NEW YORK - US VIDEOGAME publisher Electronics Arts on Thursday moved to get couch potatoes on their feet and exercising more than just their thumbs with a fitness product similar to Nintendo's Wii Fit.

EA Sports Active is an 'innovative new customisable and personalised fitness product' that will be available in stores in March and cost US$60 (S$90), the Redwood City, California-based company said.

EA, the market leader in sports videogames with such titles as Madden NFL, PGA Tour and NASCAR, said EA Sports Active was aimed primarily at women and would operate on Nintendo's Wii console.

It said the workout regimen had been 'developed in collaboration with fitness experts,' including Bob Greene, the personal trainer to talk show host Oprah Winfrey.

'We have a real opportunity to redefine the home fitness experience with a more Western cardiovascular approach and exercises that will appeal to a diverse audience,' EA Sports president Peter Moore said.

The company said EA Sports Active would be the first in a new line of EA fitness and sports performance products that would get 'people off the couch and into shape'.

Nintendo recently launched Wii Fit videogames that employ the console's motion-sensing Nunchuk controllers and a pressure sensing balance board the shape and size of a typical bathroom scale to get people conditioning their bodies with exercises such as running, yoga, and push-ups.

EA said EA Sports Active comes with two leg straps to hold the Wii's Nunchuk controllers and a resistance band to track upper body exercises.

Feedback such as the number of calories burned and instructions on technique is provided on-screen. -- AFP