Motivations, Strategies, and Movement Patterns of Video Gamers Playing Nintendo Wii Boxing

Video game consoles that employ physical activity as an interaction mode can benefit from using the gamer’s movement as feedback and adapt to it. But to be able to design such systems we need to know how gamers actually move and what we can infer from this. This paper reports preliminary, qualitative results of a study that aims at identifying playing styles and related movement patterns of gamers that play the Nintendo Wii Boxing game. Interviews of video gamers revealed that they approach the game with two different motivations (to achieve and to relax) that lead to different strategies (game and simulation). A movement analysis study using motion capture data, video recordings, and observer ratings identified three different movement patterns that relate to these strategies.