Duh, you say. Well, the usefulness of the report suggests that playing video games ain't entirely sedentary, and aren't a threat to actual exercise. Ah, now do you see? Sports games are our friends.
The UK industry group TIGA touted the research, done a by a French business school's sports marketing department. The study found 38 percent of boys (well, males under 21) who played sports games practiced their favorite video game sport in real life. Additionally, the study said 75 percent of all gamers also took part in some kind of real sport.
Granted, that's not adult gamers, where the get-off-your-ass stigma has a different tone, but as most alarmist reports on gaming's impact have a what-about-the-children motivation, this certainly helps there.
"Video games are frequently demonized," said a representative of the French business school. "We now know that these fears are unfounded.There is a strong correlation between playing video games and participating in real sports. Watching television is a threat to physical activity. Video games are not, however."
The entire news release from TIGA is here.
Kids Who Play Sports Games Likely to Play Sports in Real Life [Game Politics]
If anyone's wondering what that image is all about, it's from this feature last year.