CHIBA, Japan---Videogames often let us display superhuman strength, endurance and speed. It's a fantasy, of course, but what if playing a videogame really could make you stronger? Game-Bike International wants to make that fantasy reality with a slick shooter it showed off at Tokyo Game Show last weekend.
Lightning Fighter 2 is a shoot-em-up for iOS and Android. You can download it and start playing right now, but you won't lose many calories if you don't have the Bluetooth-enabled exercise bike controller. This is not so crazy as you might think. The idea of linking a game to an exercise bike dates to the 8-bit era, if not before. But the combination of bike and shooting game turns out to be a surprising, novel approach.
"Exercise is boring," said Johnny Huang, a representative of Taiwan's Game-Bike International. "I wanted to give users some motivation, some pleasure while they exercise. So I thought a videogame would be a good idea."
Huang sought a potential partner at a recent gaming exhibition in Taipei, where he met Qian-Zhi Ye of Uwan Studio, developer of Lightning Fighter 2. Huang proposed collaborating, and Uwan agreed. The game already was finished, so the developer made a version that works with the bike controller.
Turning the handlebars turns the ship left and right. Accelerating boosts the strength of the ship. Pedal like you're sprinting to the finish line and your shields go up, making you nearly invincible. That's important, because Lightning Fighter 2 is a so-called "bullet hell" shooter in which enemy fire can fill almost the entire screen. The only way to survive in such games is pinpoint-precise movement---difficult with a standard joystick, and basically impossible on an exercise bike. So your virtual survival depends on being physically fit IRL.
Response from folks at Tokyo Game Show visitors has been positive. "Some people say it's weird, but a lot of people like it," Ye said. When I gave it a try, I could sustain shield-speed for only a minute at a time, but Ye said some players were able to sprint through the entire level. At higher difficulty settings the resistance of the bike increases, making the game physically tougher to play, and giving players incentive to push themselves harder.
The bike controller will cost about $400 when it goes on sale in Taiwan next month. Huang said his company is exploring other markets, most likely elsewhere in Asia to start. For now the bike only supports Lightning Fighter 2, but that too is something the company is looking to expand.
"We have free software development kits for anyone interested in designing a game for the bike," said Huang.
