Okay. So I’m not going to be completing the 30-day challenge—yet. But the fault lies with me.

It was a little bit of the fact that I had gotten a lot of client work coming in at odd hours in the past couple of weeks, and I was on-call to go into the agency where I’m freelancing (sometimes for sixteen hours at a stretch), which screwed with my schedule. Mostly, however, it all boils down to my being a thoroughly lazy sod.

All told, I really did enjoy the workouts and felt great afterwards though, after the first two days, it took me a very sad five minutes to get down the stairs in order to leave my house. I did, however, find that I was hitting myself in the face with the cord during the alternating shoulder presses (I have a Nyko cordless nunchuk adapter, but it doesn’t fit into the pocket of the leg strap).

Unlike some other Wii exercise titles that failed miserably to accurately gauge activity via the controller/balance board combo (I’m looking at you, Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2009), I found EA Sports Active to be rather responsive. I do agree with Jen (who commented as much on my previous post), however, that this was not a 100% success rate; while she found that her sit-ups weren’t being recognized, I had a similar issue with the curls and presses.

I also found that alternating equipment from one exercise to the next became kind of a pain in the ass. Considering the fact that each exercise only lasted a couple of minutes, I found that it took me more time to arrange myself with the resistance band or drag out the balance board than it did to complete the set for which I was setting up. One way that I got around this is by eliminating the balance board altogether—the exercises were just as challenging without it. I’m also not the most coordinated person at the best of times, and I often found myself forgetting to put the nunchuk in the leg strap and then wondering why my lunges weren’t being recognized.

Ultimately, I liked EA Sports Active. It made me sweat and feel the burn and all those other oogy things that come from physical activity—things with which I’m not terribly familiar. If I were the type of person who actually set goals and stuck to them, I would find this a challenging and rewarding experience. Then again, if I were said kind of person, I’d probably have a gym membership.

I think what I’ll do now is look through all of the exercises and create a customized two-person workout that doesn’t require the balance board, leg strap, and resistance band. That way, Dave and I can do the workouts together without investing in a separate leg strap/resistance band kit, which means that I’ll have the encouragement I need to wake up earlier in the morning and get it done. As well, for those of you who want to buy a stand-alone (read: used) copy, you’ll know what exercises you can do without the peripherals. I’ll post this list once I’ve completed it.

Ever since my nephew received a Wii from Santa this Christmas, my focus has shifted slightly. Sure, I’m always on the lookout for co-op titles for all consoles (and for all ages) but, when a press release finds itself in my inbox for a family-friendly game that sounds potentially educational, I now actually read it.

Today’s tidbit from Nintendo extolled the virtues of Endless Ocean: Blue World, a sequel to 2008’s, um, Endless Ocean. “The plot involves Oceana, a girl who investigates the ‘Song of Dragons,’ which her father, a prominent ocean explorer, sought before his death,” read the rather succinct summary of this iteration’s storyline.

Here’s the requisite selling quote: “‘Endless Ocean: Blue World gives Wii owners the chance to take a round-the-world vacation from the comfort of their living rooms,’ said Ron Bertram, Nintendo of Canada’s vice-president and general manager. ‘With exotic locations and hundreds of new marine animals to encounter, the game’s adventures are as vast as the ocean itself.’”

And here’s the nitty-gritty: I think my nephew might like it because he can control the temperament of large marine animals with the Pulsar tool, though I daresay that he would prefer to create an army of gigantic, wet minions to do his more nefarious bidding. My sister will enjoy the fact that it’s educational (in fact, we were reading a book about crocodiles when I came to visit last Friday, so the subject matter is quite timely). I, on the other hand, am all about the loot; apparently you can salvage items and sell them for coral gewgaw to bling up your own underwater pad. And if I can’t make it out for a visit, we can hook up via Wi-Fi to do some online-co-op exploring (as long as we both each have copies of the game and, optionally, Wii Speak™ microphones).

I’m not usually interested in games that, diplomatically put, don’t exactly fit Dave’s and my usual gaming profile, but I’ve been thinking about things a little differently lately. Though I’d love to see more Wii titles that appeal to the older kids (like No More Heroes), I’m starting to realize that a lot of the older kids (like those of us old enough to buy our own console) might have children of their own, and it may be prudent to seek out family-friendly titles that, diplomatically put, don’t suck.

So will Endless Ocean: Blue World suck? I don’t know but, despite the fact that it’s not out until February 22, it’s been getting some relatively favourable reviews over at Metacritic (at the time of this posting, it’s ranged between 70 and 90.) But if it keeps up its score, dropping thirty bucks on it may not be such a bad idea if it tricks the kid into (heaven forfend) learning something.

Well, that time has come for this couple of gamers.

Actually, that’s not exactly true. Dave’s already hot and perfect; he just made the commitment to work out more often because, well, he’s a smart cookie. You see, we both lead rather sedentary lifestyles. For the most part, we work at home and, in our leisure time, we play video games—not exactly activities conducive to physical fitness. In my case, however, I needed to accept the fact that I’ve gained fifteen pounds since our wedding three-and-a-half years ago, and five of those have been in the past three months.

Dave bought me EA Sports Active for my birthday in December, but not as a hint; it was simply that I had tired of Wii Fit. I bought him a stepper for Boxing Day, but not as a hint; it was simply that he was tired of our extremely old (and loud) exercise bike. I had tried EA Sports Active for a few days and really liked it but, being a lazy sod, I let things slide for a few days. And because of the traumatic experience of being passive-aggressively yelled at by an animated balance board in Wii Fit, I was reluctant to return for fear of compunction.

Well, I was at my in-laws’ last night, and they gave us a print of a photo they took at Christmas. I had more than one chin. That tore it.

So tomorrow, whilst Dave is stepping his way to cardiovascular superiority,I’ll be donning the ol’ leg strap and mounting the board for some hot, hardcore virtual action. And this time, I’m going to stick to it. Really. I’ll even blog my weekly progress. And if I fail, I’ll submit myself to your mocking castigation.