A new study from the American Heart Association says that 58% of people who play “active-play” video games are more likely to start working out in real life. The survey says that 68% of fitness gamers are more physically active than when they were before they started playing the games.
Nintendo and the American Heart Association have made it rather clear that fitness games are showing a positive effect in the household. 82% of families say that they are getting more involved with such games, and interestingly enough, it is men who are more likely to get their families involved in such games.
"We are looking at active-play video games as part of a realistic approach to fitness," says cardiac rehab director and American Heart Association volunteer Dr. Barry Franklin. " We are finding that they often act as a gateway to other forms of physical activity. So as people get up off the couch to play Wii games, they’re likely to stay up and do more – like walking, jogging or playing tennis."
While Nintendo is doing everything it can to trump the success of such titles in time for the 2010 holiday season, Kinect and Move are definitely showing that they are going to be stiff competition for a device that has seen domination for the past several years.
[Thanks Gamasutra]
