“When I was in Best Buy the other day and saw the huge EA Sports Active displays it felt like we’d hit saturation but until we have Richard Simmons Wii Workout I don’t think we’ve reached it. Famous last words, right?”

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Think it began with DDR?  Think again!

• 1982 – Amiga releases the Joyboard, a stand-on peripheral for a skiing game (total flop)
• 1982 – Atari conceptualizes the Puffer project, an exercise-controlled bike for the 400/800 or 5200 systems (abandoned and never released)
• 1986 – RacerMate releases CompuTrainer for the NES, a training aid and motivational tool where users pedal along roads (very expensive)
• 1988 – Namco releases Family Trainer Power Pad for the NES, a floor mat game controller complete with giant buttons
• 1989 – Mattel and Nintendo release Power Glove for the NES, a robotic glove peripheral controller (users found to be relatively inoperable)
• 1989 – Namco releases Dance Aerobics, an aerobics video game for the Power Pad and NES
• 1992 – CyberGear Inc releases Tectrix VR Bike and Climber, a software driven interactive bike and stair stepper (difficult to maintain and master)
• 1995 – Nintendo and Life Fitness release Extertainment System, an exercise bike with corresponding on-screen games ($3,500 price tag)
• 1996 – Namco releases Prop Cycle, an exercise bike game
• 1998 – Konami releases Dance Dance Revolution (and the era of exergaming truly begins)
• 2001 – UK company Exertris unties with Microsoft to release Exertris Interactive Exercise Bike, an interactive gaming workout cycle for Windows CE and XP
• 2003 – Cat Eye Fitness releases GameBike, a racing bike for PlayStation 1 and 2
• 2004 – Respondesign releases Yourself! Fitness, a virtual trainer for PlayStation 2 and XBox
• 2005 – Bodypad is released, a suite of controllers for knees, waist, elbows and hands for PlayStation
• 2007 – Gamercise releases power stepper and pedal peripherals, a power supply system that requires footwork from the player to power consoles
• 2007 – Fischer-Price releases Smart Cycle, a miniaturized stationary cycle arcade system for children ages 3 to 6
• 2008 – Nintendo releases Wii Fit, a personalized training board for the Wii
• 2009 – Electronic Arts releases EA Sports Active, an advanced workout peripheral for the Wii
• 2010 – Sony releases Move, a motion controller for the PS3 (coming to U.S. in September)
• 2010 – Microsoft releases Kinect, a motion gaming system for the Xbox 360 (coming to U.S. in November)

That’s almost thirty years of good old fashioned exergaming history.  If some of the more retro products caught your eye, check out this great article from the folks at Boing Boing on the last 25 years of exergaming.  It’s a great one, complete with pictures and detailed descriptions.

HardCORE Swimming is an Exertion Game prototype that combines the use of a Wii Fit balance board, Wii controller and nunchuk to swim through a shark-infested sea while collecting treasure.  In our last healthGAMERS interview we talked Floyd Mueller, an instructor at the University of Melbourne, Australia, who is teaching students the art of computer game design through Exertion Games: games that not only require exercise input but also rely on exercise for game outcomes. Today we talk with one of these innovative student teams.  Kane, Alex, Amber, Dean and Christian have created an exertion game they call HardCORE Swimming, a game that their instructor feels is ready to pitch to Nintendo today.

The interview.

HG: HardCORE Swimming seems to utilize several Wii peripherals.  Can you describe the general gameplay for us?

HCS: The gameplay of HardCORE basically involves the player or players lying on their stomachs in the middle of the Wii balance board and holding the Wii mote and nunchuk in their hands. They lie in the a superman-like pose with their arms outstretched. Basically the player is constantly falling and the only way to stay up is by shaking the Wii mote and nunchuk.

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HG: What makes HardCORE Swimming entertaining?

HCS: At intermittent times a flashing message will appear on the screen saying ‘SHARK INCOMING – LEAN!!!” and a second or so later a shark will rush past the screen. If the player leans to the left on the balance board (basically balancing on their side) then their character will lean and dodge the shark. If they don’t lean to the side they will get eaten. There’s also treasure spawning randomly at the right side of the screen that can be collected to add points to their score.

HG: The ultimate purpose of Exertion Games is to get a great workout while still having fun.  What muscle groups should a player expect to work while playing HardCORE Swimming?

HCS: This game is particularly great for people who want to do abdominal exercises whilst still having fun. Your body’s core is one of the most important things to build when being involved with any physical exercise. In our game, the player is in an existing exercise position called the superman which is designed to work the core. By lying down in a superman pose waggling the remotes out the front and leaning to the side, the player gets quite an abdominal work out.

HG: Is gameplay designed for one player or two?

HCS: There is multi-player mode where two players vie for treasure to stay alive. Two player mode has a slight limitation because each player must haves their own Wii Fit board.  We wanted to figure out a way to make the game more economical and utilize only one balance board, but we need to keep designing.

HG: How did you come up with the concept for HardCORE swimming?  Was there any particular inspiration?

HCS: The concept of HardCORE swimming was originally formed when we were searching for a game idea and one of our team members who is competitive swimmer suggested incorporating something to do with swimming.  The central idea was to get the players to engage in what is actually a very strenuous core body exercise but to distract them using a simple game they could focus on.  Thus hardCORE swimming was created! However, I must stress that we ploughed through many, many ideas before finally settling on this one and as a result we had to rush on the final technical implementation – but it still worked!

HG: Who do you see enjoying this game? Does it appeal to a specific age group?

HCS: HardCORE swimming is a game that is suitable for all ages and gamer skills. It is fun for children whilst teaching them good skills for a balanced lifestyle. It is good for swimming professionals to take time out from real training and enjoy simulated training whilst still having fun.

HG: Studies show that many exergames like Wii Fit are played for two weeks and then never played again. What about your game gives it replayability?

HCS: Our game’s constant replayablility is drawn from the way that it is based on a core exercise. Many people involved in sport or just general fitness already do the superman core exercise, and we have made it more enjoyable to do. The idea that you can beat your existing score or compete against a different opponent also adds to the interest of playing the game over and over.

HG: Your teacher, Mr. Mueller said that he believes this prototype game in particular is ready to market to Nintendo.  What makes your game special compared to other class prototypes?

HCS: We think HardCORE Swimming would appeal to Nintendo because it is a fun game for all people of all ages. It is marketable because it is a simple concept to understand, and the easy interface makes it basically unnecessary for the use of complex instructions. It would be a very suitable game for the Wii console.

Closing remarks.

I think this game has a lot of potential both from an entertainment and physical activity perspective.  I haven’t seen a Wii game that utilizes the core muscle groups, specifically the abs, yet. Perhaps we will see this game or one like it on the market soon.  Congratulations to the HardCORE Swimming team, and best of luck with their prototype!  To see more amazing Exertion Game prototypes from RMIT, Australia, visit their Lecture 2130 website.

I first found out about Floyd Mueller and his creative “Lecture 2130” at the University of Melbourne, Australia from the Games For Health listserve.   Mr. Mueller is doing some pretty amazing stuff with his computer game design students using Exertion Games.  Here’s my fascinating interview with this innovative instructor and how his students are taking exergaming to the next level.

The interview.

HG: For those unfamiliar, define “Exertion Game”?  How is this different from an exergame?

FM: For my work, I use “Exertion Game” because I want to highlight that in my games the exercise affects the game outcome. For example, running on a treadmill while playing Xbox is not an Exertion Game for me. I also use Exertion Game to highlight the game aspect, for example, interactive yoga exercises such as some done with the Wii Balance Board, they are not games. By highlighting these aspects, I hopefully will be able to show designers that there is still a vast amount of potential we have not explored yet!

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HG: Tell us more about your class at RMIT.  How and why did you start teaching physical games “Lecture 2130″?

FM: This is a first year class for aspiring new computer game designers. Through an extensive selection process only the best students with the most potential will be selected, as competition is fierce.  I have been researching “Exertion Interfaces” for almost 10 years now across Europe, the USA and Australia, being interested in designing better technology for the body. This class teaches the important role that physical concepts have in computer games. It evolved from looking at the underlying principles in 3D worlds, as seen particularly in FPS, to the emerging trend of physical games that challenge our understanding of the player’s body. This becomes important when designing for new platforms such as the iPhone, Nike+ and the Nintendo Wii. With this trend from being ‘physical’ in the virtual world to being ‘physical’ in the real world, we realized that there was an opportunity to make a difference to the future careers of young game designers, but also to the future of gamers, as these games can address the obesity issue.

HG: What makes exertion games appealing to students?

FM: Maybe it is a realization that games that go beyond the gamepad experience can be more social, more emotional and healthier. These games will be huge, and change the lives of millions, and students see the market and potential to be creative in an otherwise very competitive market.

HG: I see from your blog that students in your class have to create their own Exertion Games as part of their large final project.  How much did it cost students to create their game?  How long?

FM: The students had 6 weeks from their first class at university, which included forming a group of 5 students, to a Madness session where they had 1 minute to present their idea to 80 other students to get rapid-fire feedback to implementation to demo’ing in week 6, including showcasing the game on their website. They each invested 20 Australian dollars (ca. $US 18), so they had $AU 100 together as a team. Currently, they are preparing for the next demo round to do it all over again with even more exciting games!

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HG: Can you see these games being used in the “real world” such as those made for The Fun Theory?  For example, the Escalatek game could utilize a mall or office building.  How could the game be modified or implemented to benefit the public?

FM: We actually talked about the Fun Theory (it is not actually a theory though) on the blog, and a lot of our games fall into this category. The Escalatek team already has some ideas on this, and I let them (and the others) talk about how they ‘blur the magic circle of play’ (some of the topics discussed in class) in order to benefit the public.

HG: Was there one project in particular (2009 or 2010) you thought had commercial potential?  Why?

FM: I thought the Hardcore Swimming game could be sold for Nintendo tomorrow, so could the Hot Head Balloon game.  The JunkFooders’ Game was loved by everyone because it required so much exertion and could be installed in schools. And another game uses existing Foursquare technology on an iPhone but turns it into a game.

Closing remarks.

There are many, many other creative ideas on the class’s blog.  Each team has a webpage (accessible from the left menu on the class’s blog) where they document their ideas and progress.  Be on the lookout for more ideas from this innovative class, and stay tuned for part 2 of this interview series where we go behind the scenes with one of these amazing student teams.

Basics of the contest [from the page]:

The Wii Mommies are looking for individuals who are unfamiliar with the Nintendo Wii and the Wii Fit Plus to participate in our Citizen Journalist Program to analyze specific elements of the Wii Fit Plus and submit weekly reports on their findings over a period of three weeks. You do not have to be a parent or female to apply, all are welcome.

Here at healthGAMERS, we’re super excited to see the results of the program and the feedback that the various citizen journalists come up with in their reports. The purpose of this health games movement is to make sure people get real experiences and this is a perfect way to get that done. The more people who realize that there are healthy and fun activities out there, the more we can continue spreading the word.

Applications close on March 5th so head on over there and apply if you’re interested! Also don’t forget to follow Wii Mommies on Twitter.

Introducing full-sized bike to Wii.

Cyberbike is a full-sized stationary “home- bike” complete with back pedaling and brake capabilities. I was unable to find any specs on the peripheral’s weight and height, but as you can see from the official Cyberbike Trailer, it’s a pretty large accessory. [There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.] Unlike many BigBen Interactive products, the Cyberbike also comes with a Wii game title of the same name.  The Cyberbike game includes 18 tracks, personalized vehicles and characters, 3 game modes and varying levels of difficulty.  I found the story mode plot line a little unexpected.  Here is a little summary of what to expect:

Drive, along with your family, the most improbable vehicles from planet Cyclo. Use your body and mind, as an eco-citizen, to finally rid this world of the many sources of pollution that are literally suffocating it. Collect the elements that are polluting planet Cyclo either on the ground, in the air or under water, using the vehicles provided for this purpose.

Bikes not your thing?

If Cyberbike doesn’t suit your fancy, why not try Wii Fit look-alike My Body Coach with two 500g dumbells (that’s 1.1 lbs) for your Wiimotes.  Already have a Wii Fit?  You can also purchase BigBen Interactive’s famous Wii Fit Fitness Premium Pack which comes with a storage case, silicon cover and built-in battery compartment for your Wii Balance Board, floor mat, belt with a pocket for Wiimote, two wrist hands and a pedometer.  What else could you ask for?

The American Council on Exercise (ACE) is a 25-year-old nonprofit dedicated to promoting the benefits of physical activity and protecting consumers against unsafe and ineffective health and fitness products, programs and trends.  They have done extensive research on exercise regiments from pilates to dumbbells.  The latest on their research agenda?  Exergames, including dance pads and the Wii Fit.  Their research question: Does the Wii really help people get fit?

The study sample.

In 2008, the ACE teamed up with the University of Wisconsin to test the potential fitness benefits of Wii Sports.  Here are the details of the study:

• Sample size: 8 men and 8 women, ages 20 to 29 years old
• Baseline: recorded through standardized exercise test with a treadmill, tracking heart rate and maximal oxygen uptake; all subjects were given time to practice with the Wii prior to the study

In 2009, the ACE and University of Wisconsin team reunited to test the potential fitness benefits of Wii Fit:

• Sample size: 8 men and 8 women, ages 20 to 24 years old
• Baseline: same as 2008 study

The measurements.

2008 Wii Sports:

• Subjects were told to mimic the onscreen action as closely as possible (ex: in Wii Tennis, subjects had to swing their arms to hit the virtual ball versus just flick the wrist).
• Each subject played a total of 5 games for 10 minutes each with 10 minutes of rest between each game.
• Researchers recorded heart rate, oxygen uptake, and perceived exertion.  Calories burned were also calculated.

2009 Wii Fit:

• Subjects played 6 of the most aerobically challenging activities featured on the Wii Fit for 6 minutes each.
• Researchers recorded heart rate, oxygen uptake, and perceived exertion.  Calories burned were also calculated.

The results.

All Wii Sports games resulted in calories burned, some more than others.

• Wii Sports Golf – 3.1 calories burned per minute
• Wii Sports Bowling – 3.9 calories burned per minute
• Wii Sports Baseball – 4.5 calories burned per minute
• Wii Sports Tennis – 5.3 calories burned per minute
• Wii Sports Boxing – 7.2 calories burned per minute

All Wii Fit games resulted in calories burned, however, NONE were sufficient enough to maintain or improve cardiorespiratory endurance as defined by the American College of Sports Medicine.

• Wii Fit Free Step – 3.3 calories burned per minute
• Wii Fit Advanced Step – 3.6 calories burned per minute
• Wii Fit Super Hula Hoop – 3.7 calories burned per minute
• Wii Fit Rhythm Boxing – 3.8 calories burned per minute
• Wii Fit Free Run – 5.5 calories burned per minute
• Wii Fit Island Run – 5.5 calories burned per minute

The conclusion.

The bottom line message here is that playing Wii Sports or Wii Fit is better than just sitting at home watching TV.  If you want a workout, try Wii Boxing or Wii Tennis. Wii Fit produced underwhelming results and much less caloric burn.  Why?  Dr. John Porcari, lead scientist both studies feels that Wii Fit constrains players to the balance board.  There is much less jumping around than with Wii Sports.

Getting the most out of your Wii.

According to Dr. Porcari, the key to a good workout with Wii Sports is mimicing the real movements as closely as possible.  No wrist flicking allowed!  Wii Fit is a great way to have some fun while burning calories as well as track your fitness progress such as BMI.  However, if you want to actually stay fit, you need to pair it with something more traditional like a bike or treadmill workout.

Among the speakers on the panel were Kristi Miller Durazo of the American Heart Association and Douglas Goldstein of iConecto, who was a great moderator of the group. More information to come soon here on healthGAMERS with an interview on what the American Heart Association is doing with an initiative called CryptoZoo – which was unveiled as an actual activity on the morning of Day 2 of the conference. Stay tuned!

I was fortunate enough to catch up with Doug at his booth where throughout the conference he did a fantastic job (as usual) of demonstrating how consoles such as the Nintendo Wii, are shaping these new experiential media engagement tools for the next generation of health education and public health. In the video below, Doug gives us some insight into what experiential media is and why it’s important to improve the health of our society.

Interview with Douglas Goldstein of iConecto & Games4Health from Andre Blackman on Vimeo.

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We are honored to present our newest guest contributor, Amy Jussel, Founder and Executive Director of Shaping Youth.  She has been a huge advocate of the games for health movement with numerous articles on Playnormous and now healthGAMERS. We are honored to have her!   -Melanie L.

G-Force: Can guinea pigs help kids get active? Humana hopes so!

Humana’s Innovation Center, Humana Games for Health, developed and designed the game as a 30-day pilot program “Operation Planet Savers” which was scheduled to end June 28.  It was just announced that, due to the success of the program, the program will be extended through the month of July.  OPS incentives, including an 8G iPod Touch and Nintendo DS, are tied into the movie launch of Disney’s hopeful 3D blockbuster of “Gadgets. Gizmos. Guinea Pigs.” ramping up to a G-Force release date of July 24. Humana saw an opportunity to blend with the Disney G-Force concept of secret agent guinea pigs on a mission to save the planet, by leveraging the secret agent popularity of SpyKids scenarios with a dash of game play.

How will kids ‘play their way to better health’ Humana style?

By challenging kids to be ‘special ops’ G-Force agents and get their keisters outdoors on missions of sprinkler-dodging, squirt-gun battling, water balloon tossing, belly-crawling and other real-world missions.

Though Disney’s involvement is more of a ‘licensed use’ agreement than any big stakeholder bucks or marketing lift, it’s still a win-win for a Health 2.0 entity like Humana because they already have their game developers and design teams in place.  Piggybacking on the G-Force premiere (pardon the pun) serves Humana’s pilot program’s purpose, while aligning with Disney for guinea pig giveaways gives insta-cred on the parent front as ‘family friendly’ “opps” for getting outdoors.

How the outdoor element works.

Each week on Humana Games’ site, kids were given new “training missions” with real-world activity  to earn points for completion exchanged for media lures and ‘virtual gifts’ when they ‘report back’ on the site.

Examples? Dodging water sprinklers in mission ‘Hose Off’ because agents need to know how to ‘escape and avoid danger’ or a mental recall game of “Memory on the run” to recap details of five people seen on a jog/walk through the park, etc. Prizes ranged from sneak peeks of the G-Force film and virtual G-Force holograms, to iPod nanos and the GRAND prize, walking the red carpet at the G-Force premiere in Los Angeles.

Kids can also sound off about what they liked/disliked in blog-style (or who they lassoed into engaging in the outdoor fun) which I dare say gives all of us in the healthy media sphere some vital research for feedback (from what’s considered ‘fun’ to the ‘code of ethics/honor system’ in play, to how kids choose to engage family/friends outdoors or ‘game the system’ for goods).

My chat with HumanaGames.com.

Specifically: Vicki Vogel & Shane Regala of the Innovation Center on June 12, 2009.

Amy: So how did this Disney deal come about?

Humana: Well, we’re always testing pilot programs, so we’re set up for that and this gives us a way to test the relationship with Disney too, tying it to the release of the movie…Working backwards, we needed to allow plenty of time to pick the winner, arrange travel and handle logistics, but yes, hopefully we can port parts of it to the site and learn from the experience.  It’s the first time we’ve ever dealt with the whole COPPA compliance issue and double-registration having parents give permissions, validate e-mails and all that, so it’s a learning experience for us. We want to see how and why kids engage, what motivates them, (if it’s Disney, etc.) and add it to our research to refine from there.

Amy: How are people hearing about the free game? Obviously, I heard about it from you directly, because I’ve written about Humana’s H4GH before…but what about other people…Is Disney promoting this in their distribution channels, or is Humana testing it with your own 10 mill+ subscribers or what?

Humana: Actually, neither one, really…We’re not using our own member base at all; and though Disney has some links on some of their properties like Radio Disney, we’ve done a few events in Chicago, L.A. and Louisville, using word of mouth with kids telling kids to enroll as  ‘agents’…At the events we gave out agent passports and five cards they could give to friends, and if they created an I.D. they’d earn points, so that’s our ‘viral’ experiment I guess.  We wanted to see if using cool characters to help promote the game and the whole spy/agent/training theme would seed the idea of fun things that are also healthy. After a thousand sign-ups or so at the events, one of the things we DID find is that the COPPA rules created some attrition with that ‘double check with parents’ registration, so we’re learning how to figure all of that out…We obviously have also reached out through social media (like you!) and are really thinking more ‘pilot’ than product.

Amy: What about the actions themselves? Are you tracking the outcomes of whether kids are actually DOING this online to offline activity with an accelerometer device or some hard data point, or is it more of an ‘honor system?’

Humana: Right now it’s the honor system, with parents being sent an e-mail when they complete a ‘mission’ in the hopes that will keep kids honest about it knowing they know that. We also have a pre-post survey on current activity levels, asking kids their favorite games, about the rewards, whether they’d be more likely to see the movie now, that kind of thing.

Amy: What kind of “on the ground” activities are you trying to foster specifically? Is it tied to the green-eco theme like a planet patrol kind of thing, or more physical fitness and mental gymnastics like Humana’s other games?

Humana: We actually looked into doing more of the green, recyclable angle having kids get exercise by physically contributing to the eco-system (cleaning up parks and such) and we want to do more green messaging for Humana in the future, but we tested it in Kentucky and it was less of an appeal than the challenges we were creating for physical fun… Surprisingly, traditional games we grew up with like LeapFrog and some of the ‘Old School’ Field Day relays were translating differently to this generation of kids…When we said LeapFrog, they thought we meant the digital toys! So we decided to try to revisit some of the fun field day races and relays and tie it into family connections and play/time under the training/mission and agent theme…Hide and seek, ground attack, all of that agent/mission message goes with the G-Force concept, but other than the broad-based theme it doesn’t draw on the movie’s storyline, just the visuals. We know active video games like the Wii and exergaming and all that are getting traction, but we really want to figure out how to get them OUTDOORS altogether…bridging from online to OFFline.

Amy: Exactly. It’s a challenge. We have an ‘old-fashioned’ 4th of July picnic of field games where I run the kids relays and I forget that some of these kids ‘don’t know what to do’ with a three-legged race or whatever because it’s not part of kid culture, so can you give me an example of some of the active games you’re trying to introduce using the OPS outdoor idea?

Humana: Sure! We have a ‘bear walk’ on all fours which is a great upper and lower body workout and a simple string between two points where they have to bob and weave around it, which is an awkward but fun motion bringing in agility, and a figure eight pattern kind of like the dizzy bat idea; going around eight times in 8 minutes…all tied to the training mission/agent theme.

Amy: Age group? Any user generated content where kids upload their own outdoor games or show and tell their missions? Video of the kids in play?

Humana: No, not UGC exactly, because we’re geared to 7-9 year olds, and don’t want to show faces because of COPPA and such, but we DO have an ‘agent of the week’ that’s audio right now, using the guinea pig avatar and the ‘agent’ telling their own story of what they did on their mission…it’s really cute, you should take a look at it.

I did. And it is. (See clip below) Help spread the word to kids to give it a go, and encourage them to leave a ‘comment’ as it will help ALL of our research on what works and what doesn’t for online to offline bridges…

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In my last post I gave you a quick peek at how Nintendo plans on keeping kids fit with a Pokémon pedometer peripheral for the DS.  For those of you a little older than twelve, take a look at what Bandai is cooking up.  Their approach?  Add one part pedometer to one part calorie counter, sprinkle a dash of samurai character, and mix it all together with a rich 16th century storyline.  Rather than entice with potential game points, the Bandai Samurai Pedometer/Calorie Counter lets you choose between three famous samurai characters from the Sengoku or Warring States Period who have their minds set on conquering Japan.  The more you walk, the closer you and our army are to conquering the country.

Be prepared to walk off those pounds and take over the world starting mid-July.  The price for glory?  Around $49.00.

The Pokémon craze is still alive and well, but this time all those little monsters are fighting for a good cause.  Nintendo hopes to encourage children to get up and move with the new Pokémon release of Heart Gold and Soul Silver for the DS complete with Poké Walker pedometer.  The pedometer holds one Pokémon monster at a time, and as the player walks, extra currency called “watts” is gained.  The result: one powerful fighting monster and one healthy kid (or at least that’s the hope).

Due to all the additional hype from E3, Nintendo isn’t actively publicizing the Poké Walker.  However, check out this Joystiq article for some additiona details and screenshots.  Kudos again to Nintendo for yet another innovation to keep kids physically active.