Being a Dance Dance Revolution addict, I think it's time the gaming companies unleash a wave of retro games that are powered by exercise equipment.

First on the line, Joust-Cycle!! If you turn to page 53 in your 80s video game guide, you'll see that the game Joust (if you forgot your guide, see [link]) is controlled by pressing left or right and one button to flap your wings. Flap your wings rapidly and you rise faster. This translates nicely to a workout game.

Now for the equipment. On each handlebar of the exercise bike is a button, one for left, one for right, which control your horizontal movement. Your wings are triggered every 1/2 revolution of the pedals on the bike.

Coming soon: Arkanoid-Cycle, Warlords-Cycle, Donkey Kong: Barrel-Jumper Edition, and Dance Dance Pac-Man.
-- jivetalkinrobot, Aug 28 2003

Joust http://www.klov.com/J/Joust.html
Ooh! Grab the egg before it falls in the lava! [jivetalkinrobot, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

(?) Shockwave version of the game http://www.shockwave.com/sw/content/joust
[jivetalkinrobot, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

Power Pad http://www.i-mocker...minimocks/nes/9.asp
Not the same, but seems like a more logical device for a 2-button game. [Worldgineer, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

I've seen plenty of videos of people DDRing freestyle, dropping down to slap arrows, spinning in circles, even doing choreographed dance moves with a partner; I think they look really cool! As for my own performance, I'd rather not watch...
-- jivetalkinrobot, Aug 28 2003


"You won't even notice that you're exercising!!"
-- k_sra, Aug 28 2003


Baked - I can't remember the name but I once saw an arcade game exactly like this except you used the handle bars as normal and it was more like a race/time-trial (so not very exactly).
-- chud, Aug 28 2003


I've seen something like this too. Can't remember what its called. And someone has posted a link to it *somewhere* in the halfbakery. Enough of this vagary! I will return when I've found a link.
-- custardlove, Aug 29 2003


I talked to a friend about this and he really liked it. We're gonna buy a cheap exercise bike at Goodwill and see if we can bake this! I'll post a link with pictures if we actually do.
-- jivetalkinrobot, Aug 29 2003


You could do it for 3-d games too. In fact, 3-d games where you ski, or skateboard, or jet-ski in 3-d are already baked. but they're not excercise.

Joust would be fairly easy to remake in 3-d. I'd love to play that. It's hard enough tapping the space bar, imagine how exausted you'd get pedaling...one could add a few more buttons for weapons and the subtler moves that today's games require. (really.)

You could have internet races, too...but it'd be more fun to have multiplayer internet deathmatches. Oh, the possibilities! And DDR deathmatches, too, for that matter. Dancematches anyway.
-- Eugene, Aug 29 2003


//Joust would be fairly easy to remake in 3-d//

Wow... what a fantastic idea right there. I'd love to see this in an arcade someday, especially if it was using the 'Cycle and on a semi-sphere display (so you could see further left & right, and partially up and down). You're right, this wouldn't be that hard to pull off! Pitch it to Atari; are they even still making games?
-- jivetalkinrobot, Sep 03 2003



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