The fine folks over at EA have set me up with a copy of EA Active and after spending a few days with it, it’s now time to start my 30 Day challenge and do my review for those of you still on the fence.

For $64.99 CDN, you get the game, a resistance band, and leg strap for the Wii-Chuck. The game, and I say “game” very hesitantly, because this title makes no mistake about it – It’s an exercise tool. I’m an extremely critical person of the Wii Fit for a variety of reasons. Mainly how often you have to stop what your doing in order to find the next exercise which in my opinion is a huge pain in the… and how the it doesn’t actually set out any predetermined routines. Active has addressed all of my gripes in droves.

There’s a wide variety of exercises and difficulties to choose from and perform which helps to keep your body and workouts fun and challenging as you continue on your quest. Not only do they give you predetermined exercise routines, they allow you to make your own and you just don’t feel like you’ve been taken out of the groove by having to press the A button 3+ times as you move onto the next exercise. Then to round all those irritations I felt from Wii Fit, there’s another option that gives you the ability to keep a daily journal of foods eaten and other activities then it generates some nice little charts to very nicely update you on your progress.

The game will tell you if they’re happy with your form or if you need to pick it up some. This is exactly what everyone needs from a real personal trainer and this is what EA gives you. Nicely done!

With all this praise Active isn’t without a few problems. The 2 most important issues I felt that users would want is the ability to use the Wii-Board to weigh themselves accurately and the inability to properly document calories burned when using a heftier resistance band. The resistance band is relatively weak for many so I do suggest that users invest an additional $20+ on something that’s a little more challenging.

Something I’m looking forward to is the upcoming 30 Day challenge and participating in the forums with other users to keep track of their progress and continue to challenge and support them.

While EA Sports Active isn’t perfect, it is a damn fine tool for those of you who want to loose a few pounds and from what I’ve seen and done, it’s the best option out there as far as the gaming exercise genre goes.

Watch for my full review at the end of my 30 day challenge and keep coming back to follow my progress as I’ll be making sure to keep you up to date.