Electronic Arts Inc. on Thursday announced a new line, EA Sports Active for the Nintendo Wii video game system. From the makers of “Madden NFL Football” and “Tiger Woods PGA Tour” video games, the interactive fitness program is being developed with the help of Oprah Winfrey's personal trainer, Bob Greene, and other experts.

This is the first program to aim at women seeking a simple and inexpensive way to achieve a healthy lifestyle. Currently, EA is widely known to have other targets, whatsoever. Peter Moore, president of EA Sports, called the new brand, whose first title launches next March, a "somewhat radical departure from the normal game experiences we provide customers."

The company's new brand seeks to take advantage of the popularity of the Nintendo console and of exercise games. While the "Wii Fit" is already enormously popular, Moore, a former physical-education teacher, said EA's sports software will run people through an exercise routine with a more Western approach than the Japanese company's product.

Priced at $69.99, Active will ship with two "specially-designed leg straps" that hold the Wii Nuncuk and track lower body movement, along with a resistance band for upper-body exercises. The title will not require, but will be compatible with the Wii Balance Board accessory that comes packed with Nintendo's Wii Fit.

The game features an interactive computer trainer, and crafts running, boxing and other heart-pumping exercises to the user's desires. But Peter Moore said that while the game is not meant to compete with "Wii Fit," which was developed by Japan's Nintendo, it does offer the potential of a more rigorous workout.

In other words the program has more than 20 exercises that work the upper and lower body (bicep curls, squats and lunges), as well as cardio (jogging in place with a virtual track on-screen). Moreover you can either customize your workouts or let the virtual trainer create 20-minute daily workouts as part of a 30-day fitness challenge.

However Nintendo's own Wii Fit program, released in May with a balance board and a virtual trainer that helps players with yoga, aerobics and muscle toning, is a top-seller with more than 2.3 million sold. Other games include Ubisoft's "Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking" and "My Weight Loss Coach" for the Nintendo DS portable game system.

“As we continue to expand our brand, 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, getting people off the couch and into shape while interacting with our products in a way never before possible. EA Sports Active costs less than a gym membership, it provides a variety of exercises unlike a one dimensional in-home fitness contraption, and it delivers an interactive experience that you don’t get from a DVD – this is a true fitness revolution and a space in which we intend to be leaders,” Moore explained.