Director of NMSU's Learning Games Lab provides some holiday video game buying tips

As the holidays near, most parents have already begun shopping or are preparing to start, and for many parents, like myself, video games are number one on your children's list, which can cause anxiety if you are unaware of what type of game to give your kids. To help parents out, the director of our (New Mexico State University) Learning Games Lab, Barbara Chamberlin PhD, associate professor and extension instructional design and educational media specialist, wrote a simple guide, which offers parents tips on holiday shopping. One of her tips is to include active or “exergames” in holiday game purchases. Chamberlin said there are primarily two types of games to play: passive and active. Passive games involve the gamer playing the game solely with a controller, while active games require the gamer to stand, jump or move quickly and use controllers with their feet or hands. She suggested replacing some passive screen time with active screen time. She also recommends that parents use the Educational Software Review Board ratings printed on every game package as a guide. You can view Chamberlin's “Video Games Buying Guidelines”, as well as “Our Favorites Game Buying Guides”, which are a list of some of our favorite exergames and educational games for various consoles at our Learning Games Lab website www.learninggameslab.org.

Palo Alto develops online fitness course using Nintendo Wii

Starting Spring 2010 semester, Palo Alto College students, in San Antonio, will be able to earn college credit from their home just for getting fit using the Wii Fit. Dr. Robert Garza, dean of student affairs, came up with the idea for the course in 2007 as a way to engage more college students in fitness, and hopes that it will become a national model for innovative teaching and learning. Now that he is getting his concept started at Palo Alto, Dr. Garza has plans of expanding on this concept to neighboring elementary, middle and high school partners as a way to encourage more physical exercise, along with combating our nation’s obesity problem.

Woman loses weight with the Wii

Sherry Bridson, a South Lyon resident, lost 98 pounds using the Wii Fit her husband bought for her. She started out with a 30-minute routine and worked her way up to her current 90-minute routine. Bridson is a Wii Fit success story, and part of the growing trend of people who are getting fit the Wii way or getting fit through other exergaming titles. Now days you can walk through a video game aisle and see many exergame titles available and The American Council on Exercise (ACE) named technology-based fitness one of its top 10 trends of 2009. Exergaming can be good for people who don't care for gyms or group fitness classes, but as with any fitness program, you get out of it, what you put in to it.

Seniors love Wii Bowling

When Nintendo created the hardware and software that are behind Wii bowling, they did so with an eye toward expanding the traditional gaming demographic, and one audience that Wii bowling appeals to is our senior citizens. Perhaps part of the appeal of Wii bowling is the nostalgia, as it mimics the moves a bowler makes in an actual bowling alley, but whatever it is, senior citizens across the country are saying goodbye to shuffleboard and hello to Wii Bowling. Not only do they play the game during their leisure time, they have formed leagues and some even show up to practice daily. Amazingly, there are 186 teams and more than 1,000 bowlers in the throes of a virtual competition from California to New York as part of the National Senior League' Wii Bowling Competition.

Sports Authority to give away 30 Wii Fit Plus with Balance Boards

Starting Thanksgiving Day through Christmas, Sports Authority, will give away 30 Wii Fit Plus with balance boards. The following excerpt is from their website: Sports Authority is teaming up with Nintendo to create a new way to experience fitness gaming. The collaboration will allow Sports Authority to sell Wii gaming consoles, Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus, as well as various accessories and games for the Wii, in its stores. To launch the product and to help customers get to know the Wii better, Sports Authority will create a "We know fit. We know fun." experience at 102 of their stores. Stores will feature a dedicated area with a demo unit and knowledgeable trainers to help customers try the Wii Fit Plus before they buy. This will help moms trade static workouts for ones that involve fun and fitness for the whole family.
Starting November 26, visit here for your chance to win.

Nintendo wants to make holiday shopping more fun

Nintendo has announced a special holiday mall experience where games for the Wii and DSi will be available for play in multiple malls across the country. This gives parents and kids the chance to try out the games before they buy them. Games on display will include 2 popular exergames, Wii Fit plus and Wii Sports Resort, among other non-exergames. The mall promotion begins on Nov. 23 and runs through Dec. 20. Check the list to see if there is a location near you.

Oprah's trainer talks about "Video Game Workouts"

Bob Greene admits he's no fan of TVs and computers, because he says they've made us stop moving as a culture, however he is promoting EA Sports Active: More Workouts. He actually had a lot of hands on involvement with creating some of the workouts in the game. He says he was really blown away by these exercises in "Sports Active." He was sweating, and his legs were burning. See what else he has to say about video game workouts.

Exergaming among the top 10 fitness trends for 2009

The American Council on Exercise (ACE) has announced the top ten fitness trends from 2009; based on its annual survey of personal trainers, group fitness experts, advanced health and fitness specialists and lifestyle and weight management consultants. Boot-Camp style workouts came in number one, but number eight on the list is technology-based workouts, which includes exergaming. So throughout 2009 things like the Wii Fit and Expresso Bikes continued to infuse themselves in all aspects of fitness, and with the research still growing, I expect to see that trend rise in 2010.

Nintendo Wii Study Says Wii games DO offer benefical workout time

A Nintendo-funded study found that Wii Sports and Wii Fit games and related activities do in fact have the potential to engage users in moderate to intense physical activity. The study confirms that about one-third of the physical activity offerings through the Wii suite programs require an energy expenditure of 3.0 METS or above, which the American Heart Association (AHA) considers moderate activity. Some activities (single-arm stand in the Wii Fit) were found to require as much as 5.6 METs and 4.5 METs (Wii Sports Boxing). Six METs is considered vigrous activity. Study leaders also call on video game producers to create more physical active games to help combat rising obesity rates in both Japan and the U.S.

Congress pushing for healthier, kid-friendly advertising

The obesity epidemic now has legislators thinking about how they can limit harmful commercial exposure to children, especially through snack advertisements. This proposed "Healthy Kids Act" won't be the last we hear of government trying to intervene in the national epidemic. Whether or not it is successful, the push for healthier kids is reaching greater proportions with more and more government support.

MSU To Study Video Game Exercise

Michigan State University received a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to study the health effects of exergames to see if they live up to their promises of health improvement. Researchers from the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media, and from the Department of Kinesiology, using overweight or inactive college students in their study, want to see if playing the games can actually help you burn calories and help overweight and inactive people to lose weight. The team is also in the works to develop a new, 3D fantasy role-playing, physically-involved but similar type of game called Mount Olympus, which requires players to move their upper and lower body in order to control their character’s movements.

When school districts cut PE, teachers turn to exergames

When budget cuts made it necessary to cut programs, Redmond School District cut many of the subjects that were considered “extras” like music, art and PE. Luckily at Tom McCall Elementary teachers realized the importance regular physical activity breaks for their students and took time and effort to re-think what they could do to make physical activity happen. Michelle Zistel and Heather Renz turned to video games. These two teachers are using the ExerLearning computer program as the core of their PE classes. The students not only get exercise from dancing on the pads to Dance Dance Revolution, but they also learn about music and get to play leadership roles within their own classrooms, as they often get to teach others how to use the program.

ACE Announces Test Results on Fitness Benefits of Nintendo's Wii Fit and PC based Exergame Dancetown

Fitness Industry Leader, in Conjunction with University of Wisconsin La Crosse, Release Proven Data that Shows Pros and Cons of Newest Interactive Video Games.
The American Council on Exercise (ACE), released key findings from two separate studies examining the fitness benefits of six of the activities featured in Nintendo’s Wii fit including: Free Run, Island Run, Free Step, Advanced Step, Super Hula Hoop and Rhythm Boxing, and the PC-based fitness system geared toward older adults, Dancetown.
The goal of the study was to test the performance of both exergames and determine if their activities are enough to produce results that meet or go beyond recommended physical activity guidelines. The study found that playing the Wii Fit burns twice as many calories as a sedentary video game, however the authors of the study suggest that playing Wii sports is a better way helping users meet minimum intensity guidelines for exercise. The Dancetown study showed a significant increase in exercise intensity and calorie expenditure for all subjects on all modes of play.
The Wii Fit study, which tested men and women between the ages of 20-24, found that after 30 minutes of play, the caloric expenditure of each of the six activities on average was as follows: Free run 165, Island run 165, Rhythm Boxing 114, Super Hula Hoop 111, Advanced Step 108 and Free Step 99. The Dancetown study, which tested men and women between the ages of 32-70, found that after 30 minutes of play the average caloric expenditure was 136.
Complete summaries of both studies appear in the November/December 2009 edition of ACE's Fitness Matters magazine and on the ACE Web site at www.acefitness.org.

University researchers to study video games' effect on health

Nine research teams from universities across the U.S. will study how interactive video games can help fight childhood obesity. The teams will also focus on how video games can be designed to help people change behaviors and self-manage chronic illnesses. The nine teams were chosen from among 185 proposals and were awarded between $100,000 and $300,000 each. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is providing the funding. The studies will focus on diverse population groups that vary by race and ethnicity, health status, income level and game-play setting, with age groups ranging from elementary school children to 80-year-olds. To read who the nine recipients are and a brief description of their research aim, read the following article: University researchers to study video games' effect on health, The research may discover new ways to quit smoking and lose weight.

Career TV features "Wii OT" using Wii in Therapy

This clip on Career TV features Mershon W. Hinkel, MSPH, OTR/L, who is also known as the “Wii OT”. The video highlights how incorporating the Nintendo Wii into therapy helps many clients improve their function.

EA SPORTS Active More Workouts in stores November 17

Thanks to the success of EA Sports Active Personal Trainer, selling over 1.8 million copies worldwide. EA Sports Active has developed a new title, More Workouts, to add to the innovative line of interactive fitness products offering personalized, customizable workouts that can be done from the comfort of home, which is due to hit the shelves November 17.
More Workouts will feature 35 new exercises and fitness activities, all new cool down/warm up stations, abdominal exercises, a 6-week challenge and an all-new special edition Bob Greene Nutrition Best Life Book that will feature tips on creating a balanced lifestyle.

Gaming your way to good health

Check out this slide show at CNN. Each slide explains a way that video game play can be good for your health. The story highlights include:
• How playing action games could improve your vision and help cure "lazy eye".
• Playing Tetris can boost brain efficiency.
• Parkinson's patients could improve their balance by using Wii Fit.
• DDR and In the Grove, along with the Wii make players get up off their couches and move.
• A study found that surgeons who played some video games made fewer mistakes.

What do women want?

The release of the Nintendo Wii brought about the entrance of the mature female game player who purchases games mainly for “virtual fitness” and videogame publishers, pushing to expand their businesses, are making games that target girls and women a new industry battleground. This holiday season more games than ever are being geared toward female players, including several workout games. Though a few publishers have developed computer games for women in the past, the genre wasn't considered significant until the past several years. Now many videogame firms are making the play for women, as publishers roll out fashion-themed games for girls and workout and dance titles for older females. Ubisoft will be introducing "Your Shape," a personal-training game, and "Just Dance," a dancing game, in November.