Note to video gamers: get moving
Games that rely on joysticks and buttons are facing competition from aerobic, activity-based titles such as 'Guitar Hero' and 'Wii Sports.'
from the May 11, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
So-called "intuitive user interfaces" – also known in the industry as "peripherals" – include any tool that allows players to simulate a real-world activity, such as a fishing rod, a steering wheel, or a musical instrument. The Wii makes things even simpler with a single, white plastic rod that uses motion-sensing technology to simulate game actions.
Sophisticated, yet extremely simple, electronic-user interfaces are important to the burgeoning niche that has been dubbed "physutainment." It includes anything that delivers a workout in the guise of entertainment, from golf simulators to electronic bikes in high-tech sports centers.
Serious cyclists, for instance, can now race against other competitors via a personal, networked screen mounted on a stationary bike.
Senior game analyst Ted Pollak of Jon Peddie Research expects the physutainment field, which currently encompasses just 1 percent of the overall $30 billion video-game market, to grow some 300 percent by the end of the year. [Editor's Note: The original version misstated the value of the video-game market.]
"The world of peripherals has become a gateway to a new world of activity or identity immersion," says Mr. Pollak. "That's the goal of this generation of games: to immerse people in a virtual environment where they feel they are the star, or the hero, or the athlete and just part of a community of players."
Video games have come full circle in that respect, adds Barczak. From the dawn of time, the idea of play has included simple games enjoyed by entire communities.
Now that the electronic counterparts have become so easy to navigate that virtually anyone can do it, she says that "the technology has finally begun to live up to its promise."
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