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EA Sports' "Season Opener" event at GDC contained one major announcement for the developer's bevy of franchises: EA Sports Active will receive the sequel treatment this Fall with EA Sports Active 2.0 (working title), an updated version of the exergame for the PS3, Wii, iPhone and iPod Touch platforms. The console versions of the game will come equipped with two motion sensors and a heart rate monitor the player can strap to their arms and legs.

User information in this new game can be shared over an online social network, allowing fellow players to keep track of how frequently you've been skipping out on your demanding workout regimen. EA Vancouver is reprising its role as developer for the title. We'll let you know when we hear more about 2.0 -- like, for instance, why the game is apparently skipping out on launching on the 360.

It doesn't take a research grant to figure out that exercise -- heck, just walking around the block once a day -- can have a dramatic effect on a person's well-being. The problem is that so-called "older adults," who are particularly prone to a mild but no less debilitating depression known as subsyndromal depression (SSD), are really just too bummed out to do much of anything. Here's where the grant money comes in: Dilip V. Jeste, MD, and his team of researches at UCSD gathered up 19 seniors diagnosed with SSD and had each of them play Wii Sports for 35 minutes, three times a week.

"The study suggests encouraging results from the use of the exergames," Dr. Jeste reports. "More than one-third of the participants had a 50-percent or greater reduction of depressive symptoms." Additionally, most participants claimed that learning to to play those darned vidja games was actually pretty easy -- even enjoyable. Uh-oh. Red flag!

You see, had Dr. Jeste continued his study, he might have found that his guinea pigs would soon discover that Wii Sports can easily be played with the slightest flicks of the wrist and, ah yes, it is nice to just sit back on the couch again, but, oh boy, this game is really getting boring, so let me just get on the dag blasted google and see what -- here we go -- "the best videogame right now," okay, the yahoo's answer says: World of Warcraft. Warcraft, eh? That certainly sounds better than bowling. Couldn't hurt to give it a quick gander ... click.

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.

[Update: Trailer has been removed at Ubisoft's request. You see, it was only approved for European consumption due to lack of an ESRB rating ... on the world wide web.]

Ubisoft has released a video for GamesCom highlighting Your Shape, the Jenny McCarthy-endorsed, camera-focused exergame for Wii. The video highlights the game's camera, giving us a good look at the device and an explanation behind the technology powering it (hint: it's not rocket science). While it bares resemblance to Project Natal, unlike Microsoft's peripheral, Ubisoft's device and Your Shape will actually be out this year -- more precisely, this December. We know, it's a crazy concept for a game to release during the 2009 holidays.

Japan will get Nintendo's new and improved version of its fitness title on October 1, as andriasang discovered the above advert showcasing the date for Wii Fit Plus. Not only that, but you can also see a price there: ¥2,000 (about $20) for the game alone, ¥9,800 (about $102) for the game and Balance Board bundle. Who knows if it'll be priced accordingly when it hits the States this fall, though we think it's a safe bet. If there's one thing a gaming blog knows best, it's fitness and exergaming software.

[Thanks, Mr. Khan!]

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]

Thanks to the success of games such as Wii Fit, EA Sports Active and Jillian Michaels' Fitness Ultimatum 2009, the medical community is starting to take games seriously as a means to pump you up keep us healthy. Reuters reports that at this year's fifth annual Games for Health Conference in Boston, a bolstered attendance brought health experts together to talk about these games, and you'd be surprised how much money these titles generated last year.

"Healthcare is 18 percent of the GDP of the United States and so games for health is probably the largest sector of activity in the serious games field long-term," said Ben Sawyer, a co-founder of The Games for Health Project. He added, "If you add up the 18 month sales of Wii Fit and the sales of EA Sports Active, Konami's Dance Dance Revolution and other healthy games, the worldwide retail numbers are over $2 billion." That's not a bad slice of the $22 billion pie that gaming lovingly prepared last year, if we may say so.

Some experts think the government should look into offering these types of games in schools to help kids learn the importance of exercise, while others think that a public service campaign should be started and backed by the president, Congress, and other federal agencies. We'd comment, but we really only play Wii Fit for the hulahoop game.

EA Sports was very happy to announce today that it's Wii fitness bundle EA Sports Active had a tremendously successful start, selling over 600,000 copies since its May 19 release. In case you were wondering why EA was so quick to put out an expansion, yeah, that's why. It's not like the company desperately wants you to lose those love handles, you know.

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.

While Wii Fit never really felt like it could replace the gym experience entirely, EA Sports Active actually does feel like it offers an approximation -- and they did it simply by including a piece of rubber. Amazing, right? We took the new personal trainer for a spin yesterday, and while we don't know if this will give us a Charles Atlas body right away, it definitely felt like a substantial workout.

Go on, "break" a sweat in our review ... behind the break. Sadly, bad puns do not burn any calories whatsoever.

EA Sports president Peter Moore spoke to VG247 about the state of the economy, offering careful statements about layoffs, sequelitis, and PC releases of sports franchises. But of everything happening at EA Sports, Moore had the most to say about the upcoming Wii exercise program, EA Sports Active.

"I call it a platform," Moore said. "Yes, it's a game, but it's bigger than a game, bigger than a franchise, bigger than a product. It's a true platform that we can sell expansion packs, sell more peripherals, ultimately get some download on there." Interesting choice of words, considering that EA Sports Active's biggest competitor is literally a platform.

Moore said that he hopes to add biometric data soon. "If I can do that, if I can get your heart-rate on the screen, I mean then I can really drive towards what my vision of this product ultimately can be."

Active and other exergames like it, according to Moore, can help EA and the game industry in general deal with "the most vitriolic press," including the Daily Mail, who frequently "blame [videogames] for pestilence, the plague, everything, and I think it's good that we have things to point to that say, 'This is getting you off the couch' and provide a little bit of balance."

When we think of exercise and gaming (exergaming), we think Wii Fit, much like most of you, we imagine. Thankfully, a trio of gents have come up with a more inspired way to get your sweat on: Space Invaders. As their final EE316 (Computer Engineering) project, Matt, Doug, and Allen combined a Bluetooth heart rate sensor with an Axis network camera (and some code) to make one of the best ways to get your heart pumping this side of running from the police. Check out video of it in action in the source link below.

[Via Engadget]

You've already seen what comes in the box, now watch what the Balance Board adds to EA Sports Active. Using the fitness-focused peripheral, players can lunge to hit tennis balls, skate on one foot and dance the night away, all in the name of exergaming. Of course, use of the peripheral is optional but this trailer recommends adding it to your daily routine and the game's 30 Day Challenge (aka, the Career Mode) to "broaden" Active's variety.

To recap: EA Sports Active makes use of a leg strap, resistance band, the Wii-mote, nunchuck and (optional) Balance Board. We presume EA is looking to break some kind of Guinness World Record for most peripherals used by a player, at once. We can't wait for Active's next add-on to be revealed -- a spandex leotard that measures the player's heart rate and reduces their self-respect.

Some New York city schools are testing a new program for physical education, one that utilizes Nintendo's popular Wii Fit package. Trading in dodge balls for Balance Boards, several different schools received free bundles from Nintendo, but Lori Rose Benson, head of the Department of Education's Office of Fitness and Health Education, admits she wasn't on board at first. It didn't take her long to get with the program, however, as she realized that "students learn in lots of different ways and that we can engage students in physical activity through gaming and through interactive techniques," which is really what's important. Well, that and making sure you block all of those soccer balls.