Getting fit just got a whole lot harder as EA announce their newly-created Freestyle label are hard at work on a Wii Fit clone.

Never to pass up on a money-making opportunity, EA are jumping on the Wii Fit bandwagon.

Speaking at a major three-day EA Sports showcase at the publisher's Vancouver HQ, Peter Moore (EA Sports president) recently divulged that his division is working on a fitness game for Wii which utilises the balance board peripheral. The un-named title will fall under EA's newly-created Freestyle label and will put focus on a more "western" cardio-vascular workout programme, compared with the "eastern holistic fitness" of Wii Fit.

Speaking about Wii Fit, Moore talked about his admiration for the title and the opportunities in which it has brought.

"We're watching closely what the Wii Fit board offers," he said. "We think we have to have a role to play with mum - the children have gone to school, she's got 45 minutes on her own, the Wii is there, it's the first console she's ever liked because she can do things herself. And we're working on stuff, trying to work out how we can use EA Sports applications there."

But Moore, a former physical education instructor, insisted EA's product would go down a different route from Wii Fit, with a greater focus on strenuous fun.

"I need to have a point of difference," he explained. "We also need to make sure we're delivering something that's truly exercise. I'll call [Wii Fit] more eastern fitness, where it senses weight and balance, like Tai-Chi. It's more about holistic fitness. I don't think the board is going to take a pounding. We need to look more at western fitness in which I can actually be moving and start to sweat a little bit, and that's what we're working on right now."

While the former Xbox boss would not be drawn on specific gameplay elements during his talk, he did emphasise that EA, like Nintendo, were focusing on fitness through "fun". "It can't feel like a workout," he added. "The team has to figure out, how do I smile while I'm doing this? You play soccer for 90 minutes; if I say you're going to run five miles you're not gonna want to do that. But you run for five miles playing soccer and you've had a good time.

As ever, N-Europe will keep you up to date with any developments as they break.