The popular area of development and consumerism that is exergaming, now becoming saturated with both successful and inferior products, reemerged in 2008 as a strategy for controlling obesity in children. Research in the late ‘90s that entailed observation of children watching television and playing video games concluded that children who consistently play video games are considerably more likely to be obese.

Based on this conclusion, exergame designers began to market products as solutions to the Western problem of child obesity, taking advantage of the obesity culprit to make exercise a requirement for gaming enjoyment. In a study conducted by Jeff Sinclair and his associates, the relative success and failure of exergame design within the realm of child obesity is analyzed in order to inform future design efforts.

Factors Determining Success and Consumer Attraction

Based on a review of exergaming research, Sinclair worked to isolate the factors that make exergames effective in adhering to aerobic exercise recommendations and in catching and holding consumer attention.

1. In terms of exercise, games should follow basic aerobic session requirements: a warm-up period of 5-10 minutes of low-intensity exercise, a stimulus period of at least 20 minutes at 77%-90% of the maximal heart rate, and a cool-down period of 5 minutes.
2. Sinclair also notes that this should be repeated three days per week in order to successfully emulate an exercise program. One difficult implication of these parameters is that individuals have different levels of fitness, so maximal heart rate varies from one person to the next.
3. Exergames must also hold players’ attention for at least 30 minutes at a time while motivating them to play at least 3 times a week.

These three exergame requirements determine success in terms of effectiveness and attractiveness.

Consumer Attraction and the Gameflow Model

In 2005, research conducted by Sweetser and Wyeth applied the “flow” construct, or nine components determining total engagement in an activity, to video gaming. They found that, in order for players to be totally engaged in video games, they had to experience the following:

• Required and enabled concentration,
• Challenges that are neither too easy nor too difficult,
• Development of individual skills and mastery,
• A sense of control over personal actions within the game,
• Clear goals for succeeding at the game,
• Reception of specific feedback on individual success,
• Effortless immersion within the game, to the exclusion of time awareness, and
• Social interaction opportunities.

The above components determine a typical video game’s attractiveness to consumers and apply to exergames as well.

To maximize the success of an exergame, attractiveness and effectiveness should bridge the gap between the psychological gameplay and physiological exercise components of exergaming. Achieving a balance between skill and challenge, as well as between fitness and intensity, determines the success of an exergame. The difficulty of creating these two perfect balances can help explain the wide variety of successful and unsuccessful exergames in today’s market.

About the author.

Alexis Bonari is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She often can be found blogging about education and scholarships for college. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.