Gaming in Motion
By HAWKINS TEAGUE
Staff Writer
After moving to Murray not long ago, Scott and Kim Sengenberger decided they wanted to start a business that would give local children and college students something unusual and fun to do. They settled on something they hoped would get kids off the couch and turn their love of video games into a form of exercise.
The Sengenbergers opened Virtual-Kade about a month ago. For one entry fee, customers can play a variety of popular games on the LCD widescreen televisions that line the wall, as well as several unusual games that could never be played at home.
Kim said that while there places in a few cities featuring interactive entertainment, she hasn't seen one quite like Virtual-Kade.
“There's nothing like this anywhere - we made it up,” she said.
The Sengenbergers are originally from the Chicago area and were familiar with Murray because Kim's parents, Toni Glass and her late husband, Bill, had retired here. They decided to move here earlier this year because they liked the area and because the construction business they were involved with had slowed down. Glass is also part owner of Virtual-Kade.
Kim said that when her children, 11-year-old Cody and 17-year-old Cassie, used to visit their grandparents, they would complain about not having much to do in town. She said Cody uses just about every video game console on the market, so she thought the popularity of those games could draw groups of people to play together, though, she wanted to combine the fun of traditional video games with physical activity.
“We wanted it to be something active so you don't just move your thumbs,” she said.
One of these active games is Dance Dance Revolution, which the Sengenbergers have set up at two stations. While a version of that game can be played at home, there are other games that cannot, such as Makato. For this game, the player stands on a platform surrounded by four posts. The posts have multicolored lights on them and when the lights brighten, a musical tone alerts the player so that he or she can spin around and whack it with a metal rod before the light goes out and another one lights up.
When the game starts, the lights turn on at an almost leisurely pace, but they pick up speed fairly quickly, challenging the player to be ready to lash out in any direction. Kim said it challenges the players' reaction times and provides quite a workout by the end.
For complete story, see Saturday's Ledger & Times
Story created Nov 28, 2008 - 22:34:26 EST.
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