Best Wii Fit Games: What are the best Wii Fitness games for holiday shoppers?

It can be difficult to get out and exercise properly in the dead of winter, but several Wii video games offer good exercise options without leaving the house.

Topping the list of the most popular fitness games and the one that offers the best overall workout is EA Active from EA Sports. EA Active can be used with or without the Wii Balance Board and comes with an elastic band for strength exercises and a neoprene sleeve that fits around the thigh and is used to hold the Wii nunchaku.

EA Active focuses on traditional exercises to increase endurance and strength and allows users to set up their own regimen quickly and offers a challenge from fitness guru Bob Greene. The game measures calorie burn for exercises and has a two-player mode where you can compete with a friend.

An expansion pack is being planned for a November release. Another great advantage of EA Active is that the price is much lower than Wii Fit, since you don’t need the balance board, but if you already have one, you can use it.

The original Wii fitness game Wii Fit is still at the top of the list and it also just released an expansion pack that includes more mini-games. The Wii Balance Board is required for both. Wii Fit uses the balance board to focus on yoga and other exercises to increase core balance. Many of its mini-games are fun for the whole family, even if they aren’t necessarily the hardest workouts. Wii Fit starts with a few simple exercises and allows you to unlock others as you train more. While some seem simple, they will leave you a little sore.

While not technically a Wii fitness game, Punchout for Wii can also deliver a fun and intense aerobic workout when used with the Wii Balance Board. Punchout is a boxing game and if you’re playing single player with the balance board, crouching and parrying punches provides a good workout.

Gold’s Gym Cardio Workout is an intense aerobic exercise experience through cardio kickboxing. It also features scheduled workouts and difficulty levels as you improve.

These Wii fitness games give you a good workout for less than joining a gym.