Gamers No Longer Need To Be Fat
Remember those occasional articles that appear in the newspapers about how Dance Dance Revolution has been used by numerous fat kids to shed unwanted bulges? Well, guess what? If you happen to be fatter than the queen of sea-cows, you now have another option when it comes to combining fitness and video games thanks to a device known as “the Gamebike” created by Cateye Fitness:
The Gamebike looks like an ordinary stationary cycle, similar to those found in health clubs across America. The most obvious difference is the attached television screen which is connected to a gaming console (PS1/2, Xbox, or GameCube).
Built for the racing genre, the Gamebike lets users control the pace of their peddling and resistance in order to adjust their speed in-game. Players can alter direction by pivoting the bike’s handlebars. A controller is needed for menu navigation, however.
Personally, I think this is a really cool idea that has a potentially huge audience. I really don’t understand why more developers aren’t teaming up with fitness equipment companies and thus helping to create a bunch of svelte, muscular gamers who will one day seek revenge against the bullies who made our lives miserable in grade school.
GameBike Proves There is More to Healthy Gaming than Just DDR [GamePolitics]
Boy of Tomorrow
Posted to on 23 December 2006
· Comments (8)
Other stuff like this: dance dance revolution, fat gamers getting sexy, gamebike, gamepolitics, racing games
Crap, why can’t I just be fat?
Anyway, even though this gadget looks nifty, I don’t see it working in a fun way.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure some games will be cool, but I really don’t think it’ll fit with the racing genre unless developers take into account the way this device handles the controls.
This is old stuff. They had a similar, and VERY expensive version of this for the SNES about 10 years ago that they advertised on Informercials. They also had a much cheaper genesis version that attached to an existing exercise bike with an IR sensor. Either way, neither sold very well. Most people don’t want to move when they are getting their TV on, video game or not (with the possible exception of the Wii, but that doesn’t even break a sweat.)
Huh, remnds me of a fun (Namco?) arcade game where you fly an unltralight plane that ran on a bicycle, so you had to pedal to gain altitude and hit ballons and rings.
I can see a console port of that working real well.
My sister has a bike that connects to the PC and allegedly controls just about any game. Problem is: To reach top speed in games like NFS, you have to really sprint all the time – not even fit gamers can keep that going for long. Also, to decelerate you need to slow down your pedaling for a few seconds which makes for a very awkward rythm that could be potentially unhealthy.
Suffice it to say it doesen’t see much use..
Now, a couple of friends brought the Wii over yesterday for a bit of Wii as well as Rabbid Sports. These really get your blood pumping. Granted, you are not really exercising in any muscle-tone improving way, but you still burn calories. Now, If only the minigames (excluding maybe bowling and – despite control issues I still have after complaining about it on the beta – boxing) were any fun and you actually accomplished anything by frantically swinging your arms, maybe we dont really need exercycles after all. I’m holding out for Wario Ware for innovative mini games.
Lucky my office is right next to the gym though, I wouldnt want to be seen doing those crazy moves all day in out showroom :D
Maybe not a racing game, but my friend and I have talked more than once about how cool it would be to have a biking fitness game with the environmental beauty of, say, Shadow of the Colossus or ICO.
If it were visually stunning and included a co-op mode, I might enjoy it. It might even be cool to let people unlock stuff depending on whether they can complete an 8-week fitness plan ;)
It might be nice to have racing modes too. Right now I watch TV while I use the stationary bike… but I think it might be nice to get my game on instead.
i feel as though people will buy this, use it for a few days, get bored, and then leave it in the middle of their living room clogging up all their space. personally, i just recommend tying light weights to your arms and start playing with your wii. works just as fine
You know, like sex and club dancing, I somehow doubt waving the wiimote around actually burns many calories.
But it is bloody fun, and maybe the minor exertion from playing with their Wiis will get people curious enough to engage in more exercise.
Viva la Wii!
I’m diabetic, and sex and long bouts of Wii Boxing (or some of the Rayman minigames) both reduce my blood sugar by a lot. And in both cases, if you don’t break a sweat you’re not doing it either long enough or hard enough.
I’m not going to lie and say the Wii is more fun, but it’s definitely more accessible and involves less cleanup.