Do you exergame?

[Feba]

For those who don't know, exergaming is the practice of using video games for exercise. It can be anything from Wii Fit to DDR to Wii Sports.

Personally, I do. I find DDR to just be fun (although I got bored with the tracklists of the ones I have, not to mention having to fuss with disks and stuff, I do intend to make a Stepmania station sooner or later), so when you're working out for entertainment first, and fitness second, that's obviously a huge advantage.

I've also found Wii Fit to be more engaging than just doing exercises without any guide. Plus automatically logging weight and time is nice. It has a lot of flaws, most obvious being the insane amount of downtime and menu crap, but having a game bitch at you when you stop early is a decent motivator to keep going; especially if you've spent so much time with video games that it's easier to tell a human partner or trainer to fuck off than to give up on a score. Wii Sports Boxing and Tennis are also pretty good.

Also picking up EA Sports Active today, although that's %95 because I figured I'd get more to trade in three Wii games, get EASA, and then trade that back in if I didn't like it. Hopefully, the trade-in value is over $34; that'd be enough to get Persona 4. Super Paper Mario, Trauma Center, and Godfather: Blackhand for Persona 4? yesprz. Although I'll give EASA a shot, I doubt I'll keep it. Have plenty already, and I'm more interested in GGCW anyway. Given it seems GS trade in values are around half the retail value for new games, that should be about right. Even if it's ten dollars extra, it's totally worth it; I wasn't expecting more than $30ish for the bunch selling them on craigslist, and GS is less hassle, even if I am feeding the machine.

So do you work out using video games, and if so, does the game or the exercise come first?

[Murphie]

Re: Do you exergame?

I really don't. I have a Wii, and a Wii Fit, but honestly, I go biking, and hiking, and running, and play tennis, and work outside during the day that having to work out during my gaming time isn't necessary.

Not that it isn't enjoyable or I don't like it. I do.

[Feba]

Re: Do you exergame?

Yeah, I can understand that. Plenty of days I'd rather go walk for a mile or two than play a game. But variety is always nice, as is flexibility. Perfect for rainy days.

[Armando]

Re: Do you exergame?

I do DDR. 'Cuz DDR is fun as hell and I can play for hours and sweat buckets.

[Mhurron]

Re: Do you exergame?

I don't move if I don't have to.

[Feba]

Re: Do you exergame?

Mhurron, you don't do anything but sulk and emo if you don't have to.

[Raydeus]

Re: Do you exergame?

I used to DDR back when I what had some sort of social life (it bores me playing that game solo) but nothing of the sort nowadays.

Other than that no, not at all. I like sports where I move a lot (from martial arts to futbol etc.) so the room and the screen would be too restrictive for me to even consider working out using a Wii/game.

/em waits for his personal Holodeck.

[Durahansolo]

Re: Do you exergame?

I do DDR. 'Cuz DDR is fun as hell and I can play for hours and sweat buckets.

So True. What was even funnier was when I was watching my coworkers play Wii Boxing... They didn't know that all punches don't register so they were punching at the screen like they were fighting it lmao.

[Skoal]

Re: Do you exergame?

Just picked up the new EA thing for my wife. We go to the gym and walk our dog almost everyday also.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Do you exergame?

I'm looking forward to using my WiiFit when my daughter moves out. I've had it since it was released but still haven't even opened the box yet. >< See my Wii is in my living room, my living room is my daughters bedroom, putting my WiiFit in the living room would mean my daughter has access to it, and my daughter would break it. If she didn't break it, then her kids would (since she's a "couch supervisor"). So ya...between the bike, treadmill, and WiiFit, I think I'll be set.

[Omniblast]

Re: Do you exergame?

Wii fit also have a gym membership to 24 hours and my friend beats me up there with all the weight lifting and cardio.
Rock Band drums gets me sweaty too for some reason...?
He's a gamer too but he's been running a lot to prepare for a local Mud Run and he doesn't want to finish last. hehe.

I use to DDR as well. One of my life goals is to own a DDR machine and stick it in the house. Yes actual arcade machine...

I just need to cancel my wedding and boom I can get a DDR machine... I need to ask the misses though... I wonder if she'll say yes?

[Feba]

Re: Do you exergame?

I just tried out EA Sports Active. I can see why someone would like it, and in some ways it's better rounded than Wii Fit, but the presentation is almost sickening. Not to mention the exercises seem somewhat poorly planned out-- murdering your knees with squats, then another exercise that requires you to squat, jump, land and go directly into another squat. It's like they're trying to see how many knee caps they can make explode. And switching the peripherals around during the exercise isn't accounted for at all, and is a pain.

Personally, I'm probably going to trade it in for P4, and am glad I didn't pay retail for it. I have to say I would recommend Wii Fit over this; the feedback seems more precise, the automatic tracking is a nice benefit, and I personally feel like it does more to get me thinking about my habits-- using suggestion instead of coercion. Maybe it's an east vs. west thing, but I just didn't like it that much.

---------- Post added at 01:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:04 PM ----------

TGM: hide the balance board in the closet when she's home.

Omni: Don't get an arcade unit, get an old computer and monitor, download stepmania and the various freely available packs, and get yourself some nice hard pads. Much cheaper, and StepMania has a much much larger tracklist than any DDR title. There are plenty of guides out there for everything from making the box look nice with decals to adding lights that go with the rhythm.

[Armando]

Re: Do you exergame?

Omni: Don't get an arcade unit, get an old computer and monitor, download stepmania and the various freely available packs, and get yourself some nice hard pads. Much cheaper, and StepMania has a much much larger tracklist than any DDR title. There are plenty of guides out there for everything from making the box look nice with decals to adding lights that go with the rhythm.

This this this this this this this.

A steel DDR pad will run you about $150. Stepmania can play any song you can find in any DDR edition (as I understand it, songs can be made for and loaded unto Stepmania.) All you need then is a PS2-to-USB converter.

I haven't played on Stepmania but I've played on the PS2 versions using a steel pad. It's just like having an arcade machine but cheaper. And certainly MUCH cheaper than going to an arcade - on average I used to play at least 1 hour on a daily basis. Songs are approximately 1:30 long so that's a bit under 5 minutes for 3 songs. So that's around 12 plays a day for me. These days almost all arcades want to charge me $0.75 for 1 play. That would be $9 a day in an arcade. It'd only take 17 days of play for the steel pad to start being cheaper.

It's an investment, but if you like the game enough to play with any sort of regularity, it's a damned good one.

Alternatively there are various guides out on the web for making hard pads by stapling soft pads to a wooden board and covering the whole thing in plastic wrap. I've never tried it but it would probably be leagues better than any soft pad and wouldn't cost you much more than buying the soft pad in the first place.

[Ameroth]

Re: Do you exergame?

I don't really use games as a method of exercising, but if I did it would probably be something like DDR. Dancing is fun as hell and gets your heart going.

But swimming > anything else.

[Tickmeoff]

Re: Do you exergame?

I have a metal DDR pad I use regularly. Unfortunately there isn't enough floor space in my room to hook it up to the PC and use Stepmania, so I get by with all the actual copies of every mix. Works with both PS1 and PS2 so I have access to every song up to Supernova 2 anyway, but I have them all in Stepmania too and it would be so much more convenient to not have to swap disks all the time.