Active Life Outdoor Challenge Hands-On

Whether you like it or not, video games seem intent on improving your life. Well, at least a small but expanding subgenre of games that include games like Wii Fit and My Weight Loss Coach. Add another game to that list: Namco's upcoming Active Life Outdoor Challenge for Nintendo Wii. This collection of fast-paced single- and multiplayer minigames was on hand at this week's Namco press event, where we had a chance to get our hands (and feet) in on the action.

We mention our feet because the majority of the minigames in Active Life: Outdoor Challenge are controlled with a special floorpad that looks a bit like a Dance Dance Revolution dance pad. The crucial distinction is that, unlike a DDR dance pad's four control points, the pad that comes with Outdoor Challenge has eight. This allows for a bit more variety in the movement when playing the game by yourself, and also allows two people to play on the same pad together.

Namco showed off only a few of the game's modes, including the single-player mole stomp and a speed skating game. In mole stomp, you stand in the middle of the pad; as moles pop out of holes on screen, you then step on the corresponding pad to "stomp" it. The more moles you stomp, the more points you earn (and, presumably, the more calories you burn in the process). The speed skating game has you moving your skater down a long narrow path. To skate, you simply pump your feet and steer your skater by holding the Wii Remote horizontally and tilting it left or right. While the track you skate on is perfectly straight, certain zones will give you increased speed if you touch them.

We tried out a couple of Outdoor Challenge's multiplayer games, including log jump, where two people stand side by side on the pad and then jump to avoid logs that are rolling their way. Your onscreen characters are standing on a circular platform and, each time one of them gets hit with a log, they move further toward the outside edge of the platform. The first player to get knocked off is the loser. We also tried a competitive running game that was a race to the finish line. This one played similar to the speed skating game--you pump your legs to run as fast as possible, but you also need to jump to avoid runaway logs from slowing you down.

The game will also have cooperative multiplayer games, including a mine cart race that will require two players to lean left and right to navigate turns as a mine cart speeds around an underground track. The person holding the Wii Remote will be able to move it up and down to give the cart more speed, as well as shoot upcoming obstacles out of the way. We also got a glimpse of an event called the waterfall climb; here, one person jumps to simulate climbing up the side of a mountainous waterfall, while his or her partner moves the Wii Remote up and down to simulate pulling them up the waterfall with a rope.

Other minigames that will be a part of Outdoor Challenge include river rafting, seesaw, jump rope, and water trampoline, among others. In addition to offering Mii support, the game will keep track of the amount of energy you've spent in the various minigames, though details are still scarce on how this will work. Though it looks aimed at the younger set, Outdoor Challenge looks like it could be a way for kids and parents to have some fun together and keep their heart rates up in the process. We'll keep you updated on the game's progress as we learn more about it.