Is Fitness the Next Trend in Video Games?

Some wearable technology is trying to “game-ify” everyday life.

By Alain StephensDecember 17, 2015 1:42 pm, ,

When you think of video gamers, you probably picture someone very much cemented to a couch, downing Mountain Dew and scarfing Cheetos. For many, the point of video games is to sit back, relax, and explore the digital world.

But some game developers are trying to change that stereotype. Over the last decade or so there has been a slow but noticeable push for fitness games, games meant to get you up and make you fit. But does anyone really want to work out in front of a screen?

Answering that question is the digital savant of the Austin American-Statesman, Omar Gallaga.

He says some wearable fitness technologies attempt to “gameify” or add a video game layer to activities through apps and the use of goals, by challenging friends’ records or unlocking achievements.

“That’s not the same as playing a video game,” Gallaga says, comparing the method to a leaderboard. “It’s more like Xbox Achievements version of playing games as opposed to you’re actually having fun while you’re playing, doing a video game activity.”

However, Gallaga says there are games in progress which aim to get people off the couch.

What you’ll hear in this segment:

– What Texas-based technology is in the works for fitness through video games

– Whether the demographic for fitness games still exists after the Nintendo Wii

– How game developers plan to get users to be active