hen you think back, some of the first games many of us were ever exposed to were educational in nature. Number Munchers, Oregon Trail and Carmen Sandiego automatically pop into mind as highlights of my early elementary years. There is no doubt that entertainment and video games go hand-in-hand, but each year we are learning the applications for digital games reach far beyond its most lucrative venue. Games are expanding into the world of education, training, politics, social change and even healthcare.
Earlier this month, a two-day conference was held at the Baltimore Convention Center specifically to explore the link between health and video games. The Games for Health conference’s goal was to draw attention to trends bringing together the world of video games with that of rehab and therapy, exergaming and healthcare. While games and health have not been mutually exclusive in the past – the NES Power Pad, DDR, Yourself Fitness and Wii Fit have started bridging the gap – games are infiltrating the world of healthcare beyond what we see at retail. Read on to learn more about the concept of Serious Games, the Games for Health Conference and growing trends in this facet of the industry.
About Games for Health and the Serious Games Initiative
The Games for Health project was created as an extension of the Serious Games Initiative. Founded at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington D.C, the Serious Games Initiative’s goal has always been to explore the relationship between games and management or leadership challenges within the pubic sector. Through conferences and instruction on their cause they hope to entice the electronic game industry into creating projects connecting games and education, training, health and public policy.
Not to say the Serious Games Initiative ignores the value of games simply for entertainment. In fact, they believe that the lines are often blurred between entertainment and education. They explain that many titles – such as SimCity, Civilization, Hidden Agenda and others – have been used as tools for education in both schools and universities worldwide for some time now. Ultimately, the Serious Games Initiative believes we presently have the capacity and the opportunity to “game our way to a better world.”
The Serious Games Initiative saw an even more explicit need within their cause and founded the Games for Health program as a result. Games for Health focuses on developing communities and improving practices in the numerous games being built for applications in the Healthcare industry. The program brings together researchers, game developers and medical professionals to discuss the potential positive impact game technology can have on the future of healthcare. Games for Health also acts as an asset to developers currently creating various Serious Games by providing study results and information to them throughout the developmental process. More recently, the Serious Games Initiative also founded the Games for Change mission, an organization hoping to use games to address pressing issues in our worldwide culture such as poverty, race and the environment.
Nintendo's Wii Fit
Emerging Games for Health Trends
It is obvious that the Serious Games Initiative has dedicated extensive time and research in order to better understand the relationship between games and health. At the previously mentioned convention in Baltimore early this month, the initiative highlighted several important trends they believed summarized the current Games for Health climate.
Exergaming Kicks into High Gear: To the general public, the phenomenon known as exergaming may be the most visible Games for Health trend. As mentioned, exercised themed games have existed long prior to their recent full-fledged acceptance as a video game genre.
Exergaming was pioneered back in the early 1980’s with the release of HighCycle – a physical exercise bike that was peddled through a virtual environment. Atari’s failed Puffer project and the NES Power Pad were also early excursions in this specific gaming space. Many “virtual reality” products with exercise in mind followed over the next decade, but the majority were far too expensive to produce to be considered practical consumer products.
It was not until the release of Dance Dance Revolution by Konami in the late 90’s that the true exergaming trend began to flesh out. The DDR franchise has been so successful that it has been adopted in both schools and gyms nationwide as an acceptable form of daily exercise. In more recent years The Eye Toy, Gamercize, Yourself Fitness and Wii Fit have paved the way for what is now a quickly growing field of games.
Wii Fit is being stationed in nationwide hotel chains and exergame-only gyms are beginning to gain popularity. Even games for handheld systems are under development to help encourage a healthy lifestyle. Your DS will act as a nutritionist and a fitness coach in My Weight Loss Coach – which comes complete with a platform compatible pedometer. Or you can use the portable game system to train you in the basics of yoga – as seen in Lets Yoga. With all this in mind, it is understandable why the Games for Health conference considers the exergame explosion one of the most notable trends of the moment.
Video Games go to Rehab: It is fairly well known that video games can function as a distraction device to control pain and stress for patients undergoing intense medical procedures. However, this is not the only use for video games in a medical setting. It is believed that playing video games can act as a form of physiotherapy by helping individuals retain fine motor skills and improve overall coordination. Games can also challenge the mind by encouraging decision-making, quick thinking and problem solving skills. In addition, games help stimulate self-management. Patient tailored digital games can help individuals adjust to and understand a large medical change resulting in a new lifestyle – such as amendments to a daily routine for a newly diagnosed diabetic.