Picture a typical video game player. Probably the person you are envisioning in your mind is a teenage boy or a young man, hunched over on a couch with a video game controller firmly ensconced in his hands. With the exception of the odd nervous twitch and shout in anger when he gets fragged, there is very little motion on his part. He’s not really all that different than a couch potato, because the only muscles getting a workout during this gaming session are in his hands.
Well, as you may already know, there has been a big push in the video game industry lately that has seen the emergence of more active video games. Ones that get children (and adults) off of their butts, actually breaking a sweat while playing a virtual game of tennis, rather than just twitching their thumbs for another rousing session of Halo 3. The connection between exercise and video games is not a new one, per se, but it is one that has gathered a lot of steam in recent years. Here are five areas or trends where we have experienced the merging of video games and exercise.
In no particular order…
Dance Dance Revolution
Although this dancing simulation game has only picked up in popularity in North America in the past three years or so, DDR — as it has come to be known in some circles — was originally introduced to Japanese video arcades in 1998. Dance Dance Revolution has been largely credited with the emergence of rhythm games, because it was one of the first popular video games that got you to dance to the music, timing your steps in tempo with the tunes being played. It was from this innovation that we saw later creations like In the Groove and, more recently, Guitar Hero.
To date, there are over 90 official versions of Dance Dance Revolution, expanding well beyond the sweaty confines of video arcades and into the realm of home video game systems. From the Nintendo GameCube to the Xbox 360, it’s nearly impossible to avoid this craze. It really was and continues to be revolutionary.
On the Xbox 360, you’ll find Dance Dance Revolution Universe and this is typically sold as a bundle with a single cloth dance pad. Set for release on December 11th of this year is Dance Dance Revolution Universe 2. On the Nintendo Wii, you can consider Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party. Interestingly, the only current generation (home) system to lack a version of Dance Dance Revolution is the Sony PlayStation 3.
Whichever version of DDR you select, they all work fundamentally the same way and offer the same vital features: a dance pad, crazy arrows that fly up the screen, and a funky soundtrack that’ll get everyone smiling. And sweating.
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Nintendo Wii
Admit it. The first time you heard about Nintendo’s next-generation home console — once codenamed “Revolution” — you thought that concept was innovative, but probably little more than a gimmick. Fast forward to one year after its initial release into the marketplace and the Nintendo Wii is still hard to find in stores. It literally flies off the shelf before retailers even have an opportunity to set it out for sale. This is because Nintendo has capitalized on a much bigger market than the conventional gamer. Nintendo is targeting families, seniors, soccer moms, and everyone in between.
Wii Sports is the pack-in title that accompanies the video game machine. Within Wii Sports, you will find five activities that make use of the Wii’s unique motion-sensitive controller: Tennis, Baseball, Golf, Bowling, and Boxing. The motions performed on the Wii Remote mimic those that you would do in a real-life session of the corresponding sport. Wii Sports: Bowling is perhaps the best executed game in the package, but it’s close to being the least active. If you really want to work up a sweat, a rousing session of Wii Sports: Boxing is in order. Too bad the implementation of Boxing isn’t the best.
In addition to Wii Sports, you’ll also find a variety of other titles in the Wii library that’ll get you up on your feet and swinging your arms like a total doofus. Don’t worry, you’ll have an equally dorky smile on your face the whole time. For the more aggressive types, there are titles like Manhunt 2, The Godfather: Blackhand Edition, and Medal of Honor: Heroes 2. Other fun games you should consider include Rayman Raving Rabbids, Mario Party 8, and Boogie. The last is particularly noteworthy because it combines a DDR-like rhythm experience with karaoke. Yes, there’s a microphone.
An upcoming peripheral for the Nintendo Wii is Wii Fit. It will be accompanied by the Balance Board peripheral. Combining the two, this is perhaps the closest to a true “exergaming” experience you’re going to get. The Wii Balance Board can detect shifts in weight and thus can support all sorts of interesting applications. All in all, Wii Fit will have about 40 different activities, ranging from yoga poses to press ups, step aerobics to ski jumping.
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Back to the Arcade
In recent years, we have seen a mass exodus from the video game arcades of old. This is because home consoles have significantly increased in quality and gaming experience, nearly making the need to go to the arcade obsolete. Don’t ditch that roll of quarters just yet! There are still several games at the arcade that you cannot yet play at home. At least, not on a budget.
What makes certain arcade games special is that they are better at simulating real activities than their home console counterparts. Navigating through your local arcade, you may discover games that feature a full-sized set of skis or a snowboard, getting you to stand on these systems to mimic a real downhill experience. This can be a great way to work out your leg muscles without actually hitting up the gym. There are also skateboard games and — one of my most tiring favorites — horse racing. You ride a virtual pony, rocking it back and forth to get the horse running. It’s really quite invigorating and well worth a couple of quarters.
Plug & Play TV Games
Around this time of year, you’ll likely find a series of kiosks at the mall that sell these types of products. They are also readily accessible through larger toy stores like Toys R Us and even on Amazon. Plug & play TV games are exactly what they sound like. Instead of having to purchase a video game system and a series of games, these are all-in-one packages that plug directly into your television. PlayTV Baseball 3 by Radica Games, for example, comes with a truncated baseball bat and a pseudo home plate. Gamers face the screen and time their swings accordingly. Other offerings in the PlayTV series include PlayTV Skateboarding, PlayTV Huntin’ 3, PlayTV Basketball, and PlayTV Golden Tee Golf.
Most of these all-in-one games can be purchased for somewhere between $35 and $60, depending on the complexity of the hardware involved. The games are quite simple, but they’ll definitely keep the kids active this holiday season. It’d also be quite amusing to see Aunt Bertha attempt a session in PlayTV Skateboarding.
Simulated Outdoor Activity
This isn’t the most widespread version of exergaming that I have seen, but it does look like an interesting proposition. The idea is that you hook up a small computer and LCD screen to a piece of exercise equipment, say an exercise bike. Displayed on the screen is a real life video of a real life biking trail. The resistance on the exercise bike will adjust according to the terrain, so if the trail is heading uphill, there is more resistance; downhill would result in less resistance. It’d keep track of your time, pacing, heart rate, and all that other vital information, perhaps computing an overall score at the end of the trail.
In many ways, this is more like simulated reality than it is a video game. It is also closer to real exercise — you are using real exercise equipment rather than waving a Wii Remote or dance, dance revolutionizing on a cloth pad — than some of these other exergaming options as well. To many conventional gamers, however, the appeal just isn’t there. It’ll be interesting to see how this industry develops to further grow its appeal and its potential customer base.
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