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Bring back Prop Cycle! That thing got me to exercise!

You might want to check out MadCap Boxing in the arcade. You 'wear' 2 gloves (each has some good weight to it) and motion capture captures your moves. I played it at a local arcade here in town, and actually was sweating by the end of the game. Information about it

Ok, I have done some quick searching and found out that the machine is definitely Arm Champs 2, which was released in 1992. It is not the original Arm Champs because I never recall using that arcade cabinet ever.

Anyway, this machine Arm Champs 2 could probably beat those three weak polymer plastic based arm wrestling robots. This new polymer technology is worse than old tech.

This has also been released in public arcades, In the form of Blade of Honor (Tsurugi) Linkage below: http://www.coinopexpress.com/products/machines/ded icated_machines/Blade_of_Honor_(Tsurugi)_606.html

I'm a huge huge fan of arcade racing games. I've played them all. Everything from Pole Position to the rare Virtua Racing 2. There are exactly two racing games that I would rank as the most realistic.

1) Ferrari 355 Challenge. This is a rare game to find indeed. You can recognize it because of its 3 monitors and bright red ferrariness. This is a large expensive arcade machine and they usually charge like a buck to play. But its as close to a Ferrari as you can get without shelling out $200K.

Here it is

2) Nascar Silicon Alley motor speedway. I think these are all out of business now. But there used to be one in the PPP (Palisades Mall in NY). Its really really big and costs a lot to play. You sit in a full size Nascar "pod" with a projector in front of you and everything is exactly like a real stock car. It's the most realistic driving experience I've ever had. I know it was the real thing because I tried to drive like it was Cruisin' USA and I kept spinning out and not being able to get going again.

Other than that you are going to have to search for actual driving simulators that they use to teach driving. As far as video games go, those are the most realistic.

an old DDR cabinet, KnoppixMAME, StepMania, and a few days of free time. Then I will never have to leave the house again!

If you ask me, the ultimate in geek exercise has got to be Prop Cycle. They hooked a video game into a stationary bike and suddenly a dull ride on a motionless bike become exciting. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to think of variations -- think "Spy Hunter" with bicycles.

are tires (when properly pumped up, heh) flat?

Early wooden wheels were flat discs. Then came spoke construction, which lightened the load. Then came rubber tyres with balloons in them, which remain the most common to this day.

The word "flat" when referring to an inflatable tyre refers to one whose inner tube (essentially a balloon) has lost most of its air pressure difference vs. atmospheric pressure.

And no, a "Pump It Up" machine at your local video arcade will not inflate your vehicle's tyres any more than a "DDR" machine will dispense double-pumped PC memory.

are tires (when properly pumped up, heh) flat?

Early wooden wheels were flat discs. Then came spoke construction, which lightened the load. Then came rubber tyres with balloons in them, which remain the most common to this day.

The word "flat" when referring to an inflatable tyre refers to one whose inner tube (essentially a balloon) has lost most of its air pressure difference vs. atmospheric pressure.

And no, a "Pump It Up" machine at your local video arcade will not inflate your vehicle's tyres any more than a "DDR" machine will dispense double-pumped PC memory.

I've always dreamed of a home port of Prop Cycle...kind of like N64 PilotWings that the guy mentioned. I like the idea of exploring, it seems like races are too dependent on wherever the computer decides to handicap you.

How about Namco's PropCycle, where you flew this pedal powered ultra-light thing and popped balloons. It came out circa 1995.

Or Downhill Bikers? I could see a row of these at the gym.