Buy Walking VideosGamerCycle
GamerCycle says that it’s building healthy kids, but does it really?
They describe how it works here:
“The premise is simple – as long you keep pedaling, the television screen is “ON”… stop pedaling, and the TV screen goes blank. Go from 100% sedentary time to 100% exercise time! Need a break? Hit pause, then resume the game when you are ready.”
The first thought that came to my mind was, “They’ll just unplug the thing,” but GamerCycle has thought about that:
“Video lock box prevents unplugging of the cable from the GamerCycle.”
This idea might actually work if you have a child who loves video games or television. If they feel ambivalent toward TV or games, then the extra effort isn’t worth it.
This would do nothing for me. I can already play video games while I’m riding my bike on the trainer. What I want is a bicycle that controls the game. Then my performance on the game is dependent on how well I ride the bike. I want to go faster in the game if I turn up the resistance and I want it to feel like real life. I know that’s a lot to ask from video games and equipment. I just wonder why none of the big companies are seriously devoting programming and development time to this.
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May 19th, 2006 at 7:48 pm
I am with you, I want is a bicycle that controls or powers the game. I also wish there was a computer mouse that gave me a work out.
May 20th, 2006 at 6:12 am
This is so wrong. I have two daughters, 22 and 5, and I can say it just as important for them to have fresh air and sunshine as it is to have exercise. Part of overall fitness is the ability to do without the stimulation of video games, internet, etc.
May 21st, 2006 at 11:19 am
I would never allow this into my house. Kids should be outside playing basketball, swimming, playing with friends, riding their bikes, etc.
August 31st, 2006 at 7:33 pm
I think this is great. I run marathons and my kids run 5ks and play soccer but LOOOOOOVE tv and video games. What a way to cut back on that time OR get in better shape!!!
November 15th, 2008 at 7:53 am
I think this is a great idea. Quite frankly with kids, exercise isnt going to win out over video games in a lot of cases so why not leverage one to accomplish the other?
December 31st, 2008 at 6:53 am
I know this post is a little bit older, but these type of fitness oriented equipment bikes are still pretty cool in my opinion. WHen I was in the Air FOrce, we had a gym that was stocked with state of the art equipment for testing and such and there were several bikes/video games hybrids being utilized. Honestly, to me, the biggest thing that made a difference was the actual soundtrack of the game, and not the game itself. If the music was loud and rocked, I was all good with it.
January 23rd, 2009 at 7:27 am
This is an amazing idea! Not even just for kids but for lazy individuals of all sorts that love watching TV. I don’t watch much TV but if I do I should be working out a bit why not.
But I’d be curious how many kids would actually want to watch TV if they had to work out all the time to do it? That would be an interesting study. I bet lots of kids would just give up TV altogether.
Thanks,
Chris