Exergaming: Is There a Gateway Effect

One valuable question regarding active gaming is if there is potential to transfer the virtual game experience to reality. This transfer is often referred to as a gateway effect. Exergaming, a genre of active games that included video game play with physical activity, is regularly criticized because of the video game component. The below article is not only interesting but possibly significant to 21st century physical education teachers who may be considering implementing active gaming in their classrooms. The article discusses video game play in terms of there being a correlation to traditional sport play:


Research shows kids who play video games more likely to play real life sports
July 8th, 2010 11:40 am CT.
Wii Sports Tennis
Photo: nintendo
A study noted by TIGA, an association that represents the UK games industry has pointed to a new study published by ESSEC, a leading business school in France that shows playing sports in video games has the capability to increase participation in real life sports amongst young men and adolescents.

The study affirms that, "38 per cent of boys under the age of 21 who play sports games on active video game consoles practice their favorite virtual sport in real life and 75 per cent of video gamers participate in some kind of real sport. The more they play active video sports games, the more likely adolescents are to practice sports."

“Video games are frequently demonized,” said Thierry Lardinoit, Head of the International Sports Marketing Chair, and Head of the Marketing Department at Essec. “We now know that these fears are unfounded. While it is difficult to fight against the consumption of video games, which has become more and more widespread among youth, we can use this consumption to further the realistic goal of encouraging physical activity among adolescents.” He goes on to add, "“There is a strong correlation between playing video games and participating in real sports. Watching television is a threat to physical activity. Video games are not, however."

While it is obvious that video games were previously designed solely for the purpose of entertainment, concerns about childhood obesity as well as the detrimental effects it can lead to later in life have always been something the gaming industry and community have been forever battling. In the wake of such contentuous issues, Nintendo teamed up with the American Heart Association following the lauded success of the Wii. Additionally, Sony and Microsoft have professed an interest in creating an active gaming environment with their impending Move and Kinect motion-controlled peripherals.

Jason Kingsley, a TIGA Chairman and CEO and creative Director of Rebellion, noted for their recent Alien vs. Predator title, stated, “People play video games for enjoyment, but it is good to see this new research highlighting one of the positive spill-over effects of video games. This is important. Too often the benefits of video games can be overlooked.”

Pilot data at the University of South Florida demonstrated similar results regarding virtual sport play influencing traditional sport play. So, although more research is needed, you may not want to discredit the value of active video game play just yet.