EA Sports Active 2

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.

I am actually glad I didn't check the reviews here before I ordered EA Sports Active 2. I might not have ordered based on some of the problems some of the reviewers seem to have experienced. I've been working out with EA Sports Active 2 for a little over a week now, and so far I haven't experienced any of the technical issues. The peripherals all seem to be working fine and I love having the heart monitor. The workouts are all intense enough to produce sweat (and results!), and yet they vary enough to be interesting and keep you motivated. I have found that although I'd been working out for the last 8 months doing various dvd's and walking outside when the weather was nice, with EA Sports Active 2 I can workout regardless of the weather, and I actually look forward to doing it because I don't know what to expect and so it hasn't gotten stale. Also, even though I have been working out regularly for 8 months, the progress has been slow and frustrating and now I've lost more in the week of doing these workouts than I did all last month. And right now, I'm choosing workouts that average about 25 minutes and I have yet to choose one that says HARD in the description, because frankly, I'm not sure I can do it! The ones I've done are seriously challenging. I'm glad this version of EA Sports Active 2 includes warm up and cool down options, because I felt they were lacking in previous incarnations. The main reason I bought this was to get some core options, and this certainly does work your core. If I had one complaint about the product it's just that it seems to take a long time to load each exercise, certainly longer than EA Sports Active 1, and then there's the business of both the Wii remote and Wii Balance Board losing communications with the Wii system and so you find that you have to stop mid exercise and press buttons, which is distracting and annoying. Someone here suggested making a habit of pressing the A button on the Wii remote while waiting for each exercise to load (since you're just standing around anyway) and that mostly eliminates the problem. I tried that today and it does seem to work, it just seems like the makers of EA Sports Active 2 should have figured out a better way than that. However, all in all, it's a minor inconvenience and hardly makes a blip on my radar screen as long as I'm getting a good, consistent workout and seeing the fabulous results I'm seeing so far.

I was so excited this get this game/workout, but was soon disappointed. Why this game is not worth it: 1. The graphics and menu setup in the game are not worth the $100 price tag (now $52). They look really plain and cheap. 2. The game is SUPER glitchy when using the Remote and Balance Board. If you are in an exercise that doesn't use the remote (like stretching, lunges, etc...) the remote will turn off (battery saving mode) and the workout will STOP and wait for you to activate the remote again. This is really stupid! Also, if you setup the game with your Balance Board, the SAME thing will happen. Even if you aren't using the Balance Board in a particular exercise, your workout will STOP and wait for you to activate the board again (even if your board is across the room)This is such a battery waster! Especially if you arent even using the board! 3. The leg band doesn't work properly all the time. I've had to skip certain exercises because while I was doing a Lunge it said I was "too low"....when I moved up it said I wasn't doing it correctly. It can be so frustrating. 4. ITS NOT FUN!!! The warm up routines are repetitive and boring. Watching a guy show me how to stretch and follow him is super boring and can be done with a $10 Generic Workout DVD. Nothing about this game motivated me to keep playing it. 5. The included resistance band is super cheap. Its just a mint smelling piece of green stretch thingy that you have to tie to the separate handles. If you purchase this game, you might as well add a real fitness resistance band to your cart. Now I understand why the price of this game has been drastically slashed. Its definitely not worth $100 or $50. This game should cost no more than $25. It just has too many problems.

I love this game, I love to track my progress online. I tried Zumba, and sold it for this because, Wii Fit Plus is too much, From the start, I felt committed, I worked out, and within a half hour, I could not believe how much of a sweat I worked up! It as amazing. I set up my work out calendar, as tried the recommended Cardio kick Start, then will move on to the nine week program. I was inspired also by the real life stories with photoson the site about people who used it to overcome their weight loss challenges, save money , skip the gym and lose 125 pounds and now on their way to running races. What is good too is that is has different reward levels and encouragement through out each phase and completion of your work out or a survey you take. There is also Diet information on what to eat from Good, Better and Best. it is a solid program, the only issue I had was the wii not picking up my movements while doing Squats and other floor excercises. I ended up doing extra so that my score would advance. But that is fine, I can change my work out to use weights instead of the resistancebands, which are really good too. I love the variety of the work outs you can do jump rope, then you'll do soccer excercises, bike riding, basket ball, core strengthening, etc. I come home and pop my disk in immediately and it has only been a week and I am really seeing my muscle development and other great improvements in my breathing, I know that by the summer I will reach my goal. I have worked out with a personal trainer in the past and this is similiar, the onscreen trainer that you choose, male or female and your avatar, which you customize, (very cool) work out together in a nice outside background, it's pleasant scenery and you get to watch the trainer demonstrate first and then you follow for certain number of reps, you can choose set the program easy, normal or hard and you can also try "trainer" generated work outs or you can customize your own. The guy on EA sports Active's site, said he customized a thousand calendar burn work out till he lost the one hunred and twenty five. I will stick with this and hopefully Wii fit plus will be reduced, but until, I can work without the balance board for now, then later on, add it to my settings in my program. I really like this game.

This product exceeded my expectations and luckily we got it at a great price. I tried a friend's version of the original EA Active 1, which gave a great workout, but was sort of a hassel to manage the nunchuck being placed in and out of the leg holster and the holster sliding. Plus it was too big for my 6 year old daughter to use. However, the inclusion of the heart monitor and leg strap makes this version much better. The design is better, fits snug and stays in place, and is lightweight. No cords or cables. You are free to move around, jump, run, and do a multitude of exercises. Plus with the constant reading of your heartrate, you have the confidence you are exercising safe and also gives you the extra inspiration to work hard since you know the actual number and goals to reach. Some downsides: -Since the Wii-remote is barely used, sometimes the game pauses because it loses connection with it. Same thing with the balance board. But if you just tap the "A" button every couple minutes (ie: as each exercise loads), you'll be fine. -The balance board isn't necessary, but can be used for some games. It's great to confirm your weekly weight, but seems to take a while to calibrate (more than Wii-fit). I would avoid it when given the option because it doesn't seem to add much. - The motion sensors do nothing during the warm-ups or cool-down. You just have to have the self-discipline to follow along and not cheat during these sections. Also on some games/exercises, the sensors don't precisely track your movement but assume that you are moving the right way when you move at the right time. -The exercises do take a while to load. This is probably my biggest complaint since it makes a normal 15 minutes of expected exercise routine really take about 25 minutes to complete. Rule of thumb is to add about 50-75% more time to each workout listed time. As long as you keep moving though as each one loads you still burn calories and your heartrate is still monitored. -The calendar tracks only what you were expected to do each day rather than actual. If you customize the workout, it's not reflected accurately. Other Pro's/Notes: -there is a randomized workout routine generated for you each day and a 3 week and 9 week program so you don't get bored. You can also customize it. There are also other set workout routines, you can create your own, or have the trainer generate a random one for you based on what you want to work on (cardio, upper, lower, core) and how long you want to work out for. - This is less of a "game" and more of a workout program. Even the "games" are really just basic exercises in disguise, which is actually great. To compare it to Wii-Fit: Wii Fit is more games that train your posture, balance, and get you moving; this one is more of a workout routine as if you took a class at a gym. It is actually very hard to just play one or two of the exercises alone. This product also focuses more on strength and toning and less on balance and BMI. One's not better than the other per se, they are just totally different even though they may each help you with your goals. -The daily journal is great because you can go back and add days you missed and also really break down what was the added activity you did outside the game. Some of the questions like "how did you feel 1-10 about your last workout" are too subjective, but tracking sleep, veggies, and water is good. -The online feature is a nice bonus. My wife, my friend, and myself have setup a online group that the game routinely connects to and updates our stats so we can compare and compete with our milestones and also see how much we're accomplishing as a group. This little bit of peer pressure keeps us all of us active. You can also log on to the website via a normal computer and really track your results with more details. Not only does my daughter enjoy this, but this is the first exercise program my wife has committed to and enjoys. Normally she gives up after a few tries on other exercise games or even gym programs, but she is working harder than any of us and uses this several times a week. I have highly reccomended this product to my friends, family, and co-workers. I have not had any of the sensor problems some others have complained about- the one time my sensor didn't work is because I realized I had it on upside down.

Wii Active 2 has greatly improved over several areas when compared to the original Wii Active. I own several Wii fitness games and by far, Wii Active has been able to hold my attention and get me to come back for more. Wii Fit was boring and too slow for me, I'm not a yoga type of gal. 1. Wii Active 2 has a much improved warm-up and cool-down portion of the workout. Before, Wii Active had very little in this area. It guides you with much-needed stretches at the end of the workout. 2. The heart rate monitor is awesome, it is much more useful than I had imagined. I used to wear my chest band and watch to keep track, but this game shows the various "levels" of effort that you are giving. 3. I love the games, the mountain biking was challenging and was a great mix of cardio with running and squat jumps. 4. The sensors are MUCH better. I would get frustrated doing arm curls and other exercises with the original Wii Active. Making sure the nunchuck and controller were perfectly positioned so I wouldn't get annoyed by the trainer was not necessary. I always hated the trainer telling me that I'm not trying hard enough when it was a sensor issue. Ugh. The nunchuck is gone (along with the wires- yah!) and that is definitely the best part. So far, I've only used the remote for the basketball shooting drills. 5. The game automatically updates a profile on the Active website and keeps track of your stats. This is an awesome feature as I like to gloat and look at how awesome I am (just kidding). It is nice if you are looking for a supportive community or maybe just some good ol' competition with strangers or friends/family! The only drawback so far that I see is that if you use the balance board, it likes to shut off a few times within the workout if you're not using it... the screen shows up and halts the workout when this happens and you have to hit the button to re-activate it. Also, being new to aerobic step exercises, I had some trouble, but that's just my own lack of experience and practice I believe. :P

After using EA Active More Workouts for over a year I decided to buy Sports Active 2 for a little variety. Much of what I am going to say has already been covered in previous reviews. This game, although not bad, has technical flaws which keep me from recommending it. PROS 1. Much better variety of exercises, including warmups and cooldowns than in More Workouts 2. The change of scenery is nice 3. The customizable workouts are a good addition 4. No Nunchuck! 5. The heartrate monitor adds value (although I am not convinced of its accuracy) CONS 1. Unusually long pauses between exercises while the next one boots. This was not an issue in More Workouts, I don't know why it is here. 2. The innane comments from the trainer are ramped up. Do we really need to "recharge our body with a water break" after two warmup exercises? Likewise, do we need a WELL DONE and applause for doing a simple warmup or cool down? 3. To me the biggest and most frustrating problem is its inability to register all of the movements! This is particularly true of the upper body exercises. It keeps saying "hold still" at the bottom of a movement when I am being a statue. Then it just doesn't "see" any of the movements at all. This is particulaly a problem with exercises using the bands such as the cross over rows. This flaw seriously limits it usability because you end up having to skip over an exercise to get to the next one. If you have customized an upper body workout then it becomes essentially useless. MIXED BAG CUSTOMER SERVICE - I spend over an hour on the "on line chat" with a rather clueless representative. Considering the well reported problems (just check out the reviews on this site) they had no Knowledge Base for how to handle it. Our written conversation could have been mistaken for a transcript of an Abbott and Costello routine! ME: It is particularly bad when doing exercises using the rubber bands HIM: Maybe there is something wrong with the rubber bands ME: (*!*$%%&#** - at least to myself!) The positive side was that, after our chat, I received an email from Warranty Services who quickly sent me out a full brand new kit without me even asking. Unfortunately, it has the exact same problems as the original. In conclusion, EA Sports is on the right track and this has the potential to be a really useful, fun exercise program. BUT, the problems should really have been worked out before customers pay good money for it.

I bought this game for my wife, she played a lot of Wii Fit and had gotten tired of it and wanted something new to play which focused more on cardio. After researching I decided to go with EA Sports Active 2 despite the negative reviews since the price has gotten so cheap that I figured it was worth taking a chance on. It's been a little over a month and she's half way through her first 9 week program and hasn't missed a workout yet. So, in that regard, I guess it deserves some praise because it has succeeded in keeping her working out 4 times a week. But as a gamer and someone with a degree in fitness, I have several complaints about the game. First of all, the sensors are poorly built. Ours mysteriously basically stopped working completely for two days, then luckily started working again. The heart rate monitor is hit and miss, I think it's very picky about how it's put on and if the sensor is put on too tightly it doesn't work correctly. Also, I believe it over-estimates heart rate when you're holding your arms in the same position for an extended period, like in the jump rope exercise. The sensors seem to generally work but there's times when they don't recognize movement well, part of it again being that they're very picky about placement and if the leg sensor is a little off to the side instead of exactly on top of the thigh it won't recognize the movement. And for exercises where it's counting the repetitions (mountain climbers, foot fires, etc) it just doesn't count very accurately most of the time. As far as the game aspect, it just isn't that fun in my opinion. Obviously, it's meant to be an exercise program more than a game but that doesn't mean they couldn't have made the game elements more fun. Why aren't there in game leaderboards for activities like the soccer goalie, skateboarding, and basketball games? Time leaderboards to show how long it takes you to complete the foot fires, mountain climbers, courses, etc? Why doesn't the soccer goalie game give you random shots instead of the same order to make it more interesting? My next complaint is feedback. We haven't used the Wii Balance Board after reading in reviews that way it was implemented made it more trouble than it's worth so that's partially to blame. But this game doesn't give you feedback as to whether you're doing the exercise correctly or not. This was one area Wii Fit excelled, it generally gave good feedback regarding technique based on your weight distribution. With EA Sports Active 2, my wife has asked me probably 20 times if she was doing an exercise right or not because she had no idea and most times there were things that needed to be corrected. For some of it there wasn't much the game could necessarily do, but I think it's also a sign that the videos explaining the exercises and the coaching during the exercise are inadequate. Lastly, and most importantly, I think the game puts you in potentially unsafe conditions through some of the design choices. There are a couple in particular that stand out. The first is doing squads immediately after multiple strenuous cardio exercises, like foot fires and mountain climbers. Squats are a very technical exercise that should be performed when you have enough energy. People who are still exhausted from the previous exercises tend to use bad technique, especially not keep the knees over their feet and rounding the back, putting stress on the knees and back. The second one that stands out is the reverse crunch exercise which in my opinion is too advanced for most people and by the end of the set they are putting excessive amounts of stress on their low back. Lastly, I find cool down portion woefully inadequate. It is important to cool down properly at the end of a workout and slowly bring your heart rate back down, then stretch all muscles used. The game usually goes straight from heavy cardio to core work on the floor to a few stretches. There should be a transition between the end of the main workout and the core workout in my opinion, and more importantly more stretching. After any workout that works the legs heavily (which is almost all of them), you should stretch all of the main muscle groups (quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves) as a minimum plus other leg, core, and upper body muscle groups that you have used. The game usually has a total of 4 stretches, which often skips a couple major muscle groups in the legs that need to be stretched and also skips muscles in the upper body that were worked and should be stretched. The game does do a lot of things well, there is a good variety of exercises included, the workouts do get your heart rate up and will help you burn calories and build muscle, the game reminds you to stay hydrated during your workout, and is a good way to get someone who may not exercise on their own to get in a good workout. There's tons of potential for the game to be so much more and a decent base to build upon but this version of the game is lacking in many ways.

I Have used 4 different exercise products for the wii. And this is by far the best one I have used. I actually work up a sweat after doing the work out and feel it the next day. I didn't realize until I got the game that it is compatible with the Wii fit board. This was a great surprise, if you don't have the board don't worry you can still do all the exercise's without it. But you can track your weight ect. with it. I was really looking for something that had a step class with it and there is a large assortment of them in this game. The 90 day challenge is great, and you get some new "games" all the time so it keeps it new and exciting. I would really recommend this product. I am a mother of 2 and no longer have time for the gym, but want to get rid of the baby weight. I have only have had this product for 2 weeks and already am feeling results and have lost a few pounds already. The only complaint that I have about this game is that you really have to mirror the way the character is standing at the start of every set otherwise it won't sync properly and it won't think you are doing the motion properly. Which can get a little annoying but if you figure out how to do it you will be golden. I also Loved that it sets up work outs for you or you can set up your owm. That I have never seen in other games that you have to continue to select the different exercises and it takes for ever and you loose the momentum. Over all REALLY happy with this product. Well worth the money

Muy buenas rutinas para el ejercicio, lo mejor es que son variados

Good work out game

Un engaño, solo manda el juego sin los accesorios ni nada de lo que aparecen en la descripción y el título. Además que los accesorios son imprescindibles para usar el juego. Siendo el precio de 80€ engaña porque piensas que es todo el paquete y lo que envían es el juego solo.

exercices faciles à faire; variété à chaque session. Beaucoup plus amusant que faire du tapis roulant et tous les muscles du corps sont mis à contribution. Il serait amusant de pouvoir choisir la bande sonore donc on y mettrait notre touche personnelle et le tout serait moins monotone..