EA Still 'Great Believers' In Wii As Sports Active Earns $125 Million

Electronic Arts' EA Sports Active has earned $125 million during its current fiscal year ending this month -- and the publisher sees a major industry blossoming around products that are less video games and more fitness software. Peripherals and newer motion-control solutions like Microsoft's Natal and Sony's wand are "platform extensions" that are not only extending the duration of the console cycle, but are "bringing new consumers in, knocking down accessibility issues," said EA Sports boss Peter Moore at the ongoing Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference. Certainly the promise of a much wider user base drew many developers to Nintendo's Wii -- many of whom have struggled to make actual headway on a platform still dominated by Nintendo software. But EA Sports Active represents a victory for EA, one of the publishers analysts have criticized for over-investing in Wii strategy last year. "Still, as a company we're great believers in the Wii," said Moore. "You'll see our major multiplatform launches still have a presence on the Wii. When we look at where we've been successful, it's been with specific experiences that are built around that consumer." Wii Sports Active is one of those experiences, which is why, says Moore, it's become one of the "top 20-selling... Wii titles of all time, from the perspective of being able to bring a brand new consumer in... and bringing in a new consumer experience, which is interactive fitness." "It's changing the model from a video game positioning to a fitness positioning," Moore states. "This is a $200 billion industry that we now start to play in. Titles that take advantage of motion, particularly with [Wii] MotionPlus, are really starting to resonate with the consumer."