Indianapolis' Black Expo
Game stations at Black Expo offer chance for kids and adults to try educational, active games July 16, 2015
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Today's video games are designed to get kids moving to help meet exercise goals. Not only are kids getting exercise with these new interactive games, but many of these games are becoming more educational.
Friday afternoon, the Indiana Convention center was filled with Indiana Black Expo visitors as they scoped the place for interesting booths to visit. One particular booth, however, had captured the attention of many young people as well as the adults. Phelco Technologies’ Tech Street allows children, and even parents, to play at all the Game Stop gaming stations and enter tournaments that everyone can participate in. Phelco Technologies is an IT solutions firm headquartered in Indianapolis. Phelco is an information security-based company that partners with many large companies such as Sony, Nintendo, and Game Stop. Tasha Phelps, CEO of Phelco Technologies, has been working with Phelco for 18 years and has been bringing her company to the Expo for five years. “We find it very, very important to give back and expose technology to some that may not have had exposure to some technology,” Phelps said. “My son actually inspired me with the design of this space.” There were multiple stations set up with at least two televisions at each station. Some stations were free of chairs specifically for interactive gamers who like to play the consoles such as the Wii and the Xbox Kinect. Studies have shown that video games can have an educational role to play. Survey has reported that kids who played educational games were less likely to suffer from attention problems at school. “There is a cross between video games and actually learning with these kids,” said Phelps. “They pick up more in that kind of setting. We are now talking about how we can integrate a learning experience in a video game environment.” Shane Walls is the district manager of 14 different Game Stop stores in the Indianapolis area as well as Muncie. Walls also has an 11-year-old son and he feels education games are most important. “There are so many great games that can teach you about life in general and there are a lot of educational games out there,” Walls said. “My son is 11 and the educational games are really all we base it down to for him to play.” Not only is education important but exercise has been one of the main concerns for parents of video gamers. The new trend, “exergaming,” is bringing families together to get off the couch and have fun while working out. Game consoles such as Kinect for Xbox 360, PlayStation Move and the Wii Fit are all examples of exergaming. Even kids understand the importance of staying active. “When you’re sitting down, you’re not getting your exercise but when you’re moving and playing a video game you don’t know that you’re exercising because you’re too busy having fun,” 11-year-old Amari Johnson said. Johnson was playing "Just Dance," a Nintendo Wii game where players hold remotes and follow dancers the screen. Continuous smiles were around the room as children laughed and played for hours on the interactive games getting their exercise in for the day as well. |