EA Sports President Peter Moore has thrown down the gauntlet, challenging U.S. President Barack Obama to a “30-day EA Sports Active Challenge” to prove that not all videogames are turning kids into fat, lazy slobs.
Videogames have been squarely in Obama’s sights over the past couple of weeks. GamePolitics says he has equated videogaming with underachievement three times in the past ten days, beginning with comments made in a speech to the American Medical Association in which he said parents need to cut back on kids’ gaming to ensure they lead an active lifestyle. “[Preventive care] starts with each of us taking more responsibility for our health and the health of our children,” he said. “It means… raising our children to step away from the video games and spend more time playing outside.”
But them’s is fightin’ words in the eyes of Moore, who said that while he “applauds” the President for urging Americans to become more active, “it may be time for the President and his family to put their Wii to good use and fire up the 30-Day Challenge with EA Sports Active.”
“I know he’s in pretty good shape, but I guarantee the President wouldn’t look quite so smooth walking across the White House lawn to Marine One the morning after his first session,” Moore wrote on his blog. “Mr. President, here is my challenge to you: Try EA Sports Active and I guarantee you’ll need aides saying ‘Yes You Can!’ to finish your first workout.”
It’s doubtful that Obama reads Peter Moore’s blog (or GamesIndustry) but regardless of the likelihood of Obama accepting the challenge, or how serious Moore was when he made it, he did touch on one very valid point. “I’d be willing to bet there are more consoles getting far more use in American homes than there is exercise equipment, so it’s up to us to continue to use the platform for good,” he wrote. Nobody is going to argue that physical activity isn’t an important part of a healthy lifestyle but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to argue that gaming can’t be a part of that.
