Gamercize: Get fit not fat while gaming

By Stevie Smith Feb 7, 2008, 13:02 GMT

Gamercize aims to get fat gamers fit. Credit: Gamercize.

The Nintendo Wii and its motion-sensing gameplay might be hogging the media limelight when it comes to helping prize the sedentary and rotund from their pits of inactivity, but UK-based Gamercize is hoping its GZ Pro-Sport will help Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 sloths to rise up and shed a few pounds in the name of fun.

Whether Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 owners warmly embrace the GZ Pro-Sport remains to be seen however, not least because all of the products available through Gamercize come with a calorie-burning catch.

Gamercize enthuses that the mini-steppers and mini-cycles on offer hook up directly to their user’s videogame console to provide “genuine cardiovascular exercise” that burns more calories per hour than any other videogame system (stab at the Wii there?).

However, it’s worth noting that incentive is all-but enforced thanks to gameplay pausing the moment the user stops exercising -- although Gamercize views this as a plus not a minus.

“The Gamercize concept requires exercise to keep the game from pausing, using the distraction of playing a game to make it easy to work out for longer without giving up.”

Credit: Gamercise

Although clearly a worthwhile concept, the true test of Gamercize’s product range lies not with whether people will invest in good faith, but rather whether they‘ll actually resist the temptation to simply disconnect, slump, slurp, and play without gasping for breath or constantly mopping sweat from their game pads.

Much like purchasing a cycling machine that masquerades as a clothes horse, an abs bench that becomes a spare seat, or a rowing machine that simply becomes an eyesore, it’s difficult to see that those buying Gamercize products will be able to resist the urge to disconnect -- though we could just be saying that because we’re comfortable with our flabby bingo wings.

That being said, Gamercise products have been successfully trialled in schools and health clubs in the UK, with Gamercise claiming that their approach has proven itself “six times more engaging than exercise alone and twice as popular as a dedicated videogame racing bike.”

The GZ Pro-Sport will be officially unveiled on February 21 in partnership with Southampton Football Club.

M&C Gaming will now attempt to secure a review model and report back to you with tales of pain, anguish, and miraculous weight loss.