Researchers from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center did a study comparing energy expenditure while resting, watching TV, playing DDR, walking on a treadmill and playing Wii Boxing. Interestingly Wii Boxing and DDR showed results similar to moderate or intense walking exercise.
Although the study also said that these games burned more calories than sitting and watching TV, which isn't exactly ground-breaking information.
So DDR has been held up as a solid example of getting fit using gaming by numerous experts and has inspired a fanatic following, but does it work?
"From an energy expenditure point of view the more muscle mass that is involved in the moves required to play the game the better," says Dr Thin, "Also the skill level of the player is an important factor in determining the level of exertion. In the early stages of playing exergames that have high skill demands (eg. DDR) the player's skill, or rather lack of, is likely to limit their level of exertion.
There is at the moment only limited research data, but there's evidence (including my own research) that does point to some exergames being comparable to conventional forms of aerobic exercise."
Diet and fitness expert Laura Williams adds: "You'd have to be prepared to dance for an hour every day to lose about a pound a week and you'd need to be breaking a sweat the entire time."
None of that half-hearted stepping from side to side on Easy then?
RedOctane, the original creators of DDR-based accessories, did a study in conjunction with their In the Groove game (a similar title to DDR) that showed how dancing exercise has the potential to reduce anxiety, improve thinking skills and, strangely enough, increase dance skills.
The question left hanging, of course, is why it isn't it available for the PC anymore?
Like the gym and your new bike, it soon ends up in a dusty box with a cracked mat in a back cupboard somewhere, while you still move through a packet of Hobnobs in two FPS hours. Even DDR is at risk of ennui and boredom.
However, if you're suddenly inspired to straddle the mat and shimmy off those excess pounds, you can indulge in a whack of free (yes, folks, free) DDR-style games and songs at Stepmania. A plethora of open source programmes and options are right there for you to download and enjoy.
And if you're in the mood to code, rather than to vogue (sigh - Ed) there are tutorials to help you transfer your favourite tunes into the right format.
Pump it up
Already the melodic sounds of the more dedicated gamer snorting into their pints as they dismiss DDR with a practised flick of a RSI wrist can be heard. Who in their right mind defines that as gaming?
But there are wise, wise men who have anticipated your needs to create machinery that will work a charm with a nice FPS or MMORPG, while you sweat heavily in the background.
The PC-Sport from Gamercize is a step machine that slips neatly beneath your desk. You plug your mouse and keyboard into it, sit down and start stepping. If you stop, so do your peripherals. Frankly, the idea is genius. You can stand up and use the PC-Sport but you'll have to use a USB game pad to play the game.
"The Lego series is my particular favourite here," says Richard Coshott, CEO Gamercize UK: "Expect to double the calorie burn when standing, it's a lot more effort but the distraction of the game you choose will get you through."
Richard has been gaming ever since the days of the Sinclair Spectrum so it isn't enormously surprising that he also invented a bunch of gadgets and gizmos that will keep you fit while you play manly games.
"Gamercize was started quite by accident in 2004," he says, "I noticed my children were stuck inside during the holidays glued to the PS2 and they were out of condition and putting on weight. I also realised that in a battle between outside and Sony, Sony would win."
Another well known exergaming peripheral is the PCGamerBike from 3D Innovations. This is a portable, magnetic exercise bike interacts directly with your PC so your pedalling directly controls your movement in the game. You can to set the bike to Pulse mode so when you're playing a racing game the speed at which you're pedalling will influence the speed you're moving in the game.
Both the PC-Sport and the PCGamerBike include software (although with Gamercize it's a trial version) that monitors your output and gives you a good estimate as to how much of a workout you've done. Both have even got dedicated World of Warcraft sections on their websites.
Now not only can you apparently get fit while playing WoW but, because exercise sends oxygen to your brain and speeds up your reflexes and thinking, you'll soon be in high demand for raids.
Considering how much time gamers spend online playing WoW, putting themselves at risk of "muscle atrophy and decreased cardiovascular health", this has to be a good thing right?
Dr David Haslam, Chair of the National Obesity Forum, an organisation established in 2000 to raise awareness of the health issues around obesity, says: "This form of exercise is better than nothing, but it's not as good as old-fashioned traditional physical activity with regards to weight loss or reduction in disease risk."
According to Kevin Colburn, CEO of 3D Innovations, at the maximum setting on the PCGamerBike a 200lb person would burn approximately 640 calories an hour and if you used it for an hour each day you would definitely see results.
However, if you don't have the office space for the bike then you're going to have to work a lot harder. Richard Coshott, explains: "The calorie burn for average use of the PC-Sport is around 150 to 200 calories an hour, but a 170 pound male can burn 400 calories with it set to maximum."
"Bike and stepper exergames in particular have a focus on more aerobic and endurance type exercise. The nature of many of the gameplay mechanics is more explosive, involving short bursts of high intensity activity. Interestingly new research developments in exercise physiology are finding that sprint type training can provide significant all-round fitness."
Health matters
So all of these forms of exercise have measurable levels of calorie burn and energy expenditure, but does this mean anything when it comes to losing weight? Laura isn't sure: "People don't realise how tough it is to use exercise as a means of weight loss. You need to do a lot!"
When you're exercising, whether to get fit or lose weight, you need to maintain a moderate pace – a speed at which you feel challenged, but can still hold a conversation - and you will need to be breaking a sweat the entire time.
"A typical 13 to 14 stone male will burn approximately 545 calories an hour cycling at moderate intensity," adds Laura, "So if you wanted to lose say two pounds a week you'd need to burn 1000 calories a day, the equivalent of running 10 miles 10 miles for most people."
Using the same model above (13/14 stone male exercising at a moderate pace), if you were to do 'real' exercise then an hour of swimming would burn 690 calories, running 900, walking 300 and even bowling burns 250.
High score
If you compare these statistics to those offered by Richard and Kevin perhaps exergaming isn't so far off the mark.
Ultimately it's level of success will depend entirely on you – you determine the intensity and the time spent doing it. Anything less than an hour isn't exactly a waste of time but it isn't going to get you the body of a god either.
Dr Thin concurs: "All exergames are not equal and as far as I am aware no single exergame has been evaluated on a range of different fitness components in order to assess its impact. Exergames where conventional gym type equipment, like the PC-Pro and the PCGamerBike, provide a gym-style workout combined with the fun and engagement of a video game. So in these cases the level of workout is dependent on the settings and the player's effort."
Laura added that if she were to create a routine including exergaming then she would recommend a combination of longer, lower intensity aerobic sessions of around 40 to 60 minutes with interval training and resistance work like lunges and squats to build your muscle mass.
Certainly the experts agree that it's better to exergame than to do nothing at all but they argue about the benefits. Dr Haslam believes that it is "inferior to traditional or routine daily exercise."
However, that is the debate about exergames as they exist today; possibly only in their third or fourth generation. They are constantly evolving. The market is one of the fastest growing gaming niches with manufactures like Apple, Nike, Nintendo and EA cashing in.
3D Innovations and Gamercize believe that a large portion of this growth can be contributed to the Wii Fit phenomenon that brought exergaming sharply into the spotlight in 2008, although neither of them thinks that this is a particularly effective tool.
"The statistics from Nintendo say that after a year of Wii Fit, the average gamer time is 18 hours and 18 minutes. Now, you can't get fit by spending an hour and a half per month on the balance board," says Richard.
Regardless of whether the Wii Fit works or not, it has done a lot for the image of exergaming and there is the hope that future instalments will be more cohesive with more tangible benefits to the user. "There needs to be a more holistic development process in creating the exercise and the game in parallel," says Dr Thin, "I am anticipating future generations of games designed with input from exercise physiologists like myself in order to maximise the potential health benefits."
Who knows, perhaps in the next few years, the perception of the PC lover will have changed from geek to god. "I'd love to give it a try," says Guv, a WoW fanatic who plays for several hours each day, "but I'm frightened I'd knock my beer and ashtray over." Perhaps not then…
