I've professionally been defending video games as art, entertainment and First Amendment protected speech for over a decade. While I find the medium fascinating and intellectually challenging, publishers constantly amaze me with their new material and how in tune they are with their audience. It's also astonishing that entire new fields like machinima have sprung up for secondary enjoyment of this art form.
Exergames are an example of a completely new field arising in response to consumer need. Nearly a third of American adults are presently overweight or obese. According to the Entertainment Software Association, sixty-seven percent of American households play computer or video games. Following the assumption that video game play is unhealthy, the US Department of Health and Human Services advised that people contain their video game play to no more than 2 hours per week in their latest health guidelines, Healthy People 2020. But as my colleagues and I are quickly learning, video games can help people get fit, and more play helps you get healthy quicker.
As you can probably tell by recent posts, we've begun to use exergames like Wii Fit Plus, EA Sports Active 2, Just Dance 2 and Your Shape: Fitness Evolved to lose weight and become more fit. Some of us need to do more of one than the other; some of us, like me, want to do both. We're also using ingenious exergame equipment, like Gamercize's Power Stepper, to play non-exergame video games like Goldeneye: 007 and Halo while we work out. The options out there are amazing if you want to get in shape; the first step is getting in the game.
I'm not someone that you would typically refer to as a 'gamer,' but I've come to realize that there are many facets to being part of the gaming community; and if you take the time to look, there really is something for everyone.
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