Due to advances in technology, virtual sports have become more and more popular with the presence of gaming consoles, such as Wii and Xbox Kinect. They change the way how people do sports. People may think that virtual sports can be good substitutes of real sports to keep themselves fit. However, it is likely that it is not the case.
First of all, the overall experience of virtual sports is not as good as that of real sports. In Hong Kong, most people are living in small and crowded flats. This limits the extent of our body movements while engaging in virtual sports. Imagine doing virtual sports within 10 square feet, one must glare at the television screen and hold the remote control. Definitely, this will not give you a sense of comfort. Also, it would appear that the remote control only measures the movements of our hands. One will never have to sprint or dash to reach the balls. This means that it is possible to do virtual sports while sitting on the sofa. With so many limitations, it is undoubtedly true that the health effects of virtual sports cannot be taken on most of the body parts. Unlike real sports, every muscle will be involved in our movements. We can draw a tentative conclusion that real sports are still better choices on keeping fit.
Second, virtual sports do not enable much interaction with teammates. Although people may argue that they can have online battles with their friends or multi-player gameplay, the cooperation in the games is still limited. Sometimes, the opponents may be someone you have never known or just a computer-generated character. But in real life, you can challenge your best friends, responding to their moves, seeing each other improve while having fun. Also, you can give commands or respond to your teammates immediately. However, the in-game video chats or messages will get delayed due to slow network speed or low stability. This may widen the distance between teammates while doing sports.
Thirdly, playing a gaming console for virtual sports can be costly. For example, a new generation of Wii will cost about $2600 to $3100. This fund can be used to buy the best equipment of certain sports, such as tennis rackets. This high-end equipment may help us boost our performance in real life and we can choose equipment that suits ourselves the most. Unlike real sports, virtual sports will not offer such options. It should also be noticed that we will have to purchase game discs for additional games. This will cost an addition of a few hundred dollars.
Although it may not be true that virtual sports are not the best substitute for real sports, there are some good points that make the three thousand dollars worth paying. In Hong Kong, people are busy and live at a fast pace. They are not likely to have spare time to engage in real sports. So, virtual sports may be the best option for them to engage in sports as it is convenient to play and less time-consuming. Moreover, we can gain experience in playing certain sports that are less likely to be played in real life. For example, Hong Kong does not have parachute games offered for citizens.
Moreover, virtual sports are considered to be suitable for almost everyone. Since the extent of body movement is not vigorous and only our hands are involved, even the elderly or patients of low mobility can play. A small amount of exercise helps to keep them healthy and boost recovery. Since we can adjust the level of difficulty easily by ourselves, we can choose the one that fits our ability. So, we can learn to do sports gradually without assistance.
There is a very low tendency for people to get hurt while playing virtual sports. Since the extent of body movements is small and the difficulty is adjusted to our level, we can do sports in an easy way without challenges.
In addition, the achievement system, the stunning graphic and realistic sound effects provide players with motivation and incentive. This helps us to keep track with the games and we will never feel bored.
It would seem that virtual sport is good for every one and we would be willing to pay for it. However, the real significance of doing sports is to make us strong and keep us healthy. One the other hand, it is extremely likely that we cannot burn many calories while doing virtual sports which seem to be a mere sort of entertainment. While virtual sports are really entertaining, their values on keeping us fit and healthy cannot be compared to that of real sports. Moreover, it lacks the basic values of sports, such as sportsmanship and team spirits. So, I would draw a conclusion that real sports will be a better alternative due to these values.