South Africa has become the first country outside the US to receive the Xavix range of TV gaming consoles that encourage physical interaction and contain no violence, says distributor Reviva.
Launched in Cape Town yesterday, the games will go on sale in a number of stores throughout the country, including Pick 'n Pay Hypermarkets, Game, Dion, Stax and Fotocats.
Stefan Rabe, Reviva MD, says the games` main aim is to encourage physical and social interaction between the players and the game without the violence that has been associated with similar games in the past.
"The whole point is to encourage children to physically play and without participating in the violence that many computer games have promoted," he says.
Xavix is a product of Japanese company SSD and 12% of all games and toys sold in that country are powered using its technology. The Xavix range was first introduced into the US in 2004, with baseball, tennis and bowling games. Movie action star Jackie Chan has been the first international licensee and has helped develop games such as boxing and JMat - a running and physical exercise game.
The Xavix system includes a console, a cartridge containing the game, sensors and controllers such as a baseball bat or bowling ball. It can interact with any TV.
Rabe says the range of games is limited to five at the moment: baseball, tennis, 10-pin bowling, golf and JMat. Games to be released over the coming year include bass fishing, skiing, snowboarding, ping-pong, and a home health and fitness manager.
He says Reviva is considering the rental of the games with a third-party, although plans are still at an early stage.
"SA is ahead of the rest of the world in receiving this system, because we begged them so hard for it. Xavix`s first priority has been to sell 1.5 million units in the US before moving into other markets, but SA has become a test case for them," Rabe says.
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