One small step for fitness, one giant leap for the video games industry...Okay perhaps not, but regardless, it’s nice to hear that EA Sports Active has been recognised as beneficial rather than just some kind of gimmick.The University of Wisconsin has done research that involved 16 physically fit adults performing two of the pre-set EA Sports Active workouts. They were measured in heart rate and calorie expenditure, amongst other factors.
The American university was so impressed with the results that it declared EA’s fitness game conforms to guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine.
EA were pleased and said it proved the software did provide a "real, challenging workout."
It’s a shame that we don’t hear much about video game research in UK universities. I think it would be good to hear about different kinds of research other than the “does video game violence affect children/people” type of research we seem to be hear every year.
Do any of the Train2Game students see any value in the fitness games like Wii Fit, Your Shape and EA Sports Active? I haven’t had the chance to play either of those so I can’t give my opinions on them. I also wonder if any of the students have thought about making their own fitness game. It would be interesting to hear about it if any of you reading this do.
Could this be the start of the rise of the fitness/workout genre? Last year saw the NHS officially endorse Nintendo’s Wii Fit and include it as part of the national Change4Life healthy living campaign. Soon we could be seeing other studios getting in on the act and try to gain a piece of the market share.
If this does happen, hopefully they won’t lose sight of the benefits that fitness games have the potential to bring; a fun workout that goes well with gym/daily exercise routines.
What do you think about this? Send me your comments below.
Want to read up on EA Sports Active receiving scientific backing? Click here: http://www.train2game.com/Games-Design-News/Gaming-Industry-News/EA-Sports-Active-receives-scientific-backing$19816660.html
