Tuesday, May 1, 2007
News Dance Dance could keep pounds off
Posted by Alyssa Abkowitz on Tue, May 1, 2007 at 7:46 PM
The New York Times featured a great article Monday on the use of the video game Dance Dance Revolution in physical education classes in West Virginia's public school system.
To play Dance Dance a person steps on different arrows on a mat by watching what arrows pop up on a screen in front of her. The arrows are synchronized to a song. School officials hope the game can help kids battle obesity while having fun.
The implementation of Dance Dance into public school systems is a positive sign that a new realm of video games can help society. CL wrote about the new genre, dubbed "serious games" or "reality games," in a recent cover story.
If Dance Dance won over public school administrators, who often view video games as brain-draining flights of fantasy, it's likely that other video games could offer kids many more lessons. Already, games such as Ayiti, The Cost of Life and Revolution allow kids to budget a Haitian family's finances and simulate the American Revolution in a virtual world, respectively.
And who knows what they'll think of next.
Latest in Fresh Loaf
-
'American Idol' Recap: Winner winner Phillip Phillips! 1
Hope for America is restored, wardrobe designers play practical jokes on famous people.
-
First Slice 5/24/12: Neil Armstrong gives rare interview to Australian accountants 3
And scientists finally figure how to get ketchup out of the bottle
-
5 things to do: Yann Tiersen, MondoHomo kicks off
- More »
Comments (0)