To play, you have to move
Video gamers are often immobile, almost stone-like figures. Lying or sitting on the couch or floor, their fingers move quickly while the rest of their bodies remain inert, eyes glued to the action on the television or computer screen. Considering the popularity of the games, it’s not surprising that video-game play is often blamed as a contributing factor in childhood and adolescent obesity.
Now some game makers are trying to get players up on their feet. With interactive fitness games, kids who like to dance, ride a bike, steer a hoverboard or swing a golf club can get a workout as they watch the screen.
Such motion-dependent games, which center around moving much more than fingers, are a new frontier for manufacturers. Although still a negligible part of the $7 billion generated in U.S. sales of video games last year, products that broaden the nature of interactivity and movement are expected to grow.
“I think in the next five years, you will see more games that require the person be the controller, rather than manipulating one,” said Doug Lowenstein, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Entertainment Software Assn., a trade organization representing video game publishers. “There is a strong trend toward more interactive entertainment and to make the games more movement-oriented and more physically immersive.”
So far, Dance Dance Revolution, the most popular movement game, has sold more than 6.5 million copies. When it was first released as an arcade game in 1999, young players lined up in arcades waiting for their chance to dance and jump to music and lights in front of a flashing video screen.
Two years later, Konami Corp., the game’s publisher, released a home version in which players could experience the same dance workout in their living rooms. In the home game, players stand on a specially constructed mat and jump or dance from colored circle to colored circle following music and lights. The moves become faster and more complicated as the dancers advance through the levels.
Players can also program the game to a workout mode in which they enter their weight and height; the program then calculates how many calories are burned per song. The higher the level, the more calories burned. Players can track the calories burned per day, month or week and can increase the intensity of the game to meet specific calorie-burning goals.
“You don’t have to be glued to your couch to have fun with video games,” said Peter Nguyen, public relations manager for Konami.
The company also created a vampire role-playing game in which players must venture into the sunlight to win. “It gets the kids outside,” Nguyen said.
Viswanath B. Unnithan, associate professor of exercise science at Syracuse University, said video games could be instrumental in getting sedentary kids on their feet, motivating them to become healthier and more active.
“Kids like TV and video games, and we need to make the nature of what they like to do more active,” he said. “Using games as play actually is a positive application for technology. It’s a nice starting point.”
Gerald Gustilo, a 21-year-old Riverside resident, knows firsthand how video games can contribute to weight loss. In 1999, the then-16-year-old dropped 65 pounds from his 230-pound frame by dancing to Dance Dance Revolution and watching his diet.
“I was never much into sports -- I’d rather play Nintendo. But when I tried DDR in an arcade, I was hooked into the game and its moving and jumping,” Gustilo said. “I played for hours at a time back then.”
Gustilo acknowledged that he has gained back a few pounds over the last year, but when he needed to drop some weight for his grandmother’s 86th birthday, he was back on the game’s mat.
“It’s easy. I play for about 45 minutes a day and burn about 650 calories,” he said. “And it’s fun.”
Some of the new video games include the fantasy aspect that makes traditional video games so appealing. With EyeToy, gamers who prefer alternate realities can now fight video opponents, pilot hoverboards, even wash windows using the actual motions they’d need to accomplish the activities.
By using a camera to sense gamer-players’ movements, the device, created by Japan-based Sony Corp., acts as a live controller for 12 games.
Another game accessory turns players into drivers. Instead of steering a virtual car or motorcycle with a controller, players attach a bike to the GameBike Trainer Accessory, which is then plugged into a PlayStation 2. The accessory transforms the bike itself into the controller.
The virtual vehicle’s speed, and the calories burned, are controlled by the player’s pedaling speed. A player can also hook up a second bike to the control device and race another player.
People who need a more personal touch can even use a virtual trainer. The Yourself!Fitness game, created by software developer Phin Barnes, co-founder of responDESIGN Inc. in Portland, Ore., features a personal trainer named Maya who can create a customized health, fitness and diet program with a player’s input.
The game simulates a one-on-one personal trainer who coaches participants through aerobics, Pilates and strength-training exercises. Designed primarily for women, the program, released this month, may also appeal to teenagers and younger girls.
“Anyone who follows these programs will result in better fitness and weight loss,” Barnes said. “While it might not have some of the ‘gamey’ aspects of a regular video game, it’s still interaction with a video game and it’s fun. Kids are not motivated to work on fitness, so you need to make it fun to get into shape.”
Even with the new fitness games now on the market, gaming is no substitute for playing sports or exercising.
“Kids need to use games as a catalyst for exercising,” said Syracuse professor Unnithan.
“Ultimately you can start with games, but the end result should be ‘wow, if this was great at home, it may be even more fun doing this outside with friends.’ ”
