Yes, I know Wii Fit already exists and Nintendo has taken this marketing angle already. But after spending a significant amount of time with Move, I've realized Sony should definitely target the obesity epidemic to help shift units.
I'm waiting to deliver a full hardware review until I can play more of what Sony has to offer in 2010 but in the meantime, the amateur marketer in me (who really doesn't know more than any average gamer) takes one look at what's happening in this country and makes a connection. First of all, the very name of the product lends itself to a campaign against obesity. Secondly, and I made mention of this in our Sports Champions review , you really do have to move . Outside of Wii Fit , most all games will let you sit down and flick your wrist around; my brother and several friends have had the Wii, and I've played it plenty…not once did I come close to breaking a sweat. Now, that may be because I'm in pretty good shape, but then again, my fitness works towards my point: Move got my heart rate up.
These days, I'm happy to say it takes a good amount of movement to get that heart rate up, and I was satisfied to see that after an hour's worth of Beach Volleyball, Table Tennis, and Gladiator Duel, I was breathing heavy. Furthermore, if you look at other Move games on the horizon, like The Fight , we should end up with lots of titles that would provide us with solid workouts. Thus far, this really is the biggest difference between Move and Wii; the former will have true-blue adventure video games (not designed around fitness) that will entertain and accelerate that heart rate and pulse. That's a pretty great marketing tactic, if you ask me…the health of this nation is in dire need of help, and video games are continually accused of contributing to the problem.
Well, here we have game games (not a Jane Fonda workout tape in the form of interactive software) that could help to combat the sloth that is killing us. And we need Kevin Butler to help. Get that guy in some spandex and a cheesy headband, and have him sweating until he falls over when playing some action/adventure Move game. We've been focusing on the technology but now it's time to get all socially responsible…and logical.
Any reason for more Kevin Butler air time is a good idea.
Any Kevin Butler is a good thing.
Aside from that, am I the only one that doesn't like the PSP Marcus?
I can't stand that kid. What was Sony thinking?
marcus sucks, it i think cause he's a kid. they think would have gotten a younger crowd
I think he's great, like a young, black version of Kevin Butler. You know, kind of the same attitude, but more childish.
Yeah you cant cheat with the move, but you shure as hell can with the wii. It is encredible how much people cheat on wii fit
I have a Wii. When it first came out, I play the game normally. Until I saw this youtube video of a baby beating up the AI in boxing by flapping her arms in all directions, Wii Sports was never the same to me anymore.
Move is getting me interested in motion gaming again, let's hope it doesn't end the same way.
Marcus already seems like a conceited little twit, so I can alteady imagine what he's going to be like when he turns 18.
They should have done the PSP commercials using Kevin Butler too.
Just give him a jughead cap, a B-Ball t-shirt, a pair of shorts, & then glue a pair of sneakers to his knees and presto, change-o… he's now a little pint-sized mini-me who's just graduated the 4th grade class at the Divine School of Superior Awesomeness.
Calling fat people an epidemic isn't funny man, it's hilarious.
Although just the idea of my heart pumping and sweat glands leaking turns me off of this whole Move thing.
After playing against my kids in Gladiator, I did just that.
Wait… so heart pounding and sweating turns you off? Sounds like a sucky sex life! lol
If you can't differentiate between sex and waving your Move around, then believe me, I'm the one that feels sorry for you.
Hey, I just toyed around with what you said is all. You know… from when you said, "Although just the idea of my heart pumping and sweat glands leaking turns me off…"
Additionally, not once did I make reference or a comparison of the Move.
Just laugh it up man, jeeze. I wasn't taking an actual real life shot at trying to hit any soft spots. Sooooorrreeeeeee mr. sensitive! You're hardcooOOOOOooooorre.
Last edited by Underdog15 on 9/22/2010 12:30:26 PM
That's good to hear, I wonder how long it will be until they release MoveFit. It's definitely good to have a retort for the media when they blame fatties on gaming instead of diet.
Hooray for game games!
Are you saying that my Epic PlayStation Move-tage was not good enough?
[YOUTUBE]IouhLjSrYNk[/YOUTUBE]
Last edited by psxmax on 9/21/2010 10:29:40 PM
The Move-tage was awesome!!!! Hilarious ending too with the whole viking opera performance.
A lot of focus is on the fun factor and social factor behind Move. Now we just need to see more software and advertising from a precision and fitness angle, then all bases are covered.
Last edited by Dancemachine55 on 9/22/2010 6:32:46 AM
But… you're not the REAL Kevin Butler… are you?
Two things,
1) People who are overweight (by a lot) and have been overweight (by alot) their entire lives do *not* like to be told for trillionth time that they are bad people and should stop eating so they can be thin like everyone else. So for heaven's sake do not adopt a preachy campaign or one telling fat people to get with the program, these will not work.
2) Even overweight people can be fit – I'm no lightweight myself, and I can out run and out climb my smoker friends and others because I am fitter than they are. So instead of specifically targeting weight loss specifically, it might be better to talk up the fitness benefits from Move, not so much to lose weight, but simply to get healthier – something we could all do.
I'm seeing a commercial that shows a player moving during a game session, split screen, the game character moves as the player moves, two second cuts from active sport to active sport using move, then a few shots of a player with Sorcery and back to another sport – perhaps table tennis to finish. All the while there is a heart rate meter on the screen showing the increasing pulse rate of the player, each quick cut shows a little more perspiration on the player's forehead. As the commercial goes through each cut, the pace should quicken, until the player finally smashes the ping pong ball to win the game.
The player exhales big time and says "Whoa!"
PlayStation Move – Guaranteed to get your heart pumping.
Or
PlayStation Move – It really moves you.
(this one was my wife's idea).
"The player exhales big time and says "Whoa!""
Reminds me of the sup buff guy in the commercial holding that dumbbell that jacks back and forth automatically.
LOL! I hate those commercials and items. The first time I saw the one for the women's version I turned to my wife and said, "I can't believe this, if they ran it on SNL people would die laughing. It looks like some kind of sex toy! Look at the way she's shaking it….!"
All I have to say about the men's version is…
That's no dumbbell, it's a sextoy!
It's too big to be a sex toy.
I have a very bad feeling about this….
Not related to gaming:
IMO people that are overweight ARE bad guys. I know this junior high school kid that have no self control in eating. Whatever he sees he must finish. Then he has the nerve to barf everything out. If you can't burn the daily amount of calories you ingest, you are wasting the earth's resources. Too many people doesn't even eat enough in other parts of the world.
Just blowing off some steam. I'm more angry at this kid rather than fat people in general though.
Highlander: I know what you're saying but I believe we're long past the point of toying around. "Preaching" may be the only way to fix us at this point, because I have little faith in the American public to do the right thing concerning health.
Just my world-renowned cynicism kicking in. Maybe I've just read too much Ibsen. 😉
@Ben,
Believe me when I say that I agree about fixing people's health. I'm just not sure that the best way is to try to preach and nag people into it. That causes a lot of resentment, people simply do not like to be told what to do.
I'll tell you what would help though. When I was a kid, I remember that McDonalds sold a regular fries that was the same size as the fries that currently come with the Happy Meal. The old regular Soda is now called a small, and the old small is the child size. We are used to cheap and plentiful food in the US. I wonder whether one way to help would be to use tax policy to make healthier foods less expensive and unhealthy foods more expensive.
Yes, activity matters too, but the modern age in the western world involves a whole hell of a lot more sitting around than it did when I was 10. I'm not entirely sure that you can change that by bullying people into activity.
Yes, it needs changed, yes all these things would help a lot of overweight people to lose some weight, perhaps it would even help the majority of overweight people, but there will always be some that are simply bigger than others, and I don't think that it's a positive thing to demonize people because of their size, any more than it's positive to demonize people over politics, faith, wealth, class, color or nationality. I'm not saying it's the same thing, but discrimination is discrimination. Once you make it OK to make a distinction between one group and another, you invite discrimination. That's a slippery slope I'd rather not stand on.
@Godsman,
I'll strike you from my will then….
Look, I'm not defending willful gluttons, but with an increasingly sedentary life – not lifestyle, life. You can't do a desk job and maintain proper activity levels. With an increasingly sedentary life more people are become overweight, and a lot of people are willful over eaters. But for every one person you point out that shovels food into their mouth at every opportunity I can show you two or more overweight people who eat less than you do and yet are still unable to shift their weight.
Yes there is a fundamental equation that goes calories in – calories out = excess weight. The trouble is that people's bodies do vary in efficiency and if you sit and do the math it doesn't take much difference between two people or their amount of physical activity to lead to one person being a tad bit overweight while the other is slim.
But yes, there are always *obvious* examples of gluttony. Sadly, they utterly destroy any hope of anyone else pointing out that not every person who you might call fat stuffs their face with everything that comes within 2 feet of it.
No offense, but it's fashionable and acceptable to insult, demean, belittle and discriminate against 'fatties'. Oh yes, it's socially acceptable, so go on, if that makes it OK to do so. Personally I think that it tells you more about those with the attitude, than it does about those with the weight.
Last edited by TheHighlander on 9/21/2010 11:34:23 PM
Highlander: I agree with all that, but I do have one question- what happens if "the people" simply became incapable of caring for themselves? I'm not saying we're at that point, but I mean, at what point does a governing body of elected officials have to step in and do something to save us from ourselves?
I don't want it to happen any more than you do. It's a nightmare scenario. Just wondering, though…
Btw, everyone responds to incentive, right? It's like Pavlov's Dogs with humans; always has been, always will be. My father only half-jokingly proposed that we give everyone a tax incentive to be healthy. We wouldn't punish the unhealthy by levying harsher taxes; we'd merely reward the healthy with a tax break of some kind. It wouldn't go by weight – as you say, heavier people can still be fine – it would go by BMI and general fitness.
…just WATCH people start to hit the gyms. 😉
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 9/22/2010 12:02:14 AM
Ben,
I agree. I think that among the many flaws in our taxation system, we have somehow arrived at a situation where we are encouraged to be unhealthy. If I had my way, food would be taxed based on the calorie count (not just the price) with high calorie foods being taxed more highly. Restaurant foods would be taxed based on their caloric value as well. No more 1200 calorie 'sandwiches' and 44 ounce sodas.
I'd like to see hefty tax breaks for personal spending on preventative medicine, including gym memberships and exercise equipment. I'd like to see a greater emphasis on subsidized public transportation in areas where car use is endemic – to encourage more walking and less driving. Anyone who uses public transportation knows that they walk more to get to and from the bus, subway or train than they ever would if they were able to drive the same journey. I'd even offer tax breaks for employers that encourage their workers to use alternate office furniture that encourages better posture or more activity. Things such as desks that let you stand instead of sit, or chairs that use a kneeling posture and a straight, upright back. Pretty much any thing that encourages people to make healthier choices.
But then, when you do that, people turn right around and blast you for being 'big government' or the 'nanny state'. So, what are you gonna do?
@ highlander… when McDonald's first opened, their meals were all the size of happy meals that we have now.when i eat there (rarely), i order the mini meals, and i am satisfied. but they are in no way as bad as burger king.
i went there one day last month to try it out. everything is huge sandwich, plus large fries and coke. i had to buy a kids meal just to get something normal. plus i didn't want the toy. lol
both are bad, but american people accept too much food as the norm. It's a sad state.
and i always enjoy your insightful comments.
Highlander: Again, I'm definitely with you. As for the last question, my only answer is: "if it's the only solution…what else is there to do?"
I'd just order 4 lower calorie cheeseburgers and 4, 12oz drinks and eat them all at once to avoid the heavier taxation. Really, there's no stopping the amount of food people are going to choose to put in their mouths.
Being healthy and fit is a choice that most people in America have. The less meddling the government has in our lives with such things, the better. Let people be accountable to themselves for their own actions. I don't want to get anywhere near the Brave New World or 1984.
"if it's the only solution…what else is there to do?"
I say public ritual slaughter would stop people getting fat.
Agree on all points. But then, someone who's told to do something rarely does it. So better if its put as a "subliminal" message. I say let the people enjoy and sweat it out, then they'll just come and realize "hey, I'm sweating bullets out here. And it's fun!"
In terms of Highlanders reference to the varying metabolisms of individuals, he is right that people vary in efficiency of energy use. (This is the phys. ed. degree kicking in) However, the differences are not so extreme that it becomes impossible for some people to obtain and maintain a healthy weight.
While you may be the type of person to have an exceptionally large bottom or a perma-tire around the mid-section, that entirely has to do with WHERE your body stores it's fat deposits, but it is not reflective of your overall weight. The lowest resting metabolism you'll find in an adult is around 1450 calories spent per day, while the fastest you'll find is about 2000. There are a number of variables that change this.
Now, what this means, is that "resting metabolism" is the amount of calories burnt if you were to remain immobile for 24 hours. Every additional movement and activity spends calories at variable rates depending on the type and duration of exercise. It's approximately 3500 calories to make up a single pound, which means that 500 calorie difference between the two extremes makes a 1 pound difference in 1 week.
On the other hand, that's only 1-2 hours of extra exercise over the course of a week. Maybe only half an hour if the workout is intense enough. So, at 20 minutes extra a day, you make up that difference. So it's definitely possible for everyone to maintain a healthy weight, just easier for some than others.
Your body metabolizes lipid (fat), protein, and carbohydrate chains into energy, called calories. Those are the ONLY nutrients to contribute to caloric content. The only non-nutrient we consume that also adds to that is alcohol. 1 gram of carbohydrates and protein each contribute 4 calories, while 1 gram of alcohol makes up 7 calories, and 1 gram of lipids (fat) makes 9 calories.
Any unused energy (KCAL) is stored in your body in the fastest and easiest storing substance… fat! Since fat stores more energy than muscle fibre or any other organ, excess energy is easily stored within fat cells. Highlander is absolutely right. Intake-outtake=left over energy. If the value is negative, it uses up stored energy found in your fat cells.
There are other tricks to increase your metabolism, however, and no one is bound to a particular rate. Vitamins contribute to the chemical reactions your body needs, and minerals help regulate various materials in the body. Constant exercise also speeds up the body's rested state. If you're always active, your resting metabolism will be higher than if you rarely exercise. Your body adapts to your lifestyle.
Basically, with a well balanced diet, your metabolism will rise. Plus, you'll have a more balanced intake of calories, which is easier to manage weight. If you exercise on top of that regularly, everything works in your favor.
You can't merely tell someone to eat less. And you can't merely tell them to become active. Diets rarely work, and are ineffective. Even if you do lose the weight, once the diet ends, you go back to the original plan and gain it all back! If an individual wants to become healthier, they NEED to change their entire lifestyle. What they eat (not so much the amounts) and regular exercise WILL do the trick. You don't need to starve yourself to get thin or fit.
PSMove COULD potentially help remedy lives to a certain extent, because it encourages a change in recreational lifestyle. However, on it's own it will make little to no difference. There are still other factors that need changing. However, it could be used as one of many TOOLS to promote that change.
As is common with ANY lifestyle change, the people around you need to make a difference too in order for you to find success. It's tough, but once you get a routine going, healthy living becomes easy and fun.
Sorry for the extra post after such a long one, BUT…
Highlander was also right in talking about healthy living and not JUST judging someone by their weight.
A low metabolism person not exercising and eating poorly, may consume 2400 calories in a day (which is a lot), but only burn 1800 or so per day (1450 min. plus any moving they did), while a high metabolism may do the same thing, and burn 2400 calories and consume the same amount. (2000 min. plus moving).
The skinny dude might eat the same amount and keep the same weight, but he's likely VERY unhealthy and WILL face complications down the line. Chances are the skinny dude could still become diabetic and/or have terrible cholesterol resulting in a heart attack. Just because he's skinny, doesn't mean he's healthy! Nevermind all the other malnutrition issues he may face from poor eating habits!
Just wanted to throw that in there.
Last edited by Underdog15 on 9/22/2010 10:55:13 AM
The U.S. has been and always will be too conservative to interfere with how people eat to try and tax "unhealthy" foods or attempt to change any social policy with respect to food consumption. Kraft, McDonald's, PepsiCo, ConAgra and many other's have the cash and political influence to ensure this never happens. These industries rely on federal farm subsidies to ensure a cheap abundance of corn, wheat and meat. Any small victory won't come without the main players (food industry) allowing such measures.
Any real change must come from a change in the social convention and behaviour. There needs to be a greater social pride with everyone for playing sports (even if they suck) or doing anything to try and improve themselves. When I've seen overweight people in the gym, I don't think "Ha, looks at that fat person huffing and puffing", I think, "Good for them! I hope they stick with it".
@Simcoe
I agree 100%. One beef I've had with American and Canadian school systems has to do with the physical education component. Now, in Canada, it varies province to province, and some are better than others.
Elementary and High School systems (and middle school or jr. high's where applicable) approach phys. ed. as a chance just to make kids exercise, but it has no lasting value. In the school system, we're taught about all sorts of aspects of culture. We learn about fine art, foods, music, history, politics, and more to the point that kids or young adults can at least gain an appreciation for things even if they don't enjoy the subject matter.
But for phys. ed, schools completely suck at helping kids engage in sport culture. Sports are such a HUGE part of culture, and they aren't taught about them at all! How many kids/teens (or ppl on this forum) today know what a 'forced play' is in baseball or the differences of 'offside' between hockey and soccer? How many really know what constitutes a foul in basketball?
Obviously, not everyone will appreciate sports, just as not everyone appreciates history or literature. But they are all important (and different!) aspects of our culture.
The way it is now, we just make kids run around in gym class, and only the hot shots really know the rules, while the rest just get frustrated. Obviously, if you understand a sport, it's WAY more fun to engage than if you don't know where you should go or what you should do.
Basically, I feel that with knowledge or at least an appreciation, it would be much easier to engage in extracurricular fitness activities, and it would be far easier to engage with a group akin to your skill set!
The way things are now, the entire fitness model is effed up, and far too much government money goes into developing professional athletes as opposed to assisting the masses in health.
If I weren't running this community, I'd sure as hell be part of it.
That's all I have to say. 🙂
Ben, I think that's the best compliment anyone could give.
Regarding points about physical Education that others have made. I agree 100%. I think that we may have forgotten that despite all our modern trappings of comfort and convenience, the human being is (whether you agree with creationism, evolution, or the flying spaghetti monster) fundamentally an animal that is designed to move. We are not designed to sit for long periods of time. In fact, if I remember correctly, excessive sitting can cause hip and back problems, as well as diminishing the muscle tone of the back and abdomen.
Which is all very interesting, but it shouldn't have take me the better part of 4 decades to learn it. As important as intellectual education is, we seldom pay enough attention to physical education. I think it's got to the point where most kids consider it a torturous pain to participate in physical activity. This is not a good thing.
The solution is probably a radical and drastic overhaul of education designed to reflect the modern age instead of society 50 years ago. Somehow, I don't see that coming.
This should defiantly happen, Kevin butler on a move commercial, showing/talking about how the move can and does make you get healthier/lose weight.
I love his commercials and even thou I've been seeing more there should be a lot more.
I was talking to some people the other day a kid was talking about how his 360 broke, that is when I recommended to just get a PS3. There a lot more reliable, then these two guys said no body has a PS3…
Not to say this is a bad idea but fat people choose to be fat. I just don't see a new video game accessory helping large numbers of fat people lose weight. Especially if there is some on screen character watching their every move and commenting on it.
Yeah, you're probably right about that with a lot of the one's who aren't obese due to other medical problems.
But I'm thinking that some of the Move game would probably help them become more fit, without them even knowing it.
Hey Highlander,
Just an FYI,
I know you love the tech stuff, so just in case you might have missed it, I left you a Move "tear-down" tech article over in the last thread about the Move.
I looked at that, it was cool. I was intrigued by the heatsink on the LED, those are generally only used on high flux/high power LEDs, so Sony hasn't skimped on the LED assembly at all, it's clearly a decent LED and they're taking no chances with it's thermal output. I guess we shouldn't be surprised, Sony always does well with hardware engineering.
HEAVY RAIN Ps Move Update!
Bringing Drama to your exercise routine…
I have a game for fat people. It's called "Chase the Ice Cream Truck". You can't tell them it's exercise, it'll never sell.
That's more for fat kids. Fat adults would need a "Walk to the Nearest McDonald's."
Mature, very mature.
Since the comments to this article are beginning to drift towards a witch hunt against fat people, I shall bow out before I get too annoyed to make coherent comments.
Last edited by TheHighlander on 9/21/2010 11:36:17 PM
No it has to be rated E for Everyone Highlander. I was only kidding. So it wasn't funny. I wasn't intending to offend you. I apologize.
@ tes37 – Don't ever apologize for a joke. If they don't get it, they don't get it.
We're not on Oprah here.
Perhaps Kojima's next big project can be a Big Boss/ Solid Snake themed exercise game. Maybe they can go over the finer points of CQC or a little weapons training. Hell, I'd buy it.