Video game

Three videogames that will make you sweat – Toronto Star


Winter fat is coming.

Like many, I am much more active during the Spring and Summer, but as the temperature chills, so does my activity. One that goes up is my videogame playing, which is likely one of the reasons that Nintendo has just launched Ring Fit Adventure, the latest videogame that tries to get people working out.

Just like other exercise fads, “exergaming” is once again trying to make healthy gaming a thing, although like with any piece of workout equipment, the results will vary depending on how serious you take it. All these games are built on the false premise that you can somehow be distracted or tricked into doing exercise. That’s not possible, but these games can add a spot of fun to your workouts.

The current generation of these games do feel like they take actual working out a bit more seriously, and are offering up more data and offering more carrots, like achievements to try to build a routine.

Here’s a run through of three different exercise games and how they stack up:

Ring Fit Adventure: $99.95, and you will need an Nintendo Switch console.

Nintendo has had huge success with its previous attempts at games that makes you exercise. Created for the company’s Switch console, out of the box, it includes the game, a circular namesake peripheral and a leg strap. You have to put one of the Switch’s controllers in the leg strap and into the Ring.

Broken up into several modes, including Adventure, Quick play, minigames and more, you can customize a workout. The Adventure mode features a story where you have to go through levels and eventually take on Dragaux, a muscle-bound bro of a dragon who continually taunts you.

The best thing about Ring Fit Adventure is that it will have you sweating within moments, particularly in the Adventure mode. For your avatar to actually move through the levels, you need to actually jog on the spot. There are stair portions where you have to run with your knees high. As well, you have to squeeze and pull apart the ring — which looks ridiculous — and other exercises that correspond to various in-game attacks or defences. There is also good variety with various yoga-inspired poses, crunches, lunges, squats and more.

One of the problems with previous fitness games is how well it actually tracks your movements, which affects your posture and form. While sometimes my leg band slipped, Ring-Con tracked most of my movements pretty well, and also gave reminders if I wasn’t doing the exercise properly. It also reads your pulse through one of the controller’s sensors.

While the gameplay is pretty cutesy and simple, in keeping with Nintendo’s pure and silly esthetic, there is a lot of content, and there are some good role-playing game elements, like unlocking new exercises to keep you coming back. The game also smartly has warm-up stretches and cool down routines reminding you to stay hydrated or take a break, and asks whether it needs to increase the difficulty and intensity.

In my household, this game has been a hit, in particular with my wife and daughter, and has gotten the family more active in the two weeks since we’ve been playing it. While it is only a single player game, it has started a competition in the house to see how far we can progress.

BOXVR: $40, but you will need a VR headset and hand controllers, like the PSVR or Oculus Rift

Virtual reality has been touted as a boon to several industries, and fitness is definitely an area where people see some opportunity. One of VRs biggest hits right now is a game called Beat Saber, where you have to use virtual swords to cut through blocks coming at you to a thumping techno soundtrack. It is super fun, and people at expert level are basically doing a highly choreographed dance to keep up.

BoxVR is a game that has similar gameplay to Beat Saber, but changes your sword for boxing gloves and has added fitness trainers to come up with routines that will have you punching, jabbing, uppercutting and sliding out of the way of obstacles to a mostly electronic soundtrack. Available for several systems, I bought this for my PlayStation VR and got hooked on it this summer. With several different workouts and lots of customization, there were only two problems I had with this very well-designed workout game.

The PSVR is a wired headset, so often I would get annoyed by or tangled up in the wires. As well, after any session playing this longer than 10 minutes, the VR headset would be dripping with sweat — as was I. So, just like the gym, remember to wipe down the equipment.

VZfit: $99.95 U.S. at virzoom.com, but you will need a stationary exercise bike and an Oculus Quest or Go VR headset

There is nothing as boring as using an exercise bike, and some VR companies are trying to liven it up. VZfit is a tool to gamify stationary bicycles and currently work with the Oculus Quest and Go headsets.

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Set up can be a little bit finicky, although if you have a VR headset, you can muddle through. You have to attach a sensor to the crank of the pedal, and also another controller on the bike’s handlebar. Once you are going, the apps offer two experiences. The Explorer app lets you ride down virtual routes, like the Pacific Highway in California. It’s pretty good, but I mostly stuck with the nine games in the “Play” app. Again, the experiences are pretty simple, but still fun, and include racing bike and car games, flying on mythical creatures, playing as a tank or helicopter and riding on a horse and lassoing varmints. I enjoyed it much more than staring into oblivion as I pedalled to nowhere.

There are a few problems with this, and one just stems from the fact that I don’t have an exercise bike at home, so in testing this out at the gym, I was the weirdo wearing a VR headset while muscleheads worked out around me. As well, VZfit works on a subscription model, and while there is a limited free tier, I used the premium tier, which costs $100 for a year. Virzoom is positioning itself as a cheaper rival to Peloton, because even after shelling out for a bike and headset, you’ll still be cheaper than that much-hyped exercise device.

The bottom line is that this latest generation of exercise games can actually make you sweat, which is a good thing, but you will still need a fair amount of technology and will still have to deal with occasional technical difficulties. That said, if you treat and take these games seriously, rudimentary as many of them are, they can help you get into a healthier routine.

Raju Mudhar

Raju Mudhar is a Toronto-based reporter covering popular culture at the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @rajumudhar





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