Active Gaming is a Glowing Success in School

Gamercize Nominated for PE in The Exergame Network Awards

PE In London took a step forwards with the start of the Gamercize pilot in Westminster schools. A primary and secondary school in the first year of the project cover the age range of 5 years old up to 16 years old children.

The project is measuring health, social and fitness benefits from the application and integration of the Gamercize technology in the form of after school clubs, curriculum boosted learning and PE classes.

With the introduction of PDP Afterglow controllers with Gamercize on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 the project is all set for engaging kids for the long run. Kids love this new twist to active game play!

The start of the project is just one of three good news stories for Gamercize this month. Gamercize has been nominated in four categories in The Exergame Network Awards 2010. These are;

#2 Best Physical Education Exergame with Gamercize Sport for Wii

#9 Best Group Exergame with Gamercize Pro-Sport with Xbox LIVE

#11 Best "Head-to-Head" Competition Exergame with Gamercize Pro-Sport for Xbox 360

#12 Best Brain Exergame with Gamercize PC-Sport

You can vote for these at http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/421003/TEN, and also vote for the hottest category "Best Home Exergame 2010" that has the nominations including Microsoft Kinect Sports, PlayStation Move (Start the Party), Wii Sports Resort, EA Sports Active 2 and Ubisoft's Just Dance for Wii.

The final great news this month is results from research carried out at Coventry University that shows (in unstructured free play) that Gamercize is comparable in terms of activity and engagement to kids active play in recess.

Why is this great news? The study was first run with Nintendo Wii that could only sustain interest and activity for the first week of six, while Gamercize was sustainable for the entire six week study period.

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Smart Thinking Inside The Box

The Future is Now

How many times have you heard the phrase "think outside the box"? This is a fine phrase to ask people to expand the boundaries of thought process in search of solutions to long standing problems.

Thinking outside the box has given rise to the trend of reducing sedentary activity and increasing voluntary physical activity with exergaming. The concept of using the "enemy" of fitness to actually promote and improve fitness could never have been arrived at with conventional thinking. So it's good to think outside the box? Yes, but there's a limit. When thinking is done, it's time for the doing.

This is what I mean by thinking inside the box. The physical activity innovation exergaming has now been bought inside the "box" - so let's think about using it, start the "doing". Constantly thinking of new ideas is great, for example Xbox Kinect and PlayStation Move, but hang on, where's the justification and credibility of exergaming? What successes have we had so far, and is it enough?

The success of the Wii is not in doubt, selling more units than you can shake a wii-mote at, but is that success in physical activity? Not really. From my experience there's not been successful, sustainable, repeatable implementations of Wii in homes or schools (outside of obvious commercial success). How do we change that?

It's pretty clear from the research into energy expenditure and sustainability that we can get a better base for real implementation. This is what we are doing with Gamercize, from a base of promising data from studies we're looking into wrapping product with the process - in a schools programme.

To do this we need to think inside the box, look at what we have, use our experience, look at what it does and then figure out the best way to use it. In the next few months schools and teachers will be preparing to unleash this new thinking on the children of London, and those kids are sure going to have fun! Watch this space for progress updates!

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Microsoft Kinect and Playstation Move - The Missing Games

Virtual Fun or Real Fun?

It is good to see Microsoft and Sony finally get the hint that active video games are the future with the release of Kinect and Move. But the new toys add nothing new over the Wii - A mix and combination of Eyetoy and Wiimote style controllers comes with the same old casual, dance or fitness game genres.

This is great, if you like that sort of thing, but if you like that sort of thing the new active video games are only likely to take you away from the gym or you traditional workout schedule. These game genres equally have a low utilization, mainly due to the lack of online play or narrative.

What are the best active video games? Sports, racing and first person genres have the focus of the vast majority. Just take a look at the pre-order charts. All of these games can be active by using Gamercize, without degrading the control or fun.

Take a look at what'll be keeping your kids (boyfriend, spouse, etc) indoors this winter and then look again at what makes the best active video game.

NOW		WAS	TITLE	PUBLISHER
2	Up	3	Formula One 2010 (F1) Microsoft Xbox 360	Codemasters
3	Up	4	FIFA 11 (2011) Sony Playstation 3	EA
4	Up	6	FIFA 11 (2011) Microsoft Xbox 360	EA
5	Up	9	PES 2011: Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 Sony Playstation 3	Konami
6	Up	13	Formula One 2010 (F1) PC	Codemasters
7	Up	14	Call of Duty Black Ops Microsoft Xbox 360	Activision
8	Up	18	Dead Rising 2 Microsoft Xbox 360	Capcom
9	Up	17	Call of Duty Black Ops- Hardened Edition Microsoft Xbox 360	Activision
10	Up	12	Gran Turismo 5 Sony Playstation 3	Sony

Don't forget that there is a Gamercize fitness machine to suit all abilities, and compatibility with Xbox 360, Sony Playstation 3 and PC. You can get fit playing all these games with Gamercize, solo, online or multiplayer.

It is good to see Sony and Microsoft jump on Nintendo's bandwagon, but ultimately the best games have the longest game time, and sustainability and repetition are the true fitness "must-haves". The games in the list have this, that's what Gamercize is all about!

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Exergaming, the Physically Active Gaming is the E3 Expo Winner

Game On Gamercize!

The E3 Expo in LA from June 15-17 2010 with all the special pre and post events throws physical activity into the mix.

We've seen the Microsoft entry into Nintendo's blue oceans getting a name; no longer Project Natal - enter Microsoft Kinect, and collection of 7 games. Think of this as the next generation Sony EyeToy.

Sony have gone with a hybrid approach, first waggled at the Games for Health Conference last month, PlayStation Move. Think of this as Wii-motes but with positional tracking by a camera.

Nintendo offer up the Vitality Sensor, which measures pulse and heart rate, presumably to monitor if you fall asleep playing and prompt you to wake up? Think of this as another way to make money for the Japanese giant.

Microsoft vs Sony vs Nintendo - but who wins the physical challenge? Actually none of these, it's Gamercize that wins. Announced at the E3 Expo are awesome new games for Wii, PS3 and Xbox that are compatible with the most effective console exergaming device - Gamercize Pro-Sport.

Games expected and announced at the E3 Expo that can be used with Gamercize include:

Gears of War 3 - four player co-op

Halo Reach - new spaceship combat

Fable 3

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit

New cross platform Medal of Honor (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)

Madden NFL - new Game Flow engine

Crysis 2 - Full 3D just like Avatar!

BulletStorm

Assassins Creed (3) Brotherhood

Rayman Origins - Classic gameplay

Call of Duty : Black Ops

Castlevania : Lords of Shdow

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Future Solider

Metal Gear Solid : Rising

Gran Turismo 5 (finally, can it be??)

Killzone 3

Dead Space 2 (rather scary)

Portal 2 - with co-op play

The Last Guardian

Legend of Zelda (subject to controller)

Star Wars : The Old Replublic

For videos and more go to GameTrailers or E3-GameSpot

Given the choice between games muddled with motion sensing or capture and an honest workout with great game play, it's clear Gamercize is the big winner at the E3 Expo.

One final thought is will Sony and Microsoft be gaining American Heart Association logos? Well, the answer is a definitive NO! This is because Nintendo saw these up and coming releases and pre-empted this by sealing Wii exclusivity into the deal! Smart move by Nintendo, but maybe its the opportunity for Sony and Microsoft to look at more credible relationships - like The Exergame Network (TEN)?

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