Video Games and Physical Activity

As more and more Americans continue to become overweight and obese, many cultural trends have been looked at as reasons for the increases in the waistlines of Americans. One cultural phenomenon that has been examined under the microscope was the emergence of video games as a major form of popular entertainment. Video games have been blamed by many sources as a major contributing factor to obesity, especially in America's children. As Americans spent more and more time sitting in front of the television, connected to their video game console, they spent less and less time outdoors participating in physical activity. While there are many contributing factors to the increases in average weight for Americans, I must agree that overuse of video games has contributed to this problem.

For decades, video games and physical activity rarely shared the same sentence, unless the sentence was talking about how people who played video games often did not get enough physical activity. Yes, there have been a handful of games over the past 20 years where physical activity was integrated into the game. Just look at the old track and field games on the old NES systems, where running and jumping on the floor pad caused your athlete to make its way through the Olympic games. Yet most of the early games based on physical activity never really hit the main stream and were short lived. It seemed like most gamers preferred to sit and play with their fingers than get up and work up a sweat!


Yet in very recent times, with the emergence of the Nintendo Wii console in particular, we have seen a dramatic increase in the number and popularity of fitness and physical activity based games. Suddenly, games such as Wii Fitness and My Fitness Coach are becoming top selling games for the Nintendo Wii.

What is it that has caused fitness games to take center stage in the world of video games? One of the most compelling reasons is the popularity of the Nintendo Wii console. When the console was originally announced, many thought that Nintendo had lost their minds. Dramatically less technologically advanced and powerful compared to the XBOX 360 and the Sony PlayStation 3, critics thought that Nintendo was building a console sure to follow the Dodo bird to extinction. However the opposite became true. The Nintendo Wii is one of the best selling video game consoles of all time. It is a system that appeals to the masses and not just to the hard core gamer. It is extremely interactive and encourages multiple people to get up and play together. In addition, more than any other video game system in the past, it gets people off of the couch and moving! Whether minor activity such as bowling, or a full on fitness workout with Wii Fit, physical activity and games have come together successfully for the first time in gaming history.

It is my hope that this marriage of video games and physical fitness is not another short term anomaly in the video game universe. The alarming rise in overweight and obese Americans has to stop and reverse its trend. While I by no means expect that Wii Fitness and other physical activity based games will cure America of its weight problem, I do feel as though it is a step in the right direction.

-BeeHawk-

Star Ocean: The Last Hope

Star Ocean: The Last Hope is the latest in the Star Ocean Saga. Star Ocean: The Last Hope is the fourth entry in the long-awaited continuation of the celebrated science fiction and fantasy RPG series. This prequel is set during the aftermath of World War III combines sci-fi and fantasy elements spanning multiple planets and the vastness of space itself to recount the origins of the Star Ocean Universe. Exhilarating combat expands upon the franchise's famous real-time battle system, introducing amazing graphics and next-generation visual effects. Star Ocean: The Last Hope is sure to be a great addition to the series and will be at the top of the list for RPG and Square Enix fans.

Star Ocean: The Last Hope has had its US shipping date moved up! So you can order Star Ocean: The Last Hope now for delivery starting February 24th!

Check out the latest Star Ocean trailer:

Final Fantasy XIII Trailer

Back in 1987 I played my very first role playing game, Final Fantasy. I was amazed at the ability to become completely immersed in the world of Final Fantasy and spent countless hours on my quest. Over the following 20-plus years, I played every Final Fantasy game and spent hundreds... no, thousands... of hours in the incredible worlds of Final Fantasy. I do not regret a single hour spent and plan on spending many more hours in the future.

So it may come as in surprise that, along with millions of fans around the world, I have been eagerly anticipating news on the release of Final Fantasy XIII. The latest news from Square Enix is that the release in Japan will occur in 2009, likely late in the year. However Europe, the US and the rest of the world will have to wait until sometime around the middle of 2010 to get their hands on the game. So we have a long time yet to wait to get our hands on this highly anticipated game.

In the meantime, Square Enix has given us one exciting teaser for Final Fantasy 13, a new trailer! Here is the new Final Fantasy 13 trailer:

I know it is a long time to wait and I do not know if this trailer helps or hurts worse. 2010 cannot come soon enough! If you have not already done so, you can preorder Final Fantasy XIII now to get in the front of the line.

-BeeHawk-