[DoctorEldritch]

Hello Legion Gamers!

Wrapping up Sports Month, I wanted to mention exercises that are important for a gamer. After all, let's face it, gaming, fun though it is, is a sedentary activity unless you're using a VR or Wii set. Then you could be like Amy at the beginning of this video:

It is important to keep balance and add some physical activity to the daily routine if gaming is your leisure of choice. Active games that require actual movement can help with that, but need to be careful and not end up like Lennard. Another option is, of course, to do actual sports. I know @Saka does Kendo so has this covered. personally, I am more of a hiking/biking kind of guy, but it is harder to do in winter months.

Some of us may want to do some exercises while playing games, and Wii can only take you so far (not to mention it's been discontinued, RIP Wii. Not sure what the current similar system is). If this is your approach, then there are many interesting solutions and tricks that people have done to burn calories while gaming, take a look:

@GoLLuM13, do you think building an Xbox controller into an exercise bike is a monetizable idea? That must have taken some real effort.

Personally, I got myself a standing desk. It is hard for me to stand all day, but I can rotate hour intervals, and though I have not seen any visible improvements yet, I keep telling myself that I am doing something healthy. Not sure who else is doing the same... 😅

What about you, got any sports to keep fit between gaming or interesting hacks to keep fit while doing it?

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch I also do Ring Fit Adventure, it's a fitness game for Nintendo Switch. Currently on hiatus though because I am not done with the recovery, I do kendo mostly for the sake of my mental health.

[GoLLuM13]

@DoctorEldritch I don't know if it's a monetizable idea, but it's a good one for sure. But I guess anyone can sell anything if they have a good marketing team and great partners.
Nintendo was supposed to partner with Sony for the Nintendo Playstation (also called the Super Nintedo CD-Rom Adapter) but they stabbed them at the last moment for one of the worst consoles ever, a partnership with Philips for the Philips CD-I that has the worst Mario and Zelda games ever 🤣 and we know the rest of the story, Sony had a Playstation that was ready and conquered the world becoming an ogre in the console market 😜

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka After your comment I went and looked it up because I was not sure how exactly that worked, and I found it to be surprisingly elegant:

I've since read that some people jerry-rigged them to work with games initially not designed for that, like Skyrim, for example, to actually walk there. But can I ask, when you use it, does it need a lot of space? From the video, it seemed like you need about as much as you'd need for proper exercise. My worry is that, if you have a TV set and a TV is big, then it is not a problem, but if you only use a laptop like I do, the screen may end up a bit too far away from you for comfort.

This, and I wonder what is the sensation when you run on the same spot in your room but your character is actually running forward, it must feel odd? Maybe a treadmill like in the video would be a good addition to the Ring...

[DoctorEldritch]

@GoLLuM13 The story of Nintendo and Sony is an amusing anecdote (thank you for sharing), and I find it all the more amusing as this sort of thing just keeps happening throughout history over and over. In this particular instance, I remember Harry S Langerman and his brother. I guess it is easy to look back at the good opportunity once you miss it, but hard to recognise it beforehand. I think I mentioned it in one of my older posts, but in Russian, there is a proverb that goes something like this:

"Experience is a wonderful thing. The only problem with it is that you usually get it right after you needed it most".

Learn from your experience and don't make a mistake again, Nintendo. And the Ring Fit Adventure system seems like a step in the right direction to me.

[mostak]

I spend three hours a day playing tennis🤩And the rest of the time I spend it in gaming , I don't feel the time when I'm playing tennis with my friends in the club😁

[DoctorEldritch]

@mostak Tennis is a nice sport to play. I used to play it myself. A small word of caution, from my personal experience: at one point, my physiotherapist told me to stop playing tennis because I was using my dominant hand too much and it was causing an imbalance in my spine posture. So he forbade me from playing sports that have a dominant side and instead go for balanced sports where both sides are used equally, like swimming or running. So enjoy tennis but take care and use your non-dominant hand often.

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch Running in the spot is fine, I don't see any need for a treadmill. I used to play the game with just the monitor, it doesn't require that much space but you need to have enough to lie down for some exercises.

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka Maybe it's just me. I like the screen to be big or close to me to see everything. So if I need to stand up to run on the spot, I'll need to make sure the screen is in front of me (moving desk helps) and that it is close enough for me to see everything properly, that may be a challenge. I guess if someone is playing in front of a big livingroom TV then there is no such problem, but I am using a laptop.

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch I was doing it in front of the desk, is that not possible for you? I only acquired a TV this year, and have been playing the game since 2020.