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Virtual dance!

Now, a game pad that actually helps you dance and stay fit

PHOTO: BIJOY GHOSH

FUN AND FITNESS Swami Venkat.

As the avid gamer is slumped in front of the computer screen, dealing out horrifying deaths to slimy animated monsters, you can usually spot a parent sighing over this ignominious sight somewhere in the background.

But with games by Red Octane, a California-based games and accessories development company, parents can lose some of that anxiety as these games are non-violent, promote physical fitness and are fun to play. Find it hard to believe? Read on.

One of Red Octane's two products are dance pads — 2 feet by 2 feet pads with arrow keys on them that function more or less like a normal game pad, except that instead of using your fingers to press the buttons, you stand on the pad and use your feet. The pad is plugged into a gaming console such as the Playstation 2, and is compatible with any dancing game that's in the market.

The company's own dancing game for example, In the Groove, works something like this - a dance track plays in the background, and arrows appear on the screen in time to the music, instructing you which way you should move your feet. And you end up dancing, and you get your score depending on whether your steps were right or not.

And if it sounds easy, well, it's not. Swami Venkat, vice-president, India Operations, Red Octane, admits he can't get to the third stage, `average' (there are five, from `novice' up to `expert'). Srinivasan, one of the employees who took up the task of setting up a demo for us, leaps, twists and turns as per the on-screen instructions, but within 20 minutes, he is too winded to continue.

Which is why addiction isn't a problem here — the gamer cannot spend more than 30 minutes for sheer want of energy!

Another product that the company launched is Guitar Hero, a guitar-based Play Station 2 game. The gamer runs his or her finger across a digital guitar, in time to a bunch of 80s hits such as Smoke On That Water and Ace of Spades - that appear on the screen along with their tablature.

Venkat said the game has been a hit in the U.S., with over 4,00,000 units sold since the game was launched. In Europe, the company's production capacity is unable to meet the retailer demand.

The product isn't available in India yet, but will be in soon, according to Venkat. Especially since the company already has a centre in Chennai. It was set up in April 2005 to tap India's potential as a market for gaming development.

He said India is a good gaming market, and companies such as Electronic Arts are focussing on Indian operations, and other internationally recognised game studios are also considering India for offshore games design and development. He said that Red Octane plans to develop the gaming development industry here as well as attack the local market.

"Guitar Hero will probably be in by September," he said.

ABHINAV RAMNARAYAN

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