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."

Submersion

[Under_score+1]

What if you could gain status in the game through how much actual work you had put in. Or by how complex or consistant your wii weapon move pattern moves were? Ultimatley we're all striving to be the ultimate gamer, and to acknowledge the gamer who's proven to have put in the most effort. What if our virtual adversaries could actually teach us (inadvertantly) to chanel healing energies through our desires to participate in legendary battles. It's a start at least- getting some movement on.

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.

Genius idea

[Anonymous Coward]

Get exercise while playing an addictive online multiplayer game? Not a bad idea at all. It makes it feel like you are more interacting with the game.

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!"

Re:Exercise AND level grinding?

[es330td]

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

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.