Watch: These kids have to use rowing machine if they want to play their video games

boing
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We’re trying to do somethig similar, change the way people think about exercise by applying the motivational factors of video games. More at http://www.symgym.fit

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After a half hour on my rowing machine, I’m too pooped to play video games!

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I can only imagine how often the rower just decides to stop rowing so whoever’s playing ‘loses the game’. Then again maybe the rowing becomes some sort of bargaining currency. Like, if you take my turn taking out the trash I’ll row for 20 minutes for you.

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Not this close to Easter, the family watches it every year.

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Well, my least favorite college crew memory involves a foggy morning on the lake, and two shells hitting the one in the middle. I quit after that, because it was the second accident that year. :grimacing:

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Or, we could just let kids enjoy their leisure time without all the guilt and self-flagellation that make it impossible for most adults to actually relax.

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Nonsense. Gotta get the little tykes started on the self-loathing early.

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The health club I used to belong to had 2 or 3 recumbent exercise bikes with big CRT computer monitors at eye level, with a few DOS games in primitive 3D to choose from. Unfortunately the bikes weren’t networked together for multiplayer games.

My favorite was a tank game. You pedaled the bike fast to make the tank go fast, you leaned from side to side to steer the tank, there were ways to aim, fire and reload your tank’s gun, and it seems like there was some way to repair damage inflicted by other tanks.

The systems kept having problems and they eventually retired the bikes, but it was pretty fun while it lasted.

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I imagine it’s more of an iterated prisoner’s dilemma, where everyone’s incentives are aligned toward actually taking fair turns and the kids eventually figure that out? Or maybe I’m giving the kids way too much credit, what do I know?

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In days of oar.

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“You can take my oar from my cold, dead hands!”, right?

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I will consider your post in the fullness of time.

:slight_smile:

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“Two discussants enter the agora… only one will leave!”

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