Pondering An Effort At Exercise Software

As the "women 20-30" demographic goes, I'm an odd bird. My video game habits more closely resemble an adult male's rather than the "adult woman" demographic, and while I'm certifiably girly -- yeah, I easily fall for anti-aging skincare infomercials and read "women's interest" magazines to shut my brain off -- I've never been the type to be sold on so-called "lifestyle products."

I never tried Wii Fit largely because I had no interest in the Balance Board. In fact, in recent months my preferences have been trending more and more toward traditional control schemes; I'm waggle-fatigued and prefer DS games with button layouts where I don't have to use the stylus. So my assertion that the whole "get in shape with Wii" angle was entirely a gimmick is based entirely in ignorance -- at least, as far a the game aspect is concerned.

But as a Woman In America, people have been marketing me miracle solutions for my thinness, health and beauty ever since I was like eight years old. We ladies have been promised we can lose weight without trying, look young thanks to skin cream, attract men through key behavioral strategies, have nail polish that doesn't chip, have smooth legs without shaving, have all our wishes granted if we just read this book, take these caplets, try green tea, hoodia, Acai, teabags on our eyes, avocado in our hair, cocoa butter, this device, that device, this surgery, this exercise program, this diet plan, and whatever Oprah tells us to do this week.

So really, the reason I tuned out Wii Fit, My Fitness Coach and their ilk is not because I'm disinterested in them as video games. It's because I've developed a built-in noise filter for anything that promises me lifestyle improvement, or meaningful changes in my health that are "fun and easy" -- even though they overlap, intriguingly, with my chosen profession.

I still don't have a Balance Board, and I don't plan on getting one; I really, really do not want my video games to tell me my weight, first up. Aside from that, I'll explain in a future blog post why, as exciting as new interfaces are, I like to sit down and push buttons while gaming, thanks very much. But I've had a review copy of EA Sports Active lying around here, which doesn't use the Board, and I'm figuring on giving it a shot.

I'm in decent shape, but while I was in acting school I was absolutely a fitness nut -- with no gimmicks. I ran 30 miles a week, did strength training, yoga and sure as hell drank and smoked a lot less than I do these days. I'm still somewhat active and in okay shape, but I kind of miss how fitness used to be one of my hobbies before I developed a job that made me sit on my butt and type all day.

Granted, I no longer have the kind of time I did as a student, and that kind of regimen is neither possible nor necessary in the lifestyle I have now. But it makes me look at EA Sports Active, a fitness Wii title that comes with all the peripherals I need, as a possible happy medium between work, play and health.

I'm super, super skeptical, both of my own committment to fitness (I am not very disciplined anymore) and of a video game's potential to support my goals, but we'll see. I am the target audience, after all.

So maybe I'll try it. Y'know, when I feel like getting up.

As an aside, last year I was totally dared to try and quit smoking with My Stop Smoking Coach. I was too chicken (probably because I suspected it might work).

And finally, I must stress I mean no offense whatsoever to the many-many males who are likely giving Wii Fit, EA Sports Active and such a fair shake. Obviously it's not a girls-only product, I'm simply referring to what the software publishers clearly consider to be their primary target audience from a marketing standpoint.