Unless you've been living in a hole somewhere, you will have noticed news reports telling us that the western world is getting fatter. As a society we abandoned hard labour and long walks in favour of sitting in chairs or in cars, and television and computer games don't exactly help.

Fortunately for our lard-laden behinds a new generation of games have begun to appear, ones that demand more than the thumb-twiddling efforts of the previous thirty years. Gaming is enjoyed by millions, and rather than fight that it makes sense to go with it but make games more active. This website is a celebration of the best in physically active computer games.

Many of the first games of this type have been dancing games, making use of the dance mat. There aren't that many that appeal to boys and young men, because of this feminine image. The EyeToy changed this by introducing some sports and fighting games, but there's still a way to go to balance things out.

Active games also tend to lack a storyline or a linear plot. However future active gaming is constantly improving, especially since the advent of the Wii console. It promises to be something worth seeing, and worth getting off the couch for.