Over the past several years, there has been an increasing trend toward interactive gaming, especially games that get people off the couch and into motion. With new game systems such as the Nintendo Wii and the rise in the number of rhythm oriented games, casual and hardcore gamers alike have good reason to get active.
Active gaming has had a rough start, and it took quite some time before it became more than just a gimmick to sell to parents who felt that their kids were spending too much time working out their thumbs instead of their entire bodies. Active gaming started as track and field games in the arcade and at home that rewarded players for furiously pushing buttons (most notably the arcade games and their ports for “Track and Field”). These eventually evolved on home PCs with games that tried to mimic sporting event actions using mouse and joystick motions. However, none of these games really got the blood pumping, except for the adrenaline of competition along with furious button mashing and/or mouse motions.
Nintendo and Sega tried to take active gaming to a new level with several products that unfortunately never really caught on. Poor implementation and lack of software support doomed most early active gaming products to a short lifespan full of ridicule by gamers the world over. Nintendo’s foray into active gaming was the Power Pad released in the late 80s. The Power Pad was similar in feel to the Dance Dance Revolution soft pads that most gamers are familiar with (two vinyl sheets that form a pocket for stomp activated sensors) but with a different sensor configuration of eight sensors in a cross pattern in the place of most dance pads 3x3 sensor pattern. While it seemed like a good idea at the time, and some families bought into the idea of doing fitness training while playing games, the software for the most part was poor and uninspired, especially for hardcore gamers.
Nintendo tried again to add body motion to gaming first with it’s U-Force controller, a folding sensor array that was sold with the notion that players could use it to punch their virtual opponents in “Punch Out” and other games, and then with the Power Glove (a combination of motion activated glove and NES controller). The Power Glove worked a bit better than the U-Force (which performed miserably), but neither ever quite panned out. Despite poor support and less than stellar functionality, the Power Glove achieved notoriety from appearances in movies, cartoons, and television. While it seems that the Wii controls have caught on and perform extremely well, Nintendo went through its share of offbeat experimentation before striking gold.
Sega also had a rocky start with its first try at active gaming, the “Activator” controller. Touting that gamers could perform all manner of fighting moves, gaining the advantage over the opponent and putting the smack down on fighting game foes. The sad reality was that the octagonal ring that the player stood in just projected infrared light upwards, each side of the octagon corresponding to a button on the controller. Breaking the infrared beams that corresponded to each side accomplished the same result whether the user was standing, sitting, punching, kicking, jumping, or just flailing around. Instead of a new martial arts virtual reality simulator, users often found that the Activator made playing games even more difficult, due to the clunky interface. Truly the technology just wasn’t ready for active gaming during this formative gaming period.
As Virtual Reality or “VR” became more and more popular in mainstream culture and graphics hardware continued to improve, many companies began to build more and more complex arcade games, many of them with sports themes such as skiing, skating, fishing, and rowing. In Japan there was even a dog walking game complete with treadmill and leash for those who wanted the dog walking experience but without the expense of full time pet ownership. A personal favorite of mine was always Rapid River, in which one or two players used a set of attached oars to row a small round boat through different courses and various obstacles. Rowing furiously and making it through all three courses always made me feel like I had a pretty good workout. Rapid River was the first game that I really felt like I was having fun while getting my blood pumping. The downside of these games is that they were huge, expensive to maintain, and often expensive to play. While consoles got more and more powerful and some games were ported to home systems, arcades were still the only way to get the full experience of most active sports games.
This trend took a major turn with the home version of Dance Dance Revolution. The dance rhythm game phenomena already had a large following in the arcades, starting in Japan and spreading like wildfire all over the globe. The fact that the Playstation could handle the Dance Dance Revolution graphics well, combined with the fact that soft pads were relatively inexpensive, helped spread the popularity of the game beyond cult status. With the advent of the home version, hardcore and casual fans alike could practice in the comfort of their homes, stepping up their game and allowing shy fans to get into the game without being in the spotlight of often crowded arcade games. The home version even came complete with a workout mode (a feature that caused me to buy my first copy of DDR) that ran through various workout patterns in addition to keeping track of calories burned during the workout session. For the even more hardcore, hard pads and even Playstation compatible arcade style dance pads could be purchased for a premium price. Finally, gamers had an excuse to get off the couch and take on friends and computer challengers in the comfort of their own homes.
In the meantime, Sega’s Dreamcast console was the exclusive home of one of the best active games to come to the home market, Samba De Amigo. A rhythm game played by shaking maracas at three different heights in time with on screen prompts, the look and feel of the game combined with a catchy soundtrack catapulted Samba de Amigo to cult hit status and made it one of the most sought after games for the Dreamcast, even after the console faded from mainstream popularity. Between the regular game and the minigames Samba de Amigo provided an upper arm and cardio workout in addition to being just plain addictively fun. My copy became one of the most sought after party games for months and first party controllers and copies of Samba still fetch a fair price on online auctions. Active gaming, especially rhythm games had come unto their own in the US, paving the way for all of the great active games we have today.
After Samba de Amigo and DDR gained a foothold in the marketplace, other rhythm games started to game popularity in the US. Nintendo stepped into the ring with the bongo drumming game, Donkey Konga for the Gamecube. This was quickly followed by Namco’s home version of Taiko Drum Master for the Playstation 2. The interesting song selection and all around fun of drumming, clapping, and rocking out with friends proved that gaming didn’t have to be a couch potato affair any longer. While many rhythm games from Japan (most notably Beatmania, DrumMania, and Guitar Freaks [a DJ simulator, drum rhythm game, and guitar rhythm game respectively] known collectively as part of the Bemani series) have yet to see ports in the US, the success and rapid adoption of rhythm games of all kinds has proven that active gaming (especially in rhythm games) is here to stay.
With proven technology and a new generation of open minded gamers who want to break up their gaming sessions with some activity, now more than ever it is a great time to be into active gaming. Games like Guitar Hero has gamers standing up and rocking out on almost every console platform, and cult hits like Sony’s Eye Toy and Microsoft’s Xbox Live Vision along with certain Live Arcade games have gamers moving around and interacting with on screen images on a daily basis. And at the forefront of all of this is the surprise runaway hit that is Nintendo’s Wii console.
Although the Wii and it’s unorthodox control setup was met with a healthy amount of skepticism when it was first announced, the console has proven that fun factor and interactivity are impressive draws for casual and hardcore gamers. In all my years as a gamer, the Wii is the first console I have seen that has my friend’s parents clamoring to buy a system. Bowling, Tennis and Golf have become mainstays at numerous gaming parties, drawing in a new crowd of casual gamers who previously only had a passing interest in console gaming. Gamers are also claiming that they are losing weight with regular Wii Sports training sessions. Although it is no substitute for a balanced diet and good workout regimen, active games such as Wii Sports and others are challenging gamers to get active and have tons of fun in the process. Aside from some sports related injuries that are now popping up due to playing too much Tennis, Golf, and Bowling, the idea of getting in shape at home while enjoying being a gamer is one of the coolest trends to come to gaming in quite some time. I am hoping that we can get ports of more active arcade games like Konami’s arcade punch-heavy workout game, Mo Cap Boxing, and the samurai sword fighting game Tsurugi. The busier I get in my daily life the more I enjoy the idea of being able to get exercise and play games at the same time. I’m not sure that a console can ever replace a suite of gym equipment, but seeing gaming and activity combined even as much as they are now is pretty exciting. Time will tell if the Wii and other systems bolster a new trend, or if they are seen as the next Power Pad or Power Glove, but for now it is a great time to all of us gamers who ware looking change some of our sedentary gaming time to more much more active, but still just as fun gaming pursuits. It’s a good time indeed to be an active gamer!
