that performing the real-life activity -- real boxing, step aerobics, running, etc. -- burns significantly more calories than their Wii Fit counterparts. As an example, the study notes that traditional boxing burns three times as many calories as Rhythm Boxing. That said, the study did note that Wii Fit burns twice as many calories as normal video games, and that's got to count for something.

Still, if you're looking to really feel the burn, the study concluded that Wii Sports "is a better option" for gamers looking to find a decent workout.

Source - ACEFitness.org -- Wii Fit - Or Just a Wee Bit? (PDF)

Change 4 Life campaign endorsing Wii Fit Plus

by JC Fletcher { Oct 26th 2009 at 9:00PM }

The Change 4 Life ad campaign gathered early attention with the shocking connection between sedentary activities like games and "AN EARLY DEATH." Then it softened the message a bit with the more positive suggestion that "active" video games would be a healthy move. Now, the initiative is getting its exercise with vigorous backpedaling, as it will actually endorse a video game, giving permission to use its logo in advertising. Of course, that game is Wii Fit Plus.

"We are thrilled that active videogames are finally being recognised by the Government for contributing to a healthy, balanced lifestyle," ELSPA's Mike Rawlinson said. Rawlinson revealed that ELSPA has been working with the UK government since the first Change 4 Life ad to get some fairer recognition for games, and apparently the Change 4 Life folks finally ~~got tired of hearing about it~~ came to their senses.

Joyswag: Get your exercise on with Wii Fit Plus & Active Life Extreme Challenge

by Ben Gilbert { Oct 26th 2009 at 2:30PM }

As we approach the colder months of the year here at Joystiq HQ, we like to fool ourselves by picking up the latest Wiinovations in the world of game-based exercise equipment, knowing wholeheartedly that they'll never end up getting much use. This year, however, we figured we would extend that same ideological principle to you. We hope that your moral certitude will employ Wii Fit Plus and Active Life Extreme Challenge (it's totally extreme) more than we would! We'll be picking a winner for this enticing exercise pack at random from the folks who comment below -- all you have to do is tell us your favorite exercise fad of all time. Get those finger muscles moving!

Leave a comment telling us your favorite exercise fad of all time.
You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec, largely due to Celine Dion)
Limit 1 entry per person per day
This entry period ends at 2:31PM ET on Monday, November 2
At that time, we'll randomly select one winner to receive a copy of Wii Fit Plus ($20 ARV) and Active Life Extreme Challenge ($60 ARV)
For a list of complete rules, click here

Finally, a Wii exercise game with a bicycle accessory

by JC Fletcher { Oct 12th 2009 at 4:00PM }

You may see a Wii exercise bike accessory and think it's ridiculous. We think it's about time. Not because there's never been an exercise bike controller before, but because there has. The Life Fitness Exertainment System did the video game/exercise bike interface back in 1994, allowing players to pedal along with Mountain Bike Rally or Speed Racer. However, you had to order the thing, and it cost around $3500.

While the bike accessory with Big Ben Interactive's Cyberbike has yet to be priced, we are certain it'll carry a more modest price point than the Life Fitness system. Unless the company has to make back what it'll lose when Ubisoft sues it for calling its other newly-announced exercise game My Body Coach.

Wii Fit Plus out Oct. 4 at a svelte $20 price point

by JC Fletcher { Sep 1st 2009 at 12:25AM }

During his keynote at the GameStop Manager Conference, Nintendo president Reggie Fils-Aime announced release details for Nintendo's latest money generator, Wii Fit Plus. Current Wii Fit owners looking to add more arm-flapping and faux-Segwaying to their lives will be able to pick up the expanded version of the hit exercise game for just $19.99 on October 4.

For new owners, a Wii Fit Plus bundle will replace the existing Wii Fit bundle, which makes sense given that it's the exact same game with added content. The Wii Fit Plus/Balance Board package will retail for $99.99.

Gallery: Wii Fit Plus (Wii)

Fitness First competing with, supporting Wii Fit

by JC Fletcher { Aug 24th 2009 at 2:10PM }

The Fitness First gym chain, not content to allow Gold's Gym to dominate the licensed Wii exercise game market, has attached its name to both a Wii game and peripherals. Releasing in Europe this September, NewU Fitness First Personal Trainer includes not just exercise programs but a healthy eating guide as well.

In addition, the company has partnered with European accessories manufacturer Blaze to, well, put its name on some standard Wii exercise accessories. The offerings include a silicone Balance Board skin, a yoga mat, a Wiimote holder that straps onto the player's leg, and wrist weights. Oddly, this stuff is all labeled for use with Wii Fit, suggesting a realistic understanding of what people will actually be using it for. The total lack of a consistent marketing campaign suggests just how much thought is going into this. Why not put your own game's name on the accessories?

[Via MCV]

EA Sports Active is EA's best-selling Wii game ever

by JC Fletcher { Aug 4th 2009 at 5:15PM }

Throwing stuff at stuff is okay, but what Wii owners really like is stretching. That's the takeaway we've gleaned from EA's quarterly financial results, which reveal that EA Sports Active, selling "over 1.8 million copies in the quarter," is not just a genuine hit -- it's the publisher's best-selling Wii title to date.

If EA hadn't already announced that expansions and versions for other consoles were coming out, now is right about when we would say "there are totally going to be sequels to this." Although, we suppose, technically, the second EA Sports released a game was the second we knew there'd be another one in a year.

New dieting app uses DSi camera for time-lapse humiliation

by JC Fletcher { Aug 4th 2009 at 1:30PM }

Namco Bandai's DSiWare fitness app, Diet Memo, has been officially revealed, after the title showed up in the original Namco Bandai DSiWare announcement back in February. Non-game diet stuff might not be the most exciting thing in the world, but this one at least seems to be implemented smartly.

Diet Memo uses the DSi camera extensively, for before-and-after photos of your stomach and other areas in which you hope to lose weight. You can also snap pictures of food you've eaten and annotate them with calorie data. According to Andriasang, the game can store up to ten meals a day for 90 days, though if you're eating ten meals a day, you may not need such a sophisticated weight loss product (here's your new plan: don't do that).

It also lets players record their weight twice a day, providing a graph of the long-term changes in weight and body fat. This can be exported to CSV and transferred to a computer via SD card, so players can obsessively chart their own stats -- which is both really creepy and very helpful for dieting. Diet Memo will be out tomorrow in Japan.

[Via Gpara, Andriasang]

Pediatric journal boasts about benefits of exergaming

by Griffin McElroy { Jul 19th 2009 at 5:30PM }

Kids-focused health journal Pediatrics recently published a study that would shock those who decry the health benefits of exergames. The study, which was performed by researchers from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, measured young people's energy expenditure while at rest, while playing Dance Dance Revolution at two different skill levels, while walking and running on a treadmill and while boxing and bowling on Wii Sports. That sounds like more physical exertion than we go through in a year.

Some of the comparisons between these activities yielded somewhat unsurprising results -- playing the video games burned three times the calories the kids spent at rest, of course. However, the researchers also found that playing these games was a comparable activity to "moderate to intense walking," despite the fact that Wii Sports requires little lower-body movement. It seems that for the first time in recent memory, we've got science on our side. Hooray!

[Via Kotaku]

Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2010: Not just last year's game with a new number

by JC Fletcher { Jun 9th 2009 at 1:35PM }

Majesco could have easily coasted through two or three yearly installments of Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum based on the success of the first one. It could have chosen to stick a few new challenges in the same engine, bring Ms. Michaels in to record a few new lines and profit off of its minimal investment. But according to Michaels, Majesco went beyond that for the sequel to the game you probably ... know someone who played.

"We went with a different developer this time around," the Biggest Loser star told USA Today's Game Hunters blog, "and now it's much easier to get around the interface, it looks much better and if you like, I can now train you, too." Ultimatum 2010 also includes a Spanish-language option and new multiplayer modes. "

Other new features include the option to play in English and Spanish, multiplayer competitions and using a training calendar to set various fitness goals (be it weight loss, toning or strengthening). "The biggest thing I'm excited about is the fact it's now a 'game,'" Michaels said. "It feels like an adventure as you're on a remote island and must compete in boot camp-like activities and traverse through dangerous obstacle courses."

While we're not going to take statements from the person whose name is on the game at face value, it does sound like Majesco is putting actual effort into this sequel. Whatever you think of this kind of product (we know), at least it's not as much of a cash-in as ... it could be.

Hands-on (and flapping like wings): Wii Fit Plus

by JC Fletcher { Jun 8th 2009 at 9:00AM }

While the idea of leaning on a board and waving a stick around may no longer carry an inherent wow factor after everyone has introduced a motion controller, it's clear from just a few minutes with Nintendo's Wii Fit Plus that the company has been thinking of new ways to use its existing technology in gameplay. We weren't allowed to demo the new strength or yoga exercises in the expanded version of the megahit Wii exercise game -- thus sparing a crowd of gaming's best and brightest the sight of us stretching -- but the new balance games were open to us.

Gallery: Wii Fit Plus (Wii)

Continued →

EA Sports Active expansion out this holiday

by JC Fletcher { Jun 1st 2009 at 6:05PM }

EA Sports Active seems to be quite the hit! So much so that, like the resistance bands that ship with the disc, the game is due for expansion. Even though the game just came out May 19, EA has already announced the first expansion pack. It's coming "this holiday, just in time to help you with your New Year's resolutions."

If you resolve to buy more fitness games this year, EA wants to help! Peter Moore did say EA Sports Active was a "platform."

PSA: Personal Trainer: Walking ambles into stores next week

by JC Fletcher { May 20th 2009 at 2:30PM }

We didn't realize that the release date for Nintendo's DS exercise program Personal Trainer: Walking was approaching so quickly, probably because Nintendo has said little about the game since announcing it in October. Nintendo announced today that the game will be in stores on May 26, which is next Tuesday. We figure that if had sneaked up on us, it may have eluded your attention as well.

Three reasons you may be interested in Personal Trainer: Walking.

It's the first DS game that allows you to use Miis, either created in-game or imported from the Wii.
Gadgets! Walking includes two pedometers that wirelessly transmit your step numbers into the game. Also, according to the press release, you can attach one to a dog's collar and tabulate the dog's exercise habits.
Maybe you like walking. We don't know.

Majesco whipping up two more Jillian Michaels fitness games

by Griffin McElroy { May 12th 2009 at 1:30PM }

Apparently, Mrs. Michaels' last Ultimatum wasn't ultimate enough -- a recent Majesco press release dropped an announcement that the Biggest Loser star would be featured in two new games this year: Jillian Michaels' Fitness Ultimatum 2010 and Jillian Michaels' Pocket Trainer 2010. Man, we don't want to be rude or anything, but this couldn't have come at a better time. Our pockets have seriously let themselves go.

Both games are set to drop this fall, and will likely each be purchased 500,000 times.