EA Set to Challenge Nintendo's Wii Fit?

By Adam Riley 01.11.2008 2

EA Set to Challenge Nintendo

Reports are coming in that EA may well be on the verge of releasing its own take on Nintendo's immensely popular Wii Fit.

Monthly publication Men's Fitness recently ran a special article called "Virtual Fitness: Tomorrow's Reality" in which correspondent David Kushner looked at how two publishers are blending exercise and gameplay, those being Nintendo and, rather surprisingly, Electronic Arts. However, it is because of EA's current line-up of All-Play sports games on Wii that the company is featured, with the publisher hoping to attract a more family-oriented audience.

Yet even in bringing the 'non-gamers' crowd to the fold, it can hardly be deemed as getting them very active. David McCarthy, Executive Producer for the EA Sports brand, however, went on record to talk more about earlier plans to release peripherals for its sports products:

"We [at EA] think we can take a more Western approach to fitness, something a little more active that gets you moving," he said. McCarthy then described how EA is planning a new peripheral for an unnamed fitness game which will fasten Wii Remotes to players' bodies. Besides position, the add-on will help the Wii Remote "measure intensity, how strong your thrusts are, [and] how high you jump."

Apparently, the peripheral EA has up its sleeve will be more suited to a wider range of exercises than Nintendo's Balance Board, which does not allow jumping, only squatting and sharp rising. Gamers will be able to use the new contraption to "strap the Remotes to their arms or legs to facilitate more athletic movements, from running to jumping jacks." And as a result, the Wii Remotes will be able to measure a "more authentic, full range of motions."

Sadly EA has failed to comment further on the situation, but given how successful Wii Fit has been , it is not surprising to find another developer trying something similar.

Box art for Wii Fit
Developer

Nintendo

Publisher

Nintendo

Genre

Fitness

Players

8

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  9/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  8/10 (16 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date Out now   Australian release date Out now   

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Comments

Will probably be more expensive than Wii fit, and people will probably take that as it being better than Wii fit 'you have to pay more for better quality' type of thing.

It doesn't sound promising, it would have to be completely shock proof.

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What a load of rubbish! Go outside and run a mile if you want some real exercise.

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