Nick Yee, PhD, a research scientist at the PARC (the Palo Alto Research Center) has published studies that show how people’s behaviors change when they use avatars. One study notes how players engage when offered tall, attractive avatars, versus shorter, less attractive ones. He suggests that people...

A health game sleeper? One of the health game products I’ve been watching very closely is Zamzee. Not a whole lot has been written about this innovative new company yet, especially when one compares it to previous HopeLab products like Re-Mission. However, they have really geared up for an impressive...

When you think of videogames and kids, you naturally picture in your mind an overweight child with poor nutritional habits playing for hours without leaving the sofa or the desk chair.  In order to address this situation, many attempts have been made to combine videogames and activity. Exergaming There...

Family health inspires mobile health game design. HealthGAMERS is pleased to introduce you to Greg Kendall, President and CEO of Kendall & Son Solutions LLC. Greg has begun a family game development business which has plunged straight into mobile gaming for health. His company’s first game...

The ability to experience and react to realistic patient encounters that require quick clinical responses is crucial for doctors in training. This experience is now available with Top Doc, a new iPhone medical quiz application developed by Elsevier and video game designer Legacy Interactive. Top Doc...

Exergames of the future. 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...

Australian Exertion Games take exergaming to the next level. 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...

Tis the season for competition. A Humana press release this morning revealed the three winners of the InsertCoin Game Idea Competition which began last summer.  The goal of the competition was to establish what gamers are looking for in health games and ultimately create better health games for consumers. ...

Better Food Pyramid games afoot? When I first started healthGAMERS we were in the process of creating a new online health game based on the food pyramid.  At that time, I was researching what was out there.  My conclusion: a call for better Food Pyramid games.  Someone at the USDA must have been reading...

Following North America, health games are gaining popularity among IT professionals and public populations in Europe.  Main events are organized throughout the old continent, and complementary or challenging solutions are emerging transforming this regional market in a true valuable world market. As...