You have a very clear sense of ‘If I just do these steps, I will succeed.’ And let’s call them quests because it sounds heroic. “You have to run from point A to point B, deliver a message, kill this bad guy. “Games make the goals really clear,” Rigby said. They can turn that addiction and all its characteristics into fitness. Guys who play WoW … are very intense about whatever they do. Making the same choices in your fitness regimen helps you feel empowered. In video games, you can choose your path, the skills you want to improve, even your outfit. People like to know they have control over their future. You know you’ve improved when you run an extra mile or dead lift another 50 pounds.Ī second motivator in video games is the feeling of freedom and autonomy, Rigby says. That translates well to fitness, where tracking your accomplishments enables you to progress quicker. “There’s an opportunity to develop a mastery that’s very much a key motivator.” “In video games, you’re constantly getting information about your achievements and (learning) how to do things better,” Ryan says. In games, you always know what you have to do to get to the next level. In real life, you get the chance to “level up” only once every couple years: like when you earn a promotion at work or get married. Richard Ryan are co-authors of the book “ Glued to Games: How Video Games Draw Us In and Hold Us Spellbound.” As experts on human motivation, they have identified basic psychological needs – similar to physical needs like food, water and sleep – that video games satisfy.įirst, Ryan says, is the need to feel competent. Still, one has to wonder: What would make a virtual warrior trade in his sword and shield for a pair of dumbbells? The same thing that got him interested in playing video games in the first place, Dr. For example, a runner might have to do yoga, or a bodybuilder might have to tackle a 5K.īrian Wang grew up playing hours of "StarCraft" and "Counter-Strike." Courtesy Brian Wang New levels unlock special challenges or “quests” that are designed to push users out of their comfort zones. The site has 70,000 users in its beta version and hopes to open to the 60,000 on a waiting list in the next couple months.įitocracy members can “level up” by earning points for their workouts. Talens and Wang are the co-founders of Fitocracy, a website that’s turning gaming geeks into fitness geeks. It’s a theory they’re taking to the bank. They can turn that addiction and all its characteristics into fitness.” Guys who play (‘World of Warcraft’) … are very intense about whatever they do. They’re obsessed with improving the stat sheets, getting to the next level they pay a lot of attention to detail. “There’s certain qualities that people have. “People don’t realize that video games are an expression of personality,” Talens said. Why? Because they were – and would always be – gamers. As they shared stories at the gym, they realized their healthy transformation had been easier for them than for most. Courtesy Dick Talensīut by the time the men met at the University of Pennsylvania in 2004, they had traded an obsession with video gaming for an obsession with weight-lifting. Dick Talens weighed 230 pounds in high school before becoming a body builder.
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