Difference between revisions of "Fitness Game"

Revision as of 19:02, 16 March 2018

A man playing a fitness game.

Fitness Game is a term that is referred to the type of video game that specifically demands players to execute physical exercise as a part of the gameplay. Although notable companies like Autodesk and Konami have introduced the concept of fitness game in 1980's-1990's, the cost for the supporting technology was expensive and its technological capability was still behind to fully grab consumers' attention. However, the introduction of motion control by Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's Xbox significantly increased both the features and the efficiency of fitness game, thus became more attention-grabbing and more consumers became willing to get the benefit of exercising by playing fitness game. Some prominent examples of the motion control fitness game include Wii Sports Club^[1], Just Dance^[2], and Nike+ Kinect Training^[3]. Furthermore, the launch of wearable like Fitbit^[4] and Apple Watch^[5] initiated another significant development to the fitness game industry because it can track heartbeat and therefore creates a more interactive and efficient experience for the players; the most prominent example of fitness game that utilizes wearables would be Exantra World^[6]. Seemingly healthy and enjoyable to play, many fitness games have been subjected to ethical issues such as the tracking of one's health information and the credibility of physical exercises.

Before 21st century

Life Fitness Exertainment System

A woman exercising on the Life Fitness Exertainment System.

The Life Fitness Exertainment System is an exercise bike made by a collaboration of Nintendo and Life Fitnesss, a manufacturer of exercise equipment. It was released in the US in 1990's and offered compatibility with the Super Nintendo console. Designed to allow the player to exercise while playing video games, Life Fitness Exertainment System shows similarity with Wii Fit, only the system was produced over a decade earlier. A few games were designed to be used with the Exertainment bike, like Speed Racer in My Most Dangerous Adventures^[7] and Exertainment Mountain Bike Rally^[8]. Although the idea behind this product was straightforward, there were multiple issues that ultimately marked the failure of this project. The first issue was that the model itself was way more expensive than a regular exercise bike; additional electronics that added the gaming feature to the bike turned out to be too costly and therefore was inefficient for the massive production. Also, the model was not durable and often left broken; durability issue is one of the most important for any fitness equipment and thus gave this model a negative view. Lastly, users often found operating the software intimidating not only it lacked instructions on how to utilize the product but users also felt uncomfortable on the fact that they have to master the software even before exercising.

Dance Dance Revolution

After 21st century

Nintendo's Wii

Xbox Kinect

Smartphone Apps

Wearables

1. ↑ "Nintendo Webiste" https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/23dwBGv7QCFrP08BKcqDpsq-6hxvaaTB
2. ↑ "Just Dance Ubisoft Website"https://just-dance.ubisoft.com/en-us/home/
3. ↑ "Nike+ Kinect Training Demo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoM_MNZ5pzU
4. ↑ "Fitbit Wesbite"https://www.fitbit.com/home
5. ↑ "Apple Watch Website"https://www.apple.com/apple-watch-series-3/?afid=p238%7Cs2QbmM6cp-dc_mtid_1870765e38482_pcrid_224100368864_&cid=aos-us-kwgo-watch--slid--product-
6. ↑ "Exantra World Website"https://www.exantraworld.com/
7. ↑ "Nintendo Wikia of Speed Racer in My Most Dangerous Adventures"http://nintendo.wikia.com/wiki/Speed_Racer_in_My_Most_Dangerous_Adventures
8. ↑ "Nintendo Wikia of Exertainment Mountain Bike Rally"http://nintendo.wikia.com/wiki/Exertainment_Mountain_Bike_Rally