Video gamers and couch potatoes are not necessarily the same people, and the two interest groups may further diverge if current trends in video game production continue.
Back in 1987, Konami released "Track & Field" for the original Nintendo Entertainment System, a game in which winning and losing was directly tied to the users' athletic ability. Various events -- the 100-meter dash, the long jump, the 110-meter hurdles -- are won or lost based on how fast the user can fire their feet as they run in place on top of a sensor-laden mat that plugs into the Nintendo console.
Last summer, I had a chance to play "Track & Field," and after just one race, I found myself sore, out of breath and content to stop.
This game went against my previous conception of a video game. I don't by any means consider myself to be a video game expert, but what I do know is that a video game is supposed to be played in a slouched or reclined position with a controller clasped between two hands as glazed-over eyes stare blankly into a television screen.
This weekend, however, I learned that video games may be heading away from stationary controls and towards the involved and often strenuous controls first exemplified in "Track & Field."
In light of this trend, The D's sports staff decided to look into how much athletic ability and knowledge is required to play these three in-vogue video games.
DDRMAX2 for PlayStation2
Dance Dance Revolution involves a mat similar to that of "Track & Field." The game challenges the player to stomp on specified quadrants of the pad in specified rhythms that are dictated by the beat of the chosen song. Games are won or lost depending on how accurately the player stomps on the pad.
Colin Gentry '09 owns DDRMAX2 and the DDR pads and is, from a commoner's perspective, a DDR expert. Gentry, however, admitted that he does not play DDR "as much as I used to," and predicted that he would be somewhat rusty and out of DDR shape. He was lying through his teeth.
Gentry chose one of the game's more demanding songs, "Break Down" by BeforU, a song that requires 190 stomps per minute. As Gentry started bouncing around the pad, the word "Perfect" flashed on screen far more often than "Almost" or "Boo." Gentry easily passed the challenge and set a new high score on the system.
To gauge how much physical exertion DDR requires, we strapped a heart rate monitor onto each of our players. Gentry's resting heart rate varied in the range of 80 to 90 beats per minute, but skyrocketed to 178 at the end of "Break Down." As Gentry chose different songs, he raised the game setting from standard to heavy, and his heart rate peaked at 187 beats per minute. Further, lines of sweat were running down Gentry's forehead as he sat down, winded, and picked up a bottle of water.
Gentry has reached this level of exhaustion from DDR before. "I've done it instead of running or going to the gym sometimes," he said.
Matthew Schenker '09 chose a less challenging song, "Love at First Sight," by Kylie Minogue, but danced to similar results. Unlike Gentry, Schenker is a novice DDR player. However, he still managed to elevate his heart rate from a resting rate of 78 beats per minute to a peak of 158, even though the Minogue song only demanded 125 stomps per minute. When Schenker tried to play "Break Down," though, the 190 stomps per minute proved too challenging. He then adjusted the skill level to "light," and, playing on this level, did not raise his heart rate above 130 beats per minute.
Wii Sports for Nintendo Wii
With the release of the Wii, Nintendo has gone as far as to advocate that Wii users take precautions to avoid injury from the strenuous nature of its games. On the company's website, Nintendo offers warnings for the Wii that are similar to those of their other systems, but adds an additional clause that the Wii may cause "burning or stiffness" in hands, wrists and arms. To remedy these pains, Nintendo recommends that users rest for several hours before returning to the game.
Ed Chien '09 is a member of Dartmouth's club boxing program, but was largely unprepared for the challenge he would face in Nintendo Wii boxing. Wii boxing involves holding a sensor in each hand while the Wii registers as the player jabs, uppercuts, dodges and guards his face and body. After three rounds of three minutes each, Chien found himself on the losing side of a 2-1 judges' decision. He described the action as "totally unreal" compared to that which he faces in real-life boxing.
"[The Wii] doesn't pick things up quickly enough, and there's no foot movement involved," he said
One aspect of the game, however, is not unrealistic. Chien's heart rate was above 120 beats per minute after the first round, and this was sustained throughout the bout. Chien's heart rate peaked at 160, but the effort required is not equal to that of an actual fight.
"It's probably about 10 percent of the amount of exertion you have during actual sparring. In boxing a huge part of it is the movement of your feet and obviously when you're doing Wii boxing you're not moving anywhere," Chien explained.
The results varied as we moved to Wii tennis. The Wii tennis simulation involves an arm swing that registers as a racquet swing.
Matt Elwin '09 changed his heart rate from a resting pace of 86 beats per mimute to a peak of 107. Elwin, an experienced player, won a game with minimal effort, standing stationary and flipping his wrist to outdo his computer opponent.
Elwin only dropped two points while finishing off his opponent. "[Wii] tennis isn't very strenuous, you can just sit there and move your wrist around," he said.
Schenker, however, takes a different approach to Wii tennis. Although it is somewhat superfluous, Schenker moves his feet and body around in correspondence with his character's movements, going so far as to jump during slams. In contrast to Elwin's game, Schenker looked like he was playing tennis while he had the Wii controller strapped to his wrist. Schenker ultimately lost his game after a long battle at deuce, a cycle of valiant slams to win points and several mistimed whiffs to even the score. By the time the computer won the match, Schenker's heart rate was at 142 beats per minute. He then declared in a string of expletives that he would play again to avenge his loss. Schenker sustained his heart rate and peaked at 148 beats per minute in the second game. The addictive grasp of Nintendo Wii was giving him a workout.
Schenker's tactics are markedly different from Elwin's. "I mean, I wanted to play realistically," Schenker said of his Wii-form.
In addition to the athletic nature of the individual Wii sports games, the Wii offers a workout mode, in which the tiring aspects of the sports games are strung together to form an aerobic program.
NBA Live, NCAA March Madness, Madden
Dan Biber '09, a 6'8" forward on Dartmouth's basketball team, plays NBA Live and NCAA March Madness with Leon Pattman '07 on a regular basis.
"When it's cold outside we play more because we can't go outside and play [basketball] against each other, so we play against each other in [video games]," Biber said.
Biber says that his basketball know-how from playing on the varsity team gives him an advantage when he plays against people without the same background.
"It helps a lot, especially if you are playing against someone that doesn't have that knowledge. You can see the game differently," he said.
The converse is not true, however, as Biber does not think the video game experience gives him an edge on the court.
"I don't think it correlates that much. Sometimes I'll go out and try something that we saw in the [video] games, but I don't think it correlates that much to real basketball," he said.
Unlike games modeled after professional sports, college sports games such as NCAA March Madness do not use amateur athletes' names in their games. The players are, however, modeled after real players' abilities and appearances. Biber admits that he plays as his own character "all the time."
"It was really fun the first year. Now my brother has more fun with it. I go home and I'm averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds per game," Biber said.
Alex Jenny '10 is a quarterback for Dartmouth's football team, and plays Madden about three times per week. Jenny's ability to read Ivy League defenses helps him in Madden.
"You can know the different situations and what you think the computer will do on a certain play," he said. "If you really want to use your football knowledge, you can look at the defense and see where the blitz is coming from. I focus on looking at defenses in film studies, so I do it in Madden too."
Jenny agrees that real life experiences transfer to video games.
"Looking at varieties of complex plays like the ones they model after the pros in Madden can help with overall knowledge, but I think it's more football to Madden than vice versa."
