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Games Controlled By An Exercise Bike

Posted by Hemos on from the no-more-excues-fat-butt dept.

Fidigit writes "I know that most people reading this won't be _that_ interested in exercise, but given there's tech with it ... What do you think about computer games controlled by an exercise bike in your house? It sounds crazy, but it might just work." Update: 01/14 00:14 GMT by T : An anonymous reader points to another example of the same concept.

12 of 310 comments (clear)

  1. Not news by OldMiner · · Score: 5, Informative

    This has been done several times before. For instance, there is this SNES/Sega/PC/whatever else you want bike which is basically a fancy looking controller and then there's this SNES specific bike, the Life Cycle which I recall being issues in some back issue of Nintendo Power. I think there was even a Pacman-esque game that was supposed to go with it.

    --
    You like splinters in your crotch? -Jon Caldara
    1. Re:Not news by yo303 · · Score: 4, Informative
      I wrote part of the SNES software for the LifeCycle when I worked at Radical Entertainment.

      The Exertainment System is the first truly interactive system that combines aerobic exercise and video entertainment. It consists of a Lifecycle 3500 aerobic trainer, one of the world's most popular computerized exercise bikes, and a Super NES, the world's most popular 16-bit video game system.

      While riding on your Lifecycle 3500, you can use the system to monitor your biking activities (rpm, distance, calories, etc.) or set up a long-term fitness program in the "Program Manager". You can also choose to participate in the game "Mountain Bike Rally". Choose from several riders, several terrains, and several different bikes to have a truly interactive experience.

      It didn't sell very well, but mostly because it wasn't marketed properly. You still see the systems in a some fitness clubs (if you do, enter your name as "ronaye" to see an easter egg picture of my girlfriend at the time.)

      The new system in the article is multiplayer, which should make it a little more fun. It didn't seem to have any feedback to make the pedalling harder, however. That is essential to making the exercise interactive.

      I think systems like this will take off, once they're done right. I mean, plain exercise bikes are already a substitute for real biking, and those are accepted now. "Virtual" exercising systems are just trying to be a step closer to reality.

      yo.

    2. Re:Not news by Voytek · · Score: 3, Informative

      You haven't heard of computrainer?

      I personnaly use a fluid trainer and spinervals videos.

    3. Re:Not news by John+Harrison · · Score: 3, Informative
      I actually purchased a LifeCycle and began to reverse engineer it. I figured out the signals coming from the alternator control board but I don't have the EE type knowldge that I need to make a serial port controlled device to send signals to the control board.

      Anyhow, once you have such a device you could do all sorts of things. Making the pedalling harder would be very simple. My initial plan was to hook it up to the open source version of TuxRacer and have it get harder when you go uphill. A simple version of a MarioKart type game could also be fun on multi-player. The interesting think is that if you had a control device it would be very easy to retrofi any existing LifeCycle to work with such a system.

      Imagine a gym in which you can "race" against the person next to you or against a person across the country.

      --
      Lasers Controlled Games!
  2. Nothing new... by sjehay · · Score: 5, Informative

    See here for a commercially-available product for interfacing turbo trainers and Playstation (2)s that has been around for a while...

  3. It's called DDR... by Tidan · · Score: 3, Informative
    It's calld Dance Dance Revolution or DDR for short. Seems to be a growingly popular thing at college, as there are crazy people that form clubs and hold weekly meetings.

    Read more about it here.

    -Bryan

    --
    free ipod? yeah.
  4. This has been around for a while.. by andres32a · · Score: 4, Informative

    I have been using the http://www.exertris.com/>Exertris for over a year know... Its Great. I personally find exercise quite boring but this does help me get through. The problem is that the number of games are limited.
    You can take a tour at the website to see if one is right for you...

  5. Prop Cycle by kisrael · · Score: 3, Informative

    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.

    --
    SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
    1. Re:Prop Cycle by Chmarr · · Score: 3, Informative

      Prop Cycle was probably the first 'work hard' video game I ever played. I thought it was great... and I was the only one that played decently in my groupoffriends: I bicycle a lot, and have the stamina for it :)

  6. Namco's "Prop Cycle" by ewhac · · Score: 3, Informative

    One example of an arcade game employing a stationary bike was Prop Cycle from Namco. You flew a pedal-powered flying bicycle around, running into balloons and flying through hazards to score points.

    I thought it was whimsical and a lot of fun, but it never showed up at many arcades.

    Schwab

    --
    Editor, A1-AAA AmeriCaptions
  7. Arcade.. by dimer0 · · Score: 3, Informative

    I know this story says *computer* games, but it appears some of the posters here haven't been to an arcade in a while..

    There is a downhill bike game now, which is way fun. You get done, you're hurting.

    Anyone ever see that two-person rafting game? .. That hurt too.

    The horse-racing game? .. 8 of those horses side by side... Way fun.

    The new motion-cap (I guess this is what you'd call them) games are WILD too -- there's this one that you stand in this one place and hold a gun - and to duck around corners to fire, well, you duck around a corner. If you need to drop to the floor to avoid gunfire, you drop to the floor. I didn't think it would be that much of exercise, but wow.

    At home - I've fallen in love with DDRMax on the PS2. I have two of the hard dance platforms now -- it's the most exercise (aerobic) I've gotten in a long time. When my friends come over - it's turned on automatically - huge party hit. Mix beer with it, it gets really fun.

    Ok - ramble stops now. I just love video games. :)

  8. Re:Been there, done that... by Sparr0 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Prop Cycle, which came out under a couple of other names too, was my favorite excercise game. I used to play it a lot at the local arcade. Much more fun than any other excercise I have gotten. By far the best arcade game with serious excercise involved. Too bad it didnt include a multiplayer mode, deathmatch (with little guns on the cycle) would have been amazing fun.