GameBikes™ and GamePads™

March 14, 2008

When You Just Gotta Dance

Have you ever seen one of those guys at a wedding reception dance who has absolutely no rhythm and has had one champagne too many? This poor schlub flails his arms like a psychotic chicken. He has no idea what to do with his feet, so he just moves from side to side while trying to remember what John Travolta did in that movie. He’s so bad that you are mortified for him. It’s painful.

Well, I’m that guy.

At least I used to be. Now, I’m fabulous. It all has to do with Dance, Dance Revolution.

One of the side benefits of writing this blog is that I get to work with the GameBike and GamePad crew and they let me tag along on as many special events as I want. We go to huge fitness trade shows in nice places like San Francisco and we also go to lots small, neighborhood and civic events in nice places like Memphis and Corpus Christi. Whatever the venue…we bring a couple of GamePads and a few GameBikes and the crowd goes nuts.

Our job at these events is to make sure everyone who wants to, gets to try out the bikes and pads. There is never a problem getting willing participants. In fact, there is always long line of kids and adults ready to test their eye-to-foot coordination. Doing these events over the past five years, I have finally learned HOW to play Dance, Dance Revolution (DDR) and those 10 year old girls who used to laugh at me are now giving me the reluctant respect that I have earned.

The DDR game software was developed by Konami, a Japanese technology company. The GamePad is the platform on which the actual movements take place and are tabulated on the game monitor. Basically, the GamePad has little buttons that are sensitive to pressure from you feet and as you move your feet to the directions on the DDR images, this pressure determines whether you are following the “dance” directions or if you are a doofus like I was before I found rhythm religion.

One of the great things about GamePad and the DDR program is that participants get a rigorous workout while playing the game. In fact, the aerobic benefits of the DDR program were the subject of a recent scientific study which was commissioned by the American Council on Exercise.

The research was conducted by John Porcari, PH.D., FACSM and Anna Norlin, M.S. at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. It focused on quantifying DDR’s potential physical benefits by looking at the caloric expenditures data of 24 volunteers. The subjects were male and female and they were ages 12 to 25 years old. Half of the volunteers were under the age of 18 and came from the La Crosse Boys & Girls Club.

The study noted that “based on the physiological responses to three levels of DDR, all subjects showed a marked increase in exercise intensity as they participated. Adult participants burned more calories, which can be attributed to differences in body weight since adults averaged about 25 pounds heavier than teenage subjects. Over average, teens burned 5.9 kcal/min on light mode, 6.7 kcal/min on standard mode and 8.1 kcal/min on difficult mode.”

The testing included continuous monitoring of all participants of the oxygen uptake, heart rate and ratings of perceived exertion. Just hop on a GamePad and go to “difficult” mode and you will learn new meanings for the terms “oxygen uptake” and “perceived exertion!”

This research validates one of the things that we have been saying in our Active Gaming quest. Exercise is effective when it’s fun. Kids and adults have the low attention spans that come from our wired world. You can’t “make” them get physical exercise if it is boring. It has to be fun to work. This leads to another interesting corollary to this research.

The DDR software and GamePads are equally effective in a physical education environment, especially if there is a curriculum for the students and teachers to follow.
Scott Bodnar of Youth InterACTIVE designs curriculum for the children who participate in the organization’s after school and in school programs and had this to say:

“These games and Gamepads are outstanding tools for supplementing physical education and after school classes. They bring a fresh face to physical activity using the video games kids know and love. There are myriad ways to use this technology along with supplemental curriculum materials to create an extraordinarily fun, active and educational experience. Anything that makes activity something kids WANT to do rather than HAVE to do is a great ally in the fight against childhood obesity. Fun is the key to this, and DDR and GamePads flat out bring it. With effective lesson plans in place that optimize the use of these high tech tools, the biggest problem is getting the kids to leave the gym when the class is over.”

So, are you ready to trip the light fantastic with some digital booty shakers? You can get your very own GamePad from one of our authorized dealers. Just click on Contact Us. If you’re worried about learning the steps, just ask the nearest 9 or 10 year old. Trust me. They’ll know.

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