Diet, Exercise benefit from Funware
It seems that diet and exercise, the two bogeymen of the obesity apocalypse are finally seen to be getting the funware treatment.
The $50Bn+ diet/exercise industry hasn’t generally done a great job of making itself fun - even though it’s obvious that it would benefit from it.
But, with the advent of the Wii Fit, we’re beginning to see a greater realization that games and weight loss/physical fitness can be effectively combined. Like most funware analyses of the world around us, the games have (generally) always been there - it’s just our changing perspective that lets us see them as the games they are.
Clive Thompson makes one such realization in his solid article about Weight Watchers RPGishness in today’s Wired. What’s interesting to me is that Weight Watchers has always been an RPG - their basic system is unchanged since its inception. Even the use of points (see the diabetes association as well) - which Thompson finds surprising - should come as no shock. It’s not exactly like we invented the idea of keeping score in game design.
The Wii too has seen a fair amount of coverage relating to its effect on people’s exercise habits. ConsumerAffairs talks about an enlightening experiment at Dalhousie about the real health benefits, while Time weighed in with its well-written analysis of the wii making workouts fun!
While most people are focused on the obvious connection (workout-fun), I’m increasingly pleased at the way that our knowledge of games and game design is being put to spectacularly good use to understand the world around us.
Yes - if you make working out fun, people will do it more. You can substitute any activity for working out that you’d like. The axiom is always true.