Case study
Enos went into detail about the origins of the West Virginia DDR partnership.
"This stems from the case study that was done earlier last year by Dr. Linda Carson, who is a researcher at West Virginia University. She started out doing just a study on DDR among overweight kids and studying the effects that the product had on their health outlook: Did they actually start adopting better health habits? Did they reach their target heart rates? Did they burn off calories? The results of that case study were very favorable and optimistic for further research. At that point, Dr. Carson, Clara [Gilbert, Konami director of business partnerships] and Konami all wanted to present some of these findings to the Department of Education and Blue Cross Blue Shield in West Virginia. West Virginia has one of the largest obesity problems in the nation, so they were looking for solutions."
He continued, "During those meetings, the study's results were discussed, and that using DDR does seem to be effective, and it seemed to be something that kids are excited to do. If you go tell them to run three miles or jump rope or some other traditional activity, they wouldn't do it. But if you tell them to do DDR, they'll do it for hours and not realize it's giving them the exercise they need. It doesn't come across as boring exercise, because it's fun and entertaining."
Konami will be involved in all the key decisions of how the program is structured, from the curriculum to the results and feedback. West Virginia plans to share results of the program with Konami in six month intervals, as the two years of the three-year program are spent expanding the program into all schools.
As far as tabulation of the metrics is concerned, that aspect isn't quite set in stone. However, Enos speculates results may be broken down by grade level, age or by elementary, middle and high school.
Attitude change
"Some of the figures we're looking for when tracking are a change in attitude before and after exercising and being healthy, changes in academic performance: Does it make them feel better about themselves? Does the exercise translate to a more positive attitude about themselves? Do they perform better in the classroom? Was there a change in attendance or absenteeism? Were there changes in discipline? Changes in body mass index will be measured too, and we plan on tracking how much DDR time was logged."
"There are a lot of schools already out there that have ponied up the money to bring DDR into the schools and they're just letting it go. It's taken off very well. We learned we're not the only ones with this great idea. There are other people out there in the frontline doing it. It's a matter at this point in connecting all the dots."
"Our two main priorities have been schools and fitness, given the rising concern of child obesity and kids not being as active as they used to be," Enos said. "Also, the game is so physically interactive that people have had a lot of success losing the wait with the game so we're taking it to the health and fitness sector as well. Those are some of our key spaces that we're actively working on. There are all these other things in between; some of them are a little out there, but it just goes to show how much potential there is with this product."
Business interest
A couple of examples of those "other things in between" include businesses where you wouldn't normally expect to see a DDR setup. Enos said that he's received interest from hotels that want DDR in their recreation centers or just for offering guests some form of physical entertainment. He even said airlines have approached him that wanted to put units in the gates or terminals for waiting passengers, as well as cruise lines and other leisure or vacation organizations. Last September, Konami signed a deal with 24 Hour Fitness to put DDR in its health clubs.
Still, the deal that is the current feather in Enos' and Konami's hat remains the adoption of DDR by an entire state.
Enos said that organizations that approach him about implementing a DDR program are surprised with how inexpensive it is. "So many people ask us, 'What do we need to do to get this in our school? How much do I need? Thousands of dollars?' And we're like, not at all. We could probably get a starting setup for 400 bucks or less. They're so amazed. Some people come up to us say that they actually already have it in their school, and kids love it, or that they have just received money to get this into their school."
Enos added that the program not only promotes heath, but also puts a better face on a games industry that is often portrayed in a negative light, even calling the act of preaching the DDR gospel "part of a social duty."
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