EA Sports Active 2 is the latest in EA’s personal trainer software. The original version, made for Nintendo’s Wii, used the Wii’s native motion controllers and Wii Fit balance board to put you through running, boxing and other aerobics workouts, keeping track of your progress and setting you goals and training plans. v2 brings this concept up to date and is still available on the Wii, but also on the Xbox 360 using the Kinect controller, and PS3 using the Move controller. However, this article is all about the version on the PS3 that DOES NOT NEED MOVE! Check out the package contents below:
It comes with three motion sensors: left arm, right arm, right leg. The sensor on the left arm also includes a heart rate monitor which allows the system to detect your workout efficiency with increased accuracy. This is the main reason I purchased this version. The sensors require a USB dongle to be plugged in to the PS3, which for me with an original “fat” PS3 and my 4 USB ports is not a problem, but a lot of you with newer versions of the console may have to juggle your cables around a bit. The kit even included a pack of Duracell AAA batteries so everything works straight out the box.
Now to the game – and I’m going to be brutally honest here – I think it’s the most evil thing ever invented. My first workout lasted 29 minutes and I sweated buckets, in fact I can’t remember ever feeling so worn out from exercise that much in years and to make it worse it tells me I only burned off about 150 calories in that time. The personal trainer put me through squats, lunges (to catch a basketball), tricep extensions, more squats and jumps and running under the guise of cycling, knee-ups, leg kicks, more squats (what’s the obsession with squats??), more cycling, running, side-planks, normal planks and a cool-down stretching which was very much appreciated. A lot of use was made of the stretchy thing (resistive band) for stretches and muscle workouts. At first I thought that the resistance wouldn’t be enough (which it isn’t for most men), but near the end of the torture I was glad to only have a light resistance involved.
The PS3 also connects through to an online portal where you can track your progress and share your workouts with the online world (obvious privacy settings are available to limit this). This introduces an interesting community allowing you to compete against friends, or even workout simultaneously with friends. This is a feature I haven’t tested yet due to my, err, lack of friends? (lack of friends with this game I should say!). Within the PS3 though little thought seems to have been paid to multi-user support and you have to create a different PS3 login account for each user of the game – you can’t just switch profiles within the game itself sadly. There’s also the usual array of PSN trophies which are given out generously at the beginning. Anyway, at the time of writing I’m already 5 workouts behind on my 9 week program and dreading starting the next session…
This game was released at the end of last year, and due to the newer version supporting PS3′s Move controller this special version with all the arm and leg bands is being sold off cheaply! Personally I’d rather have this version than the Move one, mainly because I don’t own a Move controller.
I’ve had a bit of a run on Sony gadgetry recently. This latest toy, the PlayTV, is just a bog standard Freeview tuner at heart. It plugs in to your Playstation 3 and that’s when the fun begins. The PlayTV software has a really slick interface that other manufacturers should take note of. The program guide is nice and smooth, with a nice clear line down the screen at the current time, fading old programs out, and current programs boldy in view. Channel changing includes a nice fancy flying in fade and program information is easy to read too. Basic PVR functionality is also included, letting you record your TV programs, pause / rewind live TV, schedule recordings from the program guide and more. 
