Amusing Ourselves to Life: Fitness Consumerism and the Birth of Bio-Games

Journal of Sport and Social Issues

Volumn 38, Issue 6, 2014, Pages 491-508

  Millington, Brad ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF BATH   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

fitness; foucault; neoliberalism; sport; video games

Indexed keywords

EID: 84911014166     PISSN: 01937235     EISSN: 15527638     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0193723512458932     Document Type: Article

References (71)

1. Alasuutari P.Rethinking the media audience: The new agenda. Alasuutari P., ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage; 1999:1-21.
2. Andrejevic A.Reality TV: The work of being watched. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield; 2004:
3. BoyesE. (2007). EA bring “family play” to Wii games. Retrieved from http://news.cnet.com/2110-1043_3-6195044.html
4. Brainage.com. (2007). Retrieved from http://www.brainage.com/launch/index.jsp
5. Camacho M.Sport, rhetoric, and gender: Historical perspectives and media representations. Fuller L., ed. New York, NY: Palgrave; 2006:145-157.
6. Carlisle Duncan M.Sports photographs and sexual difference: Images of women and men in the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games.Sociology of Sport Journal. 1990;7 (1): 22-43
7. Carlisle Duncan M.The politics of women’s body images and practices: Foucault, the panopticon, and.Shape Sport & Social Issues. 1994;18 (1): 48-65
8. Carrington B.,Andrews D. L.,Jackson S. J.,Mazur Z.Michael Jordan, Inc.: Corporate sport, media culture, and late modern America. Andrews D. L., ed. Albany: State University of New York Press; 2001:177-216.
9. Chambers D.‘Wii play as a family’: The rise in family-centred video gaming.Leisure Studies. 2012;31:69-82
10. Cole C. L.,Giardina M. D.,Andrews D. L.Sport and modern social theorists. Giulianotti R., ed. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan; 2004:207-223.
11. Deleuze G.Deleuze G.Negotiations, 1972-1990. New York, NY: Columbia Press; 1995:177-182.
12. DuhiggC.BarbozaB. (2012). In China, human costs are built into an iPad. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/business/ieconomy-apples-ipad-and-the-human-costs-for-workers-in-china.html?_r=2&hp
13. Dworkin S. L.,Wachs F. L.Body panic: Gender, health, and the selling of fitness. New York: New York University Press; 2009:
14. Dyer-Witheford N.,Sharman Z.The political economy of Canada’s video and computer game industry.Canadian Journal of Communication. 2005;30:187-210
15. Economist.com. (2010). Play on. Video games have proved to be recession-proof – so far, at least. Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/node/12815694
16. Fitbrains.com. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.fitbrains.com/
17. Foucault M.The history of sexuality, volume 1: An introduction. London, UK: Penguin; 1978:
18. Foucault M.The essential Foucault: Selections from essential works of Foucault, 1954-1984. Rabinow P.Rose N., ed. New York: The New Press; 1994:229-245.
19. Francombe J.“I cheer, you cheer, we cheer”: Physical technologies and the normalized body.Television & New Media. 2010;11:350-366
20. Frank A.Consuming health: The commodification of health care. Henderson S.Petersen A. R., ed. New York, NY: Routledge; 2002:13-30.
21. Gray A.Video playtime. The gendering of a leisure technology. New York, NY: Routledge; 1992:
22. Haggerty K. D.,Ericson R. V.The surveillant assemblage.British Journal of Sociology. 2000;51:605-622
23. Halse C.Biopolitics and the ‘obesity epidemic’. Governing bodies. Wright J.Harwood V., ed. New York, NY: Routledge; 2009:45-59.
24. Happyneuron.com. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.happy-neuron.com/
25. Haraway D.Simians, cyborgs, women: The reinvention of nature. New York, NY: Routledge; 1991:
26. HartleyM. (2009). I broke a sweat for Wii Fit, but it called me names. Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/i-broke-a-sweat-for-wii-fit-but-it-called-me-names/article686563/
27. Harvey D.The enigma of capital and the crises of capitalism. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press; 2010:
28. Higgs P.,Leontowitsch M.,Stevenson F.,Jones I. R.Not just old and sick – the ‘will to health’ in later life.Ageing & Society. 2009;29:687-707
29. IGN.com. (2008). Wii Fit: The professional opinion. Retrieved from http://wii.ign.com/articles/869/869127p1.html
30. IrwinM. J. (2008). Wii gets fitness. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/2008/05/19/wii-fit-trial-tech-personal-cx_mji_0519techwii.html
31. Jette S.Fit for two? A critical discourse analysis of Oxygen fitness magazine.Sociology of Sport Journal. 2006;23:331-351
32. Katz L.,Rubin M.Keep your brain alive. New York, NY: Workman Publishing Company; 1999:
33. King S.Pink Ribbons Inc.: Breast cancer and the politics of philanthropy. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press; 2006:
34. Kline S.,Dyer-Witheford N.,de Peuter G.Digital play. The interaction of technology, culture, and marketing. Kingston, Ontario, Canada: McGill-Queen’s Press; 2003:
35. Laird G.The price of a bargain. The quest for cheap and the death of globalization. Toronto, Canada: McClelland & Stewart Ltd; 2009:
36. Laslett P.A fresh map of life: The emergence of the third age. London, UK: Weidenfield and Nicholson; 1989:
37. Latour B.Reassembling the social: An introduction to Actor-Network Theory. Oxford, UK: Oxford Press; 2005:
38. Leonard D. J.Not a hater, just keepin’ it real. The importance of race- and gender-based game studies.Games & Culture. 2006;1 (1): 83-88
39. LewisL. (2010). Nintendo to investigate Foxconn deaths. Retrieved from http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article7138927.ece
40. LewisN. (2009). “Exergaming”maycombat kids’ sedentary lifestyles. Retrieved from http://www.calgaryherald.com/Health/Exergaming+combat+kids+sedentary+lifestyles/1711808/story.html
41. Loguidice B.,Barton M.Vintage games: An insider look at the history of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the most influential games of all time. Burlington, MA: Focal Press; 2009:
42. Lucas S.Nike’s commercial solution: Girls, sneakers, and salvation.International Review for the Sociology of Sport. 2000;35 (2): 149-164
43. MacNeill M.Sport and postmodern times. Rail G., ed. Albany, NY: SUNY Press; 1998:163-184.
44. MarketWatch. (2012). Nintendo to probe Foxconn conditions: Report. Retrieved from http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nintendo-to-probe-foxconn-conditions-report-2010-05-28
45. Markula P.,Pringle R.Foucault, sport & exercise: Power, knowledge and transforming the self. New York, NY: Routledge; 2006:
46. Massanari A. L.Social exclusion, power, and video game play: New research in digital media and technology. Embrick D. G.Wright J. T.Lukacs A., ed. Plymouth, UK: Lexington Books; 2012:117-140.
47. McDonald M.Sport, culture and advertising: Identities, commodities and the politics of representation. Jackson S. J.Andrews D. L., ed. New York, NY: Routledge; 2005:24-38.
48. Miller T.,Lawrence G.,McKay J.,Rowe D.Modifying the sign: Sport and globalization.Social Text. 1999;17 (3): 15-33
49. Millington B.Wii has never been modern: ‘Active’ video games and the ‘conduct of conduct’.New Media and Society. 2009;11 (4): 621-640
50. Millington B.,Wilson B.Media consumption and the contexts of physical culture: Methodological reflections on a ‘Third Generation’ study of media audiences.Sociology of Sport Journal. 2010;27 (1): 20-53
51. MillingtonB. (2011). Amusing ourselves to life: New media and the politics of interactivity (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
52. Millington B.Use it or lose it: Ageing and the politics of brain training.Leisure Studies. 2012;31 (4): 429-446
53. Mossman K.Brain trainers.Scientific American Mind. 2009;20 (2): 32-39
54. Nintendo.com. (2008a). Iwata Asks. Retrieved from http://www.nintendo.com/Wii/what/iwataasks/volume-1/part-1
55. Nintendo.com. (2008b). Wii Fit. Retrieved from http://www.nintendo.com/Wiifit/launch
56. Postman N.Amusing ourselves to death. Public discourse in the Age of Show Business. New York, NY: Viking; 1985:
57. Public Health Agency of Canada. (2002). ‘Canadian Paediatric Society, College of Family Physicians and Canadian Teachers’ Federation call for urgent action to boost physical activity levels in children and youth’. Retrieved from http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/pau-uap/paguide/child_youth/media/realease.html
58. Rabinow P.Rabinow P.Essays on the anthropology of reason. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Press; 1996:91-111.
59. Rabinow P.,Rose N.Biopower today.BioSocieties. 2006;1 (2): 195-217
60. Rich E.,Miah A.Prosthetic surveillance: The medical governance of healthy bodies in cyberspace.Surveillance & Society. 2009;6 (2): 163-177
61. Rose N.Powers of freedom: Reframing political thought. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Press; 1999:
62. Rose N.The politics of life itself. Biomedicine, power, and subjectivity in the Twenty-First Century. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press; 2007:
63. Rose N.,Novas C.Global assemblages: Technology, politics, and ethics as anthropological problems. Ong A.Collier S. J., ed. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing; 2004:439-463.
64. Sage G.Sociology of Sport Journal. Justice do it! The Nike transnational advocacy network: Organization, collective actions, and outcomes; 1999:206-235.
65. SapiehaC. (2008). Wii Fit: Made for mothers. Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/video-games/controller-freak/Wii-fit-made-for-mothers/article686044/
66. SapiehaC. (2010). Microsoft’s Kinect sets new standard for motion control. Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/gadgets-and-gear/gadgets/review-microsofts-kinect-sets-new-standard-for-motion-control/article1784987/
67. SinfieldG. (2006). Nintendo Power – “Ahead of the game”. Retrieved from http://brainage.com/launch/_downloads/NintendoPower_AheadOfTheGame.zip
68. Smith Maguire J.Fit for consumption: Sociology and the business of fitness. Madison, NY: Routledge; 2008:
69. Us.Wii.com. (2008). Iwata Asks: Wii Fit. Retrieved from http://us.Wii.com/Wii-fit/iwata_asks/vol1_page1.jsp
70. Wright J.Critical inquiry and problem-solving in physical education. Wright J.Macdonald D.Burrows L., ed. London, UK: Routledge; 2004:183-196.
71. Biopolitics and the ‘obesity epidemic’. Governing bodies. Wright J.Harwood V., ed. New York, NY: Routledge; 2009: