To celebrate Family Health & Fitness Day on September 29, 2007, we have something special for you - the 411 on how games can be good for you! Come on, stop laughing, we're serious here. Games used to be about sitting on the couch, stuffing your face with chips and slowly turning into a lump. But, the Dance Dance Revolution games and the Nintendo Wii have been leading the way to making video games a healthy way to have some fun. Plus games are a great workout for the brain! Here's all the info you need to get fit as you have fun.
Video Games for a Healthy Body - Move Your Feet!
The first game that helped you burn the calories came from the distant past of the original Nintendo when the Power Pad was released in 1989 with the World Class Track Meet game. Getting some exercise while gaming = great. Running on the spot all day = not so great. Nowadays the dance pads for Konami's Dance Dance Revolution games let you bust out your dance moves to cool beats and even have exercise modes built in. It's so good for you, schools in West Virginia have installed DDR games in the schools as part of the curriculum. Plus, the Power Pad will be making a comeback in 2008 with the Active Life game for the Nintendo Wii!Video Games for a Healthy Body - Full Body Fitness
Not only is the Nintendo Wii freakishly fun, it also lets you move your whole body as you play games. From boxing to golf to racing and more! The motion-sensitive Wiimote gets you up off the couch and moving like you're in the game. In the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed game you'll even get to use it as a lightsaber! Just make sure you don't accidentally swing it into your mom's fave vase - getting grounded for the rest of your life is definitely bad for your body!Video Games for a Healthy Body - Train the Brain
Being healthy is no good if your brain is porridge, but a recent video games that feature brain-exercise let you work your mental muscle into a powerhouse - and have fun doing it! Nintendo's Brain Age game for DS started the trend and now everybody's doing it with games like PQ2 for PSP, Big Brain Academy for Wii and more. Not only can these games improve your brainpower, they can help your parents and grandparents keep their over-the-hill brains in shape - all it takes is a few minutes of playing each day.Video Games for a Healthy Body - Stress Break!
Not only can games help get your body and brain in good shape, they can help battle the stress that made your dad go bald by 30! Dr. Kathleen Hall and the Stress Institute say that taking a break to play a few casual games is a great way to chill out. Here's a link to Kidzworld's Online Games to help you out with that!Video Games for a Healthy Body - Helping Others
You can do more than help yourself with video games though. Each year the Child's Play Charity organization takes donations of cash and games for children's hospitals across North America and Canada. Giving sick kids a chance to have some fun, get a new high score at Tetris and keep themselves active is a great way for video games to keep people healthy. For more info, and to help out, check the details at www.childsplaycharity.org.Related Stories:
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