Using a Treadmill and Wiimotes To Run and Fly in Aion

MMO fans may recall news from last year when a treadmill was hooked into World of Warcraft so players could run in real life to make their characters run, getting exercise while playing. Now, with the release of Aion, which features characters with wings, the makers of the Robopult decided to take it a step further. Reader wintersynth writes "We hooked a treadmill and Wiimotes through BlueTooth and GlovePIE to Aion so we could take advantage of the run/fly sequences and get fit while we play the game. It's kind of like interval training, which is supposed to burn more fat and be better for cardio. It's too tough to play this way all the time, but for a quest a day, it might be perfect."

Comments

Exercise AND level grinding?

[MrMage]

That's a sure way to kick the MMO addiction quickly.

Re:Exercise AND level grinding?

[es330td]

Either that or we'd have a country full of very fit former couch potatoes.

This is nothing...

[VinylRecords]

I beat Metal Gear Solid 4 by using nothing but a leaf blower and a rake.

The death of the PL teams!

[Erick Lionheart]

Considering how many people were using companies like http://www.gamersloot.net/ to get characters leveled for them as they didn't want to have to click too much, i don't see this becoming too common! =b Then again, maybe that's why those guys dropped the PL thing and just offer keys and such now. Pushed out of a business because gamers became fitness addicts? Who'd have thought!

Do some real exercise if you want to get in shape

[MrWerewolf]

This looks like a neat and innovative way to increase player's activity. Which is good, since most mmo players don't get nearly enough exercise and increased activity helps in general. Nintendo even tries to get their players more physically involved with their wii. However, it's not a substitute for real exercise. If you're getting winded after 2 min of activity (the duration stated in the article), you're not in shape; and stopping after you're a little tired won't help you much either. While an increase in activity is good in general, don't think this type of thing is the holy grail to gamer fitness. The formula and methods for getting in better shape haven't really changed much.

The Future of Gaming

[sysusr]

If there is something that humans find inherently addictive about gaming, health companies should tap into that to provide something which humans both need and desire: fitness.

If you ask around, a lot of people *want* to be fit but they have lots of convenient excuses as to why they're not. People want to look good and a lot of people are even willing to put up with the inconvenience of exercise and physical exertion - they just don't have the time.

Being able to introduce a method of exercise that is genuinely fun for all and doesn't require extra time on top of our daily activities, as long as it's done sensibly and cleverly, could be a crucial step towards reducing obesity.

Re:The Future of Gaming

[Nazlfrag]

I've got it! We could say replace the virtual paddles in Wii Tennis with real ones, then replace the 2D screen with a realistic stage that recreates the conditions of the game. All we would need is some sort of ball... damn, it's just all too hard. These LARPers are wierd.

Re:Genius idea

[Ihmhi]

We need an MMO-themed gym for geeks.

"Dude, did you check out Russel's stats on the leaderboards? He lost 10 pounds last month. That's +2 to DEX!"

Install that at a gym..

[formfeed]

.. and you at least get a less boring gym.

Gyms could run their own servers, making sure every player is on a machine: runners, bicyclists, and maybe people on elliptical trainers operating a Da Vinci-style flying machine with flapping wings.