10% Registration Discount for Games for Health Conference 2011

The 7th Annual Games for Health Conference is gearing up!

On May 18-19 join hundreds of game developers, health professionals, and leading researchers to discover, brainstorm, and debate how videogame and videogames technologies can work to improve health & healthcare.

REGISTER TODAY! http://www.regonline.com/gbew2011 Enter BOST11 and get 10% off any registration! A few highlights among the 60+ sessions include:

Day 1 Keynote: "Positive Psychology>Positive Computing>Positive Videogames" by Dr. Martin Seligman

Day 2 Keynote: "The Last Mile Doesn't Have to be the Hardest: Solving Problems Between Games and Health" by Dr. Roni Zeiger of Google

A Featured Talk, "Gaming Your Way to a Healthier Lifestyle" by Shellie Pfohl, Executive Director, The President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition

A games for health briefing by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) The detailed findings from "Who Plays for Their Health? Results from Our New Nationwide Survey of Video Game Usage" by Debra Lieberman of Health Games Research

GameShare - A special project developed with Ben Heck!

To see the latest scheduled sessions please visit: http://www.gamesforhealth.org/index.php/conferences/gfh-2011/sched201-block/

For up-to-date conference information please visit: http://www.gamesforhealth.org/index.php/conferences/gfh-2011/

THREE DAYS OF EVENTS...

May 17 Pre-conference Events & Workshops

* Out & About II : Mobile Serious Games http://bit.ly/oaa2011

* Ludica Medica I : Game-based Medical Modeling, Simulation & Education http://bit.ly/lmedica

* Enabled Play : 4th Annual Games Accessibility Day http://bit.ly/enabledplay

May 18-19 7th Annual Games for Health Conference Five Tracks of Content:

* Open Content Tracks

* Exergaming & Active Gaming

* Congitive & Emotional Health

* Sensorimotor Rehab

* Nutrition & Games

* Social Games & Virtual Worlds

Also make sure you are at The Exergame Network session while you are there! This session will unveil the evolution of The Exergame Network (TEN), the first ever international exergame advocacy, that was started in June 2008.

Learn about how TEN grew using social media sites from a simple discussion group on the professional social media site LinkedIn into a diverse resource and advocacy that has the attention of the world's online press.

We will discuss the various projects undertaken by the membership, i...ncluding a unique rating system for consumer exergames, worldwide exergame "Skype" conference calls and the active gaming Awards. The Exergame Network's mission statement and advocacy methods will be shown, including both the successes and the failures that challenge the free group.

Founding members of TEN will represent the group, sharing insight into the methods of collaboration and highlight the spirit of the exergaming community that sustain the group from their passion and freely donated time.

Speakers for TEN: Richard Coshott, Lisa Witherspoon and Brett Young

The session can be found on the Games For Health website at http://www.gamesforhealth.org/index.php/conference/sessions/the-exergame-network-a-report-on-our-progress

More proof exergames can reach MVPA!

3-11-11: Over the last few days, I've been excited to see the latest study by Bailey & McInnis, published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, showing that exergames can get players to reach the moderate to vigorous intensity levels, being talked about all over the net.

Exergames can reach MVPA
This joins a growing body of research showing that certain types of exergames can be used to reach the moderate to vigorous levels of physical activity (MVPA). (See the list of research in The Exergame Network database, the Exergames Unlocked database, and Health Games Research database.)

Ever since the latest federal recommendations for physical activity came out in 2008, I've been saying that certain exergames can help Americans fulfill these recommendations, so it's nice to see more and more research supporting this this idea.

We know that exergames can overcome many of the obstacles faced in motivating people to be more physically active. We know that exergames can be appropriate interventions for reaching the PA recommendations.

Will they keep playing long enough to see the benefit?
What we don't know for sure yet is if players will keep playing long enough to gain the biometric benefits (reduced weight, lowered BP, reduced blood markers, etc.) those of us in healthcare desire to see.

Another recent study published online in Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise (MSSE) concluded that "...active video games can significantly increase energy expended during screen time, but these games are less enjoyable than other more sedentary games, suggesting that they may be less likely to be played over time...".

NAGL to the rescue?
This is an organization like the now-forming National Active Gaming League (NAGL) can help address this "less enjoyment" factor and long-term compliance.

Just like swimming laps during a swim team practice is less enjoyable than playing Marco Polo at a swimming b-day party, organizing teams and training together for upcoming NAGL tournaments can empower kids and adults to "train" on exergames at a new level.

The structure provided by NAGL can give exergaming teams and "AGAs" (active gaming athletes) a reason to continue to train for the right duration and intensity.

A Prediction
Someday, the NAGL will be as effective at getting kids and adults to reach MVPA as the National Spelling Bee is at getting kids to study and compete in spelling. Then maybe someday, we will see the NAGL national finals on ESPN, just like the National Spelling finals!