Outrun 2 on bikes? Sumo heads down the local gym
UK developers attempt to make exercise fun
Keep up with that Ferrari, you big flabby knacker!
Sheffield based developer Sumo Digital has today announced its intentions to put its weight behind the exercise/leisure industry. Having more than proved its worth with the fantastic Outrun 2 Xbox outing, we’re rather intrigued by anything this company does. We definitely weren’t expecting this though.
Sumo Digital’s latest project is to marry its games technology to exercise bikes, trying to add some much needed entertainment value to tedious gymnasium pastimes. David Patterson, Creative and Digital Business Adviser for Business Link South Yorkshire (the organisation helping to fund Sumo Digital) described the planned interactive exercise-bike as follows, “Still sat on a static bike in your local gym, you could be riding through images of open countryside, mountain bike tracks, or the Scottish highlands.” We sincerely hope that Sumo manages to inject some Outrun 2 style drifting too.
Sumo Digital has also said that it will be applying its games technology to other applications, although what these might be are unknown. But the link between interactive games and exercise machines is fairly clear and, at least in Europe, it’s still an underexploited market. Konami, with its sizeable chain of gymnasiums and exercise products in Japan, will be watching with interest.
The very thought of exercise makes us break into a sweat, so if Sumo can make getting knackered anywhere near as entertaining as Outrun 2, we might just be able to work off all the flab we gained sitting on the sofa, eating peanuts and thrashing Ferraris.
Sumo Digital’s latest project is to marry its games technology to exercise bikes, trying to add some much needed entertainment value to tedious gymnasium pastimes. David Patterson, Creative and Digital Business Adviser for Business Link South Yorkshire (the organisation helping to fund Sumo Digital) described the planned interactive exercise-bike as follows, “Still sat on a static bike in your local gym, you could be riding through images of open countryside, mountain bike tracks, or the Scottish highlands.” We sincerely hope that Sumo manages to inject some Outrun 2 style drifting too.
Sumo Digital has also said that it will be applying its games technology to other applications, although what these might be are unknown. But the link between interactive games and exercise machines is fairly clear and, at least in Europe, it’s still an underexploited market. Konami, with its sizeable chain of gymnasiums and exercise products in Japan, will be watching with interest.
The very thought of exercise makes us break into a sweat, so if Sumo can make getting knackered anywhere near as entertaining as Outrun 2, we might just be able to work off all the flab we gained sitting on the sofa, eating peanuts and thrashing Ferraris.
Companies:
Sumo Digital
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Comments
config 5 Nov 2004 14:44
1/2
"The very thought of exercise makes us break into a sweat"
Speak for yourself, fatty!
For the record, not all us SPOnGers are idle layabouts whose idea of a "workout" involves getting up to answer the door to teh pizza delivery guy, or 10 minutes with pictures of naked girls and a tub of margarine.
:)
Speak for yourself, fatty!
For the record, not all us SPOnGers are idle layabouts whose idea of a "workout" involves getting up to answer the door to teh pizza delivery guy, or 10 minutes with pictures of naked girls and a tub of margarine.
:)
Joji 5 Nov 2004 16:20
2/2
Well, if one of these appeared at the gym I used to go to, I'd definitely go back again.
This is like the DDR machine thread I posted ages ago though, it's clear that exercise is boring on your own, especially if there is nothing to (yes, sometimes even the pretty girls at the gym aren't enough to break the boredom) stimulate you into doing better and going further.
Fair play to Sumo for trying this. Along with Konami maybe they should try something else and take the boredom out of local gyms.
This is like the DDR machine thread I posted ages ago though, it's clear that exercise is boring on your own, especially if there is nothing to (yes, sometimes even the pretty girls at the gym aren't enough to break the boredom) stimulate you into doing better and going further.
Fair play to Sumo for trying this. Along with Konami maybe they should try something else and take the boredom out of local gyms.