Guitar Hero or Guitar Zero

Group Name

2kool4skool

Group Members

Nadim Daya, Tony Kozak, Thompson Nguyen, Ben Still, Veronica Zinkhan

Group Topic

How video games and other virtual reality has changed the way people live their lives today. Issues that arise are decline of people's interest in real life activities, health concerns of obesity, and carpal tunnel syndrome, the benefits that are gained by gaming, and the change of culture into the technologic world.

Games

Virtual games have been developed that have the player being more active. They are closer to reality compared to the games with characters of are goblins and warriors. Instead, these games are based on real life activities, creating a virtual reality for people to play in the comfort of their home. They have different skill levels to accomodate to everyone, from the beginners to the pros.

Such as: Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Dance Dance Revolutionand the Nintendo Wiigame console. This is the beginning of electronic performing arts.

What is Guitar Hero:

Guitar hero, designed by Harmonix Music Systems, was released in North America on November 8, 2005. Since then it has taken the gaming world over, and people of all ages are joinging in on the fun. It has a guitar shaped peripheral with 5 colored buttons, a whammy bar and a strumming button. The player uses the guitar controller to hit scrolling musical notes of rock music. This game is compatible with PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360 and also through a computer.

What is Rock Band:

Rockband Drumset

RockBand incorporates three different peripherals simulating musical instruments, a drum peripheralguitar peripheral which can be used to play as lead guitar or bass, and a microphone, to enhance the gamer’s sense of involvement. Many songs are included with the software and many more songs are available for downloading. RockBand is available on the major console platforms, Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Playstation 2.

What is Dance Dance Revolution:

Created in 1998 by Konami, a japanese company, Dance Dance Revolution features a foot pad with large arrow buttons that players press with their feet, and ultimately dance on the mat. The patterns follows the beat of pop music, and shows which arrows to press at a given time. This game is popular at arcades.

What is Wii:

The fifth video game console released by Nintendo, it has a wireless controller that detects acceleration in 3 dimensions. The Nintendo Wii came out in 2006 and changed the face of gaming, with a revolutionary controller and new types of games; Nintendo is attracting many clients into the gaming industry, some of which have never previously played. Also the Nintendo Wii has its original 'virtual console' software which enables games from previous consoles such as the N64, Game Cube, and even non-Nintendo consoles such as Sega Genesis and TurboGrafx to be enjoyed and relived!!

Instead of just better graphics like many of the competitors, Nintendo focuses on delivering an improved, fun playing experience with better interactivity. With these added features the Wii is still rather cheap compared to the other consoles out on the market today, but, is still an exciting breakthrough in the virtual gaming industry!

Let's Party

Evite for a Wii Party

New interactive console games are leaving their mark on the social scene. Shortly after Nintendo released its new console system, the Wii, staff at Evite, an online-party invite website, noticed increased mention of video game parties, involving the Wii and popular games like “Guitar Hero”, "SingStar" and “Rock Band”. Each of these games attracts many different types of people, breaking away from the stereotype of the boy-in-the-basement gamer. "The Wii, in particular, is great for parties because of the level of activity and the multiplayer format-it's fun to play and fun for others to watch," said Lariayn Payne, VP-marketing and public relations at Evite. These console parties are not confined to homes, bars and restaurants have been holding “Guitar Hero” fests, encouraging wannabe rock stars to test their shredding skills against other fret shredders. The developers of these “Video game party games” are hoping to create a new generation of social gamers including women, children and people over 50. This social trend is not just limited to consoles; interactive DVD games which are played on consumer’s TV have also increased in popularity. Standard games such as, The Price is Right, Deal or No Deal, Name That Tune, Sorry and Family Feud have crossed over into this video game social party scene. Scene It?is another example of an original franchise courting this new social trend. The developers of “Scene It?” have also launch a version of the game for the X-Box 360, called Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action, which includes big button, game-show-style peripherals designed for party play.

Health Concerns

Exclusively from Wii Safety: WARNING - Repetitive Motion Injuries and Eyestrain Playing video games can make your muscles, joints, skin or eyes hurt. Follow these instructions to avoid problems such as tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, skin irritation or eyestrain:

Avoid excessive play. Parents should monitor their children for appropriate play. Take a 10 to 15 minute break every hour, even if you don't think you need it. If your hands, wrists, arms or eyes become tired or sore while playing, or if you feel symptoms such as tingling, numbness, burning or stiffness, stop and rest for several hours before playing again. If you continue to have any of the above symptoms or other discomfort during or after play, stop playing and see a doctor.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

From repetitive strain of your fingers and wrist, which occurs in gaming, you cause compression of the key nerve in your wrist. This gradually damages your nerves, causing carpal tunnel syndrome, which feels like numbness and sharp piercing pains from your fingers up to your arm. Instead of carpal tunnel syndrome, gaming would more likely cause repetitive motion disorders such as bursitis and tendonitis, but by any case this is something you should watch out for.

If you are experiencing numbness, tingling, itching or burning frequently in your hand, wrist or lower arm, you may be experiencing the initial side effects of these nerve health problems. You should rest your hand and wrist for a couple weeks, and avoid straining the wrist by using a tension bandage to prevent movement of the wrist, and you can also use a cold pack or ice to reduce any swelling.

To prevent this from happening to you, limit the time you spend repetitively strain your nerves, and try to keep proper form, and reduce bending your wrist while doing these activities. When typing, for example, you should have your wrists lifted off of your desk, preferrably supported at the wrist.

Case Study: World Series or Guitar Hero?

Recently there has been huge spectacle surrounding the Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Joel Zumaya and his absence from three games in the popular American League Championship Series in Major League Baseball. The star pitcher was absent from the three games due to an inflammation of his forearm and right wrist, which is important for the proper function of "pitching". Tigers Athletic Director Kevin Rand told the press that Joel Zumaya's inflammation was because he was "playing in different times now, different weather.", but it was not the different weather that caused his inflammation, nor was it due to excessive baseball throwing a pitcher may experience in his career, but it was due to his addiction to the rising popular video game Guitar Hero and the excess virtual guitar shredding experienced in the game. According to the Detroit Free Press, Tigers training staff realized the injuries were "more consistent with the action of a guitar player than a baseball pitcher." and confirmed his inflammations were from Guitar Hero. Though both Guitar Hero and the American League Championship Series in Major League Baseball are great activities for the health of individuals; they are found to be harmful when thrown together in a catastrophic mix. It could lead to the injury of both a star pitcher's arm and career. After being advised by his trainers, Joel Zumaya stopped playing the addictive game, and his arm improved and he pitched pain-free in the World Series.

Obesity

Instead of just moving your thumb and fingers, the evolution of gaming is forcing gamers to get off the couch and move around while having fun in the comfort of their own homes. With this latest notion it forces kids to be more active while playing video games! For example: The home game version of Dance Dance Revolution, where you need to have a game console, the video game, and also a dance mat (which can get costly) has a work out option. This work out program tracks the calories that you burn. This system not only is fun for the youth but also keeps them fit instead of adhering obesity which is the number one preventable illness in North America. Another example of a more active gaming console is the Nintendo Wii, this system engages the player through all sorts of movements within the body, which allows for the burning of calories and an enjoyable experience in the gaming industry!

"In this day and time, children really love to play video games," Lanningham-Foster told GameSpot. "And even though we might want children to be outside and engaged in more traditional children's play, I don't think that children are going to abandon video games anytime soon...It's important to look at it this way because video gaming may potentially be a better way for obesity researchers to develop better interventions for children."

"Activity-promoting video games have the potential to increase energy expenditure in children to a degree similar to that of traditional playtime,"

"We think that converting seat-based screen time to activity-associated screen time is an essential approach for promoting an active environment that is also fun for children."

New gaming systems coming out in the market impact our youth by promoting an active environment and benefit many obese children. Many kids would rather sit on the couch and play video games instead of going outside and burning a few calories; however, with the evolution of active gaming it now engages the player and allows them to burn those calories while still maintaining the excitement factor of gaming!

Benefits from Virtual Gaming

Therapy anyone?

Who knew that playing a video game could be theriputic. Seniors at the Southwood Care Centre in Calgary are finding out first hand just how theriputic the interactive playing style of the Nintendo Wii can be. Stundents from the Foundations for the Future Charter Academy, responding to a Christmas wish by the residents of the seniors home, donated a Nintendo Wii for each unit in the centre. With Nursing and and seniors journals increasingly suggesting that the Wii can be a source of therapy, the Southwood Centre discussed the idea of purchasing Wiis for residnets, but as soon as the Academy caught wind of the plan, students of the Academy went out and raised the needed money.

ExerGaming

And a one, and a two, come on push it, feel the burn. Can the new generation of interactive games replace the recommended one hour of high physical exercise? Studies show that adolescents seem to be living an increasingly sedentary lifestyle, leading to greater inactivity and obesity. This is due to a combination of many factors, but time spent in front of the television and computer screens has been loosely linked to this trend. A new generation of computer games has been developed with a goal of increasing gamer interaction and movement during play. Wii sports and Dance Dance Revolution are a few examples of games which break away from the traditional sedentary style of gaming and encourage greater physical effort. A recent study examined the expenditure of calories of adolescents while engaging in various activities common of the age group 9 to 15 years old, both of lean and overweight body types. Playing active games showed an increase in calorie expenditure, with DDR burning the most calories for both lean and overweight adolescents.

In Silicone Valley not far from the headquarters of Google, a high tech sports gym called “Overtime fitness” has begun targeting teenage clientele. In addition to the regular fitness equipment there are several high tech exercise machines. Using full body movements and exerting pressure on a padded bar rather than pushing buttons on a controller, players can play ordinary X-box games, another set up allows players or “exergamers” to control onscreen movements with real world motions. Patrick Ferrell the founder of the gym said “The combination of gaming and exercising has huge potential, It breaks up the monotony of exercise." Let's get Physical

Case Study: Shedding weight with Wii Sports

A graph showing Mickey's weight loss over the 6 weeks of his experiment.

In early December of 2006, Mickey DeLorenzo, a 25-year-old Philadelphia resident, began what he called the "Wii Sports Experiment". After playing Wii sports for 30 minutes, he noticed he was getting a cardio-workout from playing a game; it was this that gave him the idea for his experiment. The experiment was to continue his life as normal, leaving his eating, drinking and other habits unaltered, with the exception of adding 30 minutes of Wii Sports to his daily routine. For this experiment he monitored his weight, BMI, calories burned per session, body fat percentage, heart rate, and physical soreness. Mickey started out at 182 pounds, and after a month and a half of working out with Wii Sports, his weight was down 9 pounds to 172, which he found quite amazing considering that the experiment took place over the holiday season and he had not had any substantial weight loss in over 2 years. Mickey also found that his waist line was reduced by 3.5 inches, his body fat percentage dropped by nearly 2%, and his BMI moved from the "overweight" category, into the "normal" category.

Guitar Hero:

Playing guitar hero helps with someone's timing, dexterity, and hand usuage. They have to 'strum' with the beat which develops the player's sensitivity to rhythm. This can be helpful for playing an actual guitar because keeping the same timing is very important. Guitar hero opens many people's eyes to what goes on behind the music they hear on the radio, often times expanding their musical tastes. It inspires many people to learn how to play guitar, as they usually feel confident after playing this virtual guitar game. This game allows novice players to sound like pros, further encouraging them to keep playing the game rather than picking up an actual guitar, which requires much more practice to play a song well.

Rock Band:

Rock band takes this a few steps further with adding a microphone, and drums to the guitar. This introduces people to behind the scenes of music, and the development and creation of music. This may encourage people to pick up an instrument by giving them some confidence from succeeding at the virtual version. The drum set in this game was designed to allow an easy transition to a real drum set, and allows the player to keep the same technique.

DDR:

Dance Dance Revolution has the great benefit of a cario exercise which is from the intense stomping and jumping around the dance mat. This game can be fun because you play along to visuals and different songs. The game is connected to the beat of the music, which you move to step on the arrow buttons accordingly with the music. This helps develop the player's coordination between the mind and body. You can avoid the nuisance of going to the gym to run on the treadmill for an exercise by playing Dance Dance Revolution. This game has been shown to give a better workout than using a treadmill allowing you to burn calories, and also burn your change away at the arcardes.

Summary

How has our culture has changed into the technological world? Many of these games continue to grow in popularity such as Guitar Hero. People are getting addicted to video games, so with them getting addicted to DDR, they will also have the added benefit of weight loss. These physical video games is exactly what this technology based culture needs to combat the rising problems of obestity and inactiveness. Unfortunately, the non-physical games do not have much benefit for the player, it instead has many downsides to playing. Carpal tunnel syndrome is a serious risk of playing video games because it is repetitive strain on their wrists and hands, to help reduce the risk make sure to follow the tips provided above for healthy nerves. There are also negative social impacts for playing video games because it decreases community involvment and socializing since people stay inside their homes to play these games. Although, arcardes have DDR, Guitar Hero and a drumming virtual game which help bring the players out of their house. There are also tournaments that bring these people together for some healthy competition. Rock band helps create a more social environment for the players, and as well as guitar hero because it allows for two guitars. Wii, DDR, Guitar Hero, and Rock Band are different from typical video games, they have the player moving more than just their fingers to play the game. Guitar Hero is suggested to be played standing up, which at least gets the player off their seat. Parties and in-house tournaments are also played with these types of games, which combats the negative social impacts of video games.

References:

BEN:

1. http://guitarheroresearch.blogspot.com/ -March 4, 2008

2. http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9391&Itemid=2 -March 4 2008

3. Bulik, B. (2007, August 27). CHIPS, DIP AND NINTENDO WII. Advertising Age, 78(34), 4-23. Retrieved March 10, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database

4. Calgary Sun, March, 14, 2008 "Calgary Grannies gone Wii-ld" Pablo Fernandez

5. Comparison of energy expenditure in adolescents when playing new generation and sedentary computer games: cross sectional study. Lee Graves, Gareth Stratton, N D Ridgers, N T Cable BMJ 2007;335:1282-1284 -March 18, 2008

6. Bakalar, N. (2008). Better than the couch, but not equal to the court. New York Times, 1(1), 6 -March 18,2008

7. Lanningham-Foster, L., Jensen, T. B., Foster, R. C., Redmond, A. B., Walker, B. A., Heinz, D., et al. (2006). Energy expenditure of sedentary screen time compared with active screen time for children. Pediatrics, 118(6), e1831-1835. -March 18, 2008

8. Let's get physical. Economist; 3/10/2007, Vol. 382 Issue 8519, special section p6-8, 2p -April 10, 2008

9.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockband -April 12 2008

10.http://www.evite.com/ -April 14, 2008

NADIM:

1. http://www.wiisworld.com/what-is-wii.html - march 18, 2008

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii - march 19, 2008

3. http://bodyandhealth.canada.com/channel_condition_info_details.asp?channel_id=1055&disease_id=95&relation_id=17519- march 20, 2008

4. http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2004/07/64407- march 18, 2008

5. http://www.gamespot.com/news/6163757.html- march 19, 2008

6. http://www.gameater.com/soda-companies-pin-obesity-on-gaming/ - march 22, 2008

THOMPSON:

1. http://www.joystiq.com/2006/12/14/guitar-hero-benches-big-leaguer/ -March 7, 2008