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New Gamepad Designed To Build Muscles?

Robmonster writes "The BBC are reporting a story about a product designed to address both exercise and videogaming in one fell swoop. According to the piece: 'A new type of gamepad from a US fitness equipment company aims to turn the couch potato gamer stereotype on its head. The Kilowatt controller by Powergrid Fitness is designed to build up muscle while playing a PlayStation 2, Xbox or PC game." The article explains: "In a racing game like Gran Turismo, the harder you push on the joystick, the faster a car goes, while pulling back slows down the vehicle."

38 of 441 comments (clear)

  1. White House Approved Lifestyle by Eyah....TIMMY · · Score: 4, Funny

    We might need it as the White House recommends we eat junk food (usually the preffered gaming food) as long as we excercise.

    The World Health Organization recommends eating better but they have probably never played video games.

    --

    It is not enough to have a good mind. The main thing is to use it well. - Rene Descartes (1637)
  2. not new. by bludstone · · Score: 4, Funny

    Its called a dance dance revolution pad, and those have been around for years.

    (I obviously havnt read the article)

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    no .sig
    1. Re:not new. by MoonFog · · Score: 2, Funny

      I remember the "Summer olympics" games back in the days, where the runner ran faster the faster you moved the joystick back and forth. We (me and some friends) picked up an old amiga some months ago, and tried it again.. My arm hurt for weeks after that....

    2. Re:not new. by FatAlb3rt · · Score: 5, Funny

      [whispering] Tommy, I wouldn't mess with him ... he plays video games!

    3. Re:not new. by micromoog · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's way older than that . . . the NES Power Pad showed up in the 80s. It may have encouraged a bit of exercise at first, but kids quickly discovered that if you pushed the pads with your fingers instead of your feet, you could easily make the character run at instant-heart-attack speeds.

    4. Re:not new. by TopShelf · · Score: 2, Funny

      Heck, we used to play Olympic Decathlon on my old TRS-80, in which you ran as fast as you could tap two alternating keys. Talk about an instant case of Repetitive Stress injuries...

      It was fun, though!

      --
      Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
    5. Re:not new. by ooby · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well the Kilowatt will end up in the closet on top of the Power Pad, the Power Glove, the Sega Activator, and that arm wrestling coin-op.

    6. Re:not new. by prockcore · · Score: 2, Funny

      I remember the "Summer olympics" games back in the days, where the runner ran faster the faster you moved the joystick back and forth.

      That game was the quickest way to break an Apple][e joystick.

      I remember Nintendo put out the Power Pad for that game.. great leg workout, although most people just knelt down and hit the pad with their hands.

  3. I can see it now... by tinrobot · · Score: 4, Funny

    Geeky gamers with Popeye arms...

    1. Re:I can see it now... by tommck · · Score: 4, Funny

      I thought most of them already had Popeye arms from ... well... you know...

      --
      ---- It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again. It does this whenever it's told.
    2. Re:I can see it now... by frodo+from+middle+ea · · Score: 4, Funny

      from pressing CTR-ALT-DEL ?

      --
      for the last time people, I am "frodo from middle eaRTH", not "middle eaST".
    3. Re:I can see it now... by tommck · · Score: 3, Funny

      well, actually I alternate occasionally... it feels like someone else is doing it... :)

      --
      ---- It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again. It does this whenever it's told.
  4. This is great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now I can give up my total reliance on masterbating for exercise!

    1. Re:This is great by greygent · · Score: 4, Funny

      Still, it's always good to include masturbation as a part of your fitness regime, for a couple reasons:

      1.) It builds strong forearm muscles (Make sure to swap hands, occasionally for equal development of both forearms. Hey, it's "like a new lover!").

      2.) Good for the prostrate and related muscles.

  5. Change of tact? by KingDaveRa · · Score: 2, Funny

    So, we're constanly being told to go careful with mice, keyboards and controllers, to avoid RSI and Carpal Tunnel, yet this company is selling something which makes you do the opposite? Apparantly we'll all have massive arms and bodies, but not actually be able to move them.

  6. So they're saying... by tuxette · · Score: 2, Funny
    ...that I can get fit and strong by playing computer games the same way I can get a six pack while watching TV by wearing one of those electro-shock belts?

    Woohoo! Bring it on!

    --
    People say I'm crazy, I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes...
  7. If you want a workout by ilsie · · Score: 4, Funny

    try playing Soul Calibur II with a Dance Dance Revolution pad.

  8. Aha! by AgentOJ · · Score: 2, Funny

    Now we know how the characters from Final Fantasy VII got their physiques! To gain their popeye-esque arm structure they used this gaming pad!

  9. Sweat by verloren · · Score: 2, Funny

    So now you get to be the sweaty fat kid in gym class, but in the comfort of your own home.

  10. Re:Nintendo had this in the 80's, it was a flop. by dustinbarbour · · Score: 2, Funny

    I had a PowerPad! I'd play World Class Track Meet on it with my friends. My parents hated it since my room was upstairs and you could hear our pounding and running from the other side of the house. It was great!

  11. Woo Hoo by Saint+Stephen · · Score: 2, Funny

    I for one welcome our freakishly strong forearmed child overlords.

    Seriously -- rememeber the Chris Farley Skit: "My God, these Hideously Oversized and Freakishly Strong Children Will Surely Rise Up And Destroy Us?"

  12. Re:This would be more helpful by Nutt · · Score: 4, Funny

    If that existed I'd give it about a day (max) for someone to post on here a way to hook up a v8 engine to turn/power/whatever the device and be able to compile gentoo with every package in ONLY 15 MINUTES!

  13. Re:Nintendo had this in the 80's, it was a flop. by nojomofo · · Score: 2, Funny

    I thought that the best part was having the "full-contact 100-meter dash", where in the running races it was fair game to push the guy next to you off of the pad.

  14. Re:We need a total body workout by jx100 · · Score: 2, Funny

    well, Nintendo's going to release Donkey Konga...

  15. York has a new fitness game for geeks... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...called 'Gravity Warrior.' Instead of a joystick, it uses a metallic bar as the gaming device. You load a series of 'mass regulators' onto each end of the game controller. It creates a very dramatic simulation of gravity that is much more realistic than some force feedback joystick. I've played Gravity Warrior until my arms could no longer move! Its most safely played with two players. The post-game ritual includes a series of high-fives and mutual butt slapping irregardless of who actually won the game as show of good sportsmanship. Gravity Warrior gamers greet each other with the secret code words 'whatcha bench?' in sign of community brotherhood.

  16. Re:What the hell is this? by OriginalSpaceMan · · Score: 2, Funny

    LOL, Like sending a foot to Mars?

    --

    You talk better than you fool!
  17. Oh yea? by tacokill · · Score: 2, Funny

    Puffing? I get plenty of that already. That's the reason I smoke when I play video games...

  18. Why buy? by TheConfusedOne · · Score: 4, Funny

    Just go into the local bar and insult the biggest guy in there.

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    --- I wish I could hear the soundtrack to my life. That way I'd know when to duck.
  19. This is a step from the wrong direction. by Hoplite3 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Bah, home fitness videogame gizmos indeed. What they REALLY need is to hook up the old Paperboy game to a stationary bike. You'd have a screen to see a first-person view of the neighborhood, a "mirror" region to see the dogs chasing you, and a button to throw papers. You could have fun while riding the damned bike. How hard is that?

    I'm serious. They already as gizmos about calories burned, heart rate, miles traveled, and other crap to these bikes for infotainment. Why not take the next step? Hell, you could make people pay for rides with quarters and turn every fitness club in the country into an arcade.

    --
    Use the Firehose to mod down Second Life stories!
  20. don't gamer's already have that motion down? by dh003i · · Score: 2, Funny

    I mean, don't most people who sit around and game all day basically have the motions dealing with lower arm strength all pat and down? After so many repetitive...strokes...they must have pretty strong brachioradials.

  21. Even older... by phorm · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's called pr0n. It's been around for a very long time, and geeks have been exercising their arms with it since near the beginning. Modern versions included usage of such tools as "edonkey" or "newgroups"

  22. Re:What the hell is this? by daddymac · · Score: 2, Funny

    So instead of carpal-tunnel everyone will get torsal-tunnel, is that better? :)

    --
    If something I said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, I meant the other one.
  23. Dr. Nanny, Ph.D? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Back in highschool we found that some of best lifts for cranking your max were incremental lifts, stop 10 times up and down, you could only do about 1/2 as many reps as you would normally do with that weight. You'd only want to do this on your last rep. Incidentally Fran Dresser (the Nanny gal) claims that her secret to looking good (say what you will about her voice, she has a nice bod) is isometric excercises anytime she sits.

    Thanks for letting us know Dr. Fran Dresser's latest research on the subject of physiology. This, coupled with the detailed studies you conducted in high school has given me the confidence to give up my doctor-approved workout regimine and adopt something that takes less time and effort.

    Buddy, I hate to tell you but celebs are not a wonderful source of fitness knowledge. Most of them are genetically very lucky and would look pretty damn good regardless of what they do.

  24. Re: In other news... by fafaforza · · Score: 2, Funny

    The progress of technology crawled to a halt after the performance of software compilers and other critical system functionalities were tied directly to the physical performance of software engineers.

    Experts in the field were quoted as saying that the majority of software development is now done on the equivalent of 486/MHz machines.

  25. Damn! I thought of this. by AlecC · · Score: 2, Funny

    I though of this years ago. Except I was going to take it at a lower level. And it was the bad old days of dial up with a 14.4K modem. Stop pedalling and your screen goes dark. Pedal gently to keep the screen alive. Pedal faster for net access - the faster you pedal, the greater your baud rate. Trouble is, I was frightened of a heart attack as you try to load pages from a slow site, not realising that it is their fault, not yours, that the download is slow. And the danger of downloading prOn is frighting ("just a bit fastaer and I'll see....").

    --
    Consciousness is an illusion caused by an excess of self consciousness.
  26. Another right handed exercise.. by phelix_da_kat · · Score: 3, Funny
    "In a racing game like Gran Turismo, the harder you push on the joystick, the faster a car goes, while pulling back slows down the vehicle."

    Ok, you get a strong right hand, right arm, right everyting..

    There are other exercises you can do to achieve the same result :-D

    We should stick to Dance Revolution, at least the side effect is that you can pretend to have a fit.

  27. Here's a game for the upper body.... by Arcanix · · Score: 2, Funny

    Every other day lift pieces of metal (sometimes called weights) with your biceps, triceps, shoulders, neck, etc., keep increasing the number of repetitions until it becomes incredibly easy then increase the weights and do it again!

    Note that this game is my invention and I do charge a royalty to use it.

  28. Re:We need a total body workout by Guppy06 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Unless you're one of those mythical female geeks, I do not want to hear about what your legs look like.