New Wii Game Gets Kids Moving

Sept. 30, 2008— -- With childhood obesity rates on the rise, parents who are looking for ways to get their kids moving may find help in an unlikely format: a video game. "Active Life: Outdoor Challenge" takes the active gaming that has made the Wii so popular and ups the ante.

Think of "Active Life: Outdoor Challenge" as the new "Wii Fit" for kids. Not only do you use the Wii remote while swinging your arms, but this game gets your feet and body moving too. The game comes with a special Active Life Mat Controller, a pad which looks similar to the kind used to play "Dance Dance Revolution" (DDR) games. This pad has colored shapes onto which you place your feet. With the mat on the floor and the Wii remote in your hand, you will jump on a trampoline, slide down a slick pipe while avoiding obstacles, leap hurdles, sprint across a path of raised stones, speed skate through an obstacle course and much more. And all of these sweat-inducing activities take place from the comfort of your living room.

Unlike "Wii Fit," which is centered around the use of the somewhat delicate Balance Board that can't take the pounding of running and jumping, "Outdoor Challenge's" mat controller can handle anything a child can deliver. In fact, the game demands that kids run, jump, hop and even sit on the mat controller.

Not only does "Outdoor Challenge" encourage kids to be very physical, but it also does an excellent job of supporting social gaming, a preference noted in the newest Pew Internet study of U.S. teenagers who play video games.

"Outdoor Challenge" has 16 active games. Unlike other Wii compilations where only some of the games in the bundle are good, in this bundle, all 16 are exciting to explore. Kids will jump on the mat to make their avatar perform tricks in the air while trampolining in the middle of a lake. They will sit on the mat to simulate sliding on a boogie board inside a pipe where leaning from one side to another pushes you up the side of the wall to collect speed boosts and avoid obstacles. Other games are as simple as jumping a virtual rope, running a sprint challenge or jumping virtual hurdles, and yet they are all fun in this game's high-energy environment.