Thursday, December 30

Study: Xbox is better exercise than Wii

Active Gaming Proved To Keep Kids Interested


Two major criticisms of using active gaming for physical activity are the lack of exercise compared to traditional activity and the expectation that kids easily get fed up with the new way of moving.


Two linked studies in the United Kingdom have tackled these issues head-on by trialling active gaming in a free-play environment. Two schools in the Midlands undertook a medium term study using popular active games compared against free play in the playground.


The effort that the kids expended was converted into “steps” to make the results comparable between the playground and the video games. The initial study, over six weeks used Nintendo Wii Sports active play compared with the baseline of traditional play. The results showed that in week one the Wii was king of the calories, keeping kids 25% more active than the playground.


After the first week, the criticisms of boredom and poor exercise appeared well founded, as Wii exercise floundered to a poor 65% of traditional activity. The study was then repeated, this time using Xbox and Gamercize Power Steppers. The results, unexpectedly, turned the thinking about the shortcomings of active gaming on its head.


For the second data collection, the kids had to keep moving on the Gamercize steppers to power their controllers and play the game, which would pause if they stopped moving. Normal video games are compatible with Gamercize and games such as Lego Star Wars and FIFA were used.


The Gamercize results were similar to Nintendo’s results for week one, reflecting the kids excitement of “something new”. What happened next was unexpected. Rather than the initial interest tailing off like it did with Wii, the combination of Xbox and Gamercize kept the kids playing, engaged and active throughout the entire study period.


The Wii data supported the loss of interest and lack of exercise critisims of active gaming, but Gamercize for Xbox did not suffer a lack of interest over time or a drop in physical activity. What can we conclude from this? As a physical activity intervention, Gamercize uses the attraction of videogames to keep the kids engaged and the patented Gamercize approach of minimal interaction kept the kids active the whole time.


Results of the Gamercize study have been presented at the European Child Obesity Group. Reference: Duncan, M. J., Birch, S., Woodfield, L., Hankey, J. (2010) An evaluation of a 5-week, school-based, exergaming intervention using the Gamercize power stepper on body mass index and physical activity during school lunch breaks in British primary school children. Proceedings of the 20th Annual Workshop of the European Child Obesity Group, Nov 17-20th, Brussels, Belgium.




Saturday, December 18

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.




Sunday, December 12

The Exergame Network Award Categories

Originally posted here - Please get your votes in and hope you choose Gamercize where we are nominated. It's an honor to be voted into the nominations, and it would be even more awesome to pick up an award maybe?!!

Fifteen categories cover the new generation of Active Video Games (Exergames) with nominations from industry experts.
The Exergame Network's Active Gaming Awards have the following categories and nominations are:

The awards for the winners will be made in January, so get voting now! Make you vote count with the quick and simple survey at http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/421003/vote


1. Best Children's Exergame
Place your vote from the following finalists in the award that gets younger kids moving with active video gaming!
- Dance Dance Revolution Disney Grooves by Konami
- Wild Planet Hyper Dash
- Atari Family Trainer
- Just Dance Kids by Ubisoft
- Nickelodeon Fit by 2K Play

2. Best Physical Education Exergame
Place your vote from the following finalists in the award for an active video game that is best to use in PE classes
- HOPSports Training System
- Gamercize Pro-Sport for Wii
- Cyber Coach
- Xer Pro Sportwall
- Target Trainer

3. Best Seniors Exergame
Place your vote from the following finalists in the award to an active video game for the "silver gamer"
- Sony Eyetoy - Play
- Wii Sports - Bowling
- Cobalt Flux - Dancetown
- XaviX - EYEHAND
- NeuroActive Brainbike

4. Best Accessibility Exergame
Place your vote from the following finalists in the award for an active video game suitable for players with disabilities
- Nintendo Wii Sports
- Cobalt Flux - Hand Dance Pro
- Eyetoy - Play for PS2
- The GameCycle
- Target Trainer

5. Best Home Dance Exergame
Place your vote from the following finalists in the award for a console based dance video game
- Konami DDR
- Just Dance by Ubisoft
- Activision Dance Masters
- StepMania
- Microsoft Kinect Dance Central

6. Best Commercial Grade Dance Exergame
Place your vote from the following finalists in the award for an active video game dance system suitable for youth clubs and fitness facilities
- In the Groove 2
- Positive Gaming iDANCE2
- Cobalt Flux Blufit
- Pump It Up Pro
- Xerdance

7. Best Exergame Fitness Avatar
Place your vote from the following finalists in the award for the hottest in-game virtual trainer!
- Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum
- Daisy Fuentes Pilates
- Your Shape Fitness Evolved
- Wii Yoga
- Jackie Chan PowerBoxing

8. Best Rehabilitation Exergame
Place your vote from the following finalists in the award for an active video game used in physical therapies
- Wii Sports
- Sony Eyetoy for PS2
- Wii Sports Resort
- Trazer 2
- Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus

9. Best Group Exergame
Place your vote from the following finalists in the award for an active video game for four players or more
- Positive Gaming iDANCE2
- Gamercize Pro-Sport with Xbox LIVE
- Xerdance
- Cobalt Flux Blufit
- HOPSports Training System

10. Best Gateway Exergame
Place your vote from the following finalists in the award for an active video game that encourages participation in traditional physical activities
- Wii Sports
- XaviX Sports
- PlayStation Move Sports Champions
- Microsoft Kinect Sports
- Humana Horsepower Challenge

11. Best "Head to Head" Competition Exergame
Place your vote from the following finalists in the award for a two player active video games best for 1 on 1 competition
- Exerbike for PS2
- GameBike for PS2
- Gamercize Pro-Sport for Xbox 360
- Web Racing for PC
- LightSpace Wall Peter Welsh Boxing

12. Best Brain Exergame
Place your vote from the following finalists in the award for a brain training game that requires physical activity
- NeuroActive BrainBike
- Footgaming FootPOWR Pad
- Fisher Price Smart Cycle
- Gamercize PC-Sport
- V.Smart Motion

13. Best Music in an Exergame
Place your vote from the following finalists in the award for an active video game with good songs or music
- Ubisoft - Just Dance
- Positive Gaming iDANCE2
- Cobalt Flux Blufit
- Xerdance
- Wii - Walk it Out

14. Best Commercial Exergame 2010
Place your vote from the following finalists in the award for an active videogame system suitable for youth clubs and fitness facilities that was launched in 2010
- Makoto 2
- Cobalt Flux Blufit
- Positive Gaming iDANCE2
- Trazer 2
- GameBike 2

15. BEST HOME EXERGAME 2010
Place your vote from the following finalists in the top award, for a console based active video game for home use that was launched in 2010
- PlayStation Move - Start the Party
- Microsoft Kinect Sports
- Nintendo Motion Plus - Wii Sports Resort
- Ubisoft Just Dance for Wii
- EA Sports Active 2 for Wii

To vote please go to http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/421003/vote, thank you!
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