Video Games in Gym Class - DDR 101?

"Saige writes: 'When I was in school, gym class was basketball, running laps, and icky locker rooms. Today, kids get to play video games - and get credit for them! No, it is not as bad as it seems. Apparently, someone has become clued in that Dance Dance Revolution promotes physical activity, and a school in California is making use of that. Can I go back and retake gym?' " [Slashdot]

We still love DDR at our house, and every time a new kid sees it, they're hooked. The kids wouldn't be at all surprised to find it in their school someday.

Pac-Man

"With its canary-yellow Everyblob hero, its masterfully simple design and its abstract realm where even death was a cheerful event, Pac-Man brought video gaming out of the bars and into the malls....

Video games have become a part of contemporary life. The kids who grew up steering Pac-Man around his dot-filled maze have grown up to make video games one of the biggest slices of the entertainment-industry pie. Yet no game to date has come close to dominating the popular landscape the way Pac-Man did in the early 1980s. Certainly, the novelty of both the game and the medium itself was a major factor in creating the Pac-phenomenon. But all the later and equally novel video game landmarks -- Donkey Kong and Mario, Street Fighter, Myst, Doom, the Sims -- are eclipsed by Pac-Man's gigantic, canary-yellow sun." [Salon]