EA Sports Active 2

Having used the first Sports Active on the Wii last year, I was very eager to get a copy of SA2; the various demos which had shown up on youtube etc looked very impressive indeed. I went for the PS3 version this time round as I wanted a 'hands free' experience. The unreliability of motion sensor control in the original version on the Wii was the only thing that let it down in my opinion, but there was no real way of getting round that.

So anyway - on to this version. Set up was a cinch; I've read about people having problems getting the wireless sensors to sync, but no such problems here. Straps on, synced up and ready to go. I signed up, made my profile etc. and then headed into a medium workout scheme over 20 days. All good stuff, and broke a sweat as expected (I might restart on the hard workout scheme with which I'm more familiar with from the Wii original). The absolute joy of not being pounded with death by squats is the most immediate improvement that this new version has implemented.

Yes, there are leg exercises, but they're not quite so harsh and are combined with other movements so you don't end up with dead legs. It also helps that you're not expected to do a jog or run as a warm-down - you actually get, in the last three/four exercises, a good series of muscle stretches to warm down properly, a little like the old yoga exercises on the Wii. This new version seems to be much more about 'all over' exercise whilst retaining the cardio-vascular conditioning elements of the first.

One thing - same problem as the original - if you've got arms stronger than an eight year old child, then the resistance cord isn't actually much use. I've been using a resistance tube that I bought to replace the cord in the original game, and it's far more demanding and effective than the packaged one.

So all in all, this is what it's supposed to be. The hands-free wireless system works well, the exercises have been updated, you break a sweat and feel nicely knackered afterwards.

Just remember though - if you really want to shed the pounds, you'll have to use this in conjunction with a healthy diet. I lost two stone with the original game in a month and a bit, but that was combined with a virtual crash diet (1000kcal a day intake). These games on their own will not really help you lose much weight if you gorge daily on pies and sweets. Saying that, any exercise is better than none, so go forth and have fun!

This game certainly makes you feel like you have done some exercise with the added benefit of being able to monitor your heart beat. There are 3 monitors that fit on your arms and one leg, these register your movement and heart beat, enabling you to see just how well you are working out.

You input some basic information about yourself and set up the monitors to start, very easy then you get to pick a coach. He shows you how to do each exercise first which you can skip then you follow him into the exercise routine. At the moment the exercises are in bite size sections so you don't get bored but you are still raising your heart beat. I am only on the first week so the total amount of time spent exercising is 25 minutes I don't know if that time expands as you get further into the program. The program is supposed to be a 9 week one so it will be interesting to see if my fitness has increased.

The graphics are very good and a lot more grown up than the Wii Fit. You are encouraged to work at the speed being shown by the coach.

I love it and am off downstairs to use it now.

I have to echo most of the comments by D.J. Roberts, never played it before on previous consoles as only have a PS3 but very impressed so far. I've been doing a fair bit of running over the summer and autumn but now the winter and dark nights have set in I can't get much done after work so this seemed ideal.

Few complaints:

I had trouble setting up the three receivers, it ended up being I didn't press the sync buttons long enough. The guide seems to indicate just press the button and it will sync, but the first time you sync them you have to keep the button pressed in until its recognised.

Talks about water breaks at various points but the gaps aren't long enough and i end up having to re-start some exercises, it would be nice if at these points you had to press a button to say you're ready to continue.

Other than that seems great value for money, at least on the PS3, seems odd the 360 version is same price but also requires Kinect (this doesn't use PS Move or the EyeCam).

UPDATE: Been using for 3 weeks now and still going strong, doing the 9 week program and have kept to it apart from one missed session, but you can catch up on missed sessions. Price drop now makes this even better value, was £65 now £50