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Treadmill Controller Challenge (NEW CONCEPT NOT AN ATTACHED CONTROLLER!!)

e14 Contributor

Ben,


I was injured playing college football (severely herniated L4-S1) and I am limited to running only on a treadmill, which is extremely boring... However, I have always had this dream that if one could run on a treadmill and game at the same time it might revolutionize the country!!! Ok maybe that is a little over the top but seriously that would help people get in shape!! Motion gaming such as the Wii, Move, and Kinect are cool but I want to play the classics... Halo, COD, and etc.

 

If you could design a controller that was split in two but still kept full functionality in each hand so one could literally sprint while playing games you could start whole gyms based around this concept. It would also be interesting to test how well people can game while under duress or are winded... For example, what is your kill to death ratio while running at 6.0 on the treadmill?? Is there a median average?? Could this revolutionize Madden??


That is my idea and I swear if I had Ben's know how I would be on it!! NO I DO NOT WANT A REGULAR CONTROLLER ATTACHED TO A TREADMILL!!


Joe

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    Revolutionary concept... I love it!!  i get so bored by the hand held game experience... and Wii games just arent sophisticated enoug.  that said, Im thinking a 1 axis treadmill (forward and backward) would limit your ability to run, stop, jump, etc..which are required by many of the role/POV action games.  If there was a way to allow for multi-axis (say at least 6 or better bi-directional axis points) for running sideways, diagonal, fwd/back and body motion detection.. like for ducking, dodge right/left.. then you'd have a real 3d interactive environment.   Assuming you're not limited by any of these movements, i think that would usher in a next gen gaming experience.. Wii is close.. but far from what i think we're both envisioning.

     

    Great Concept!  Be interesting to see what Ben can come up with!

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    I currently game from my treadmill.  Admittedly, I'm not playing FPSs on it (I don't think I could keep my aim steady when I'm jogging) but I do play the LOTRO MMO on it.  I use the Ideazon Fang controller (a keypad primarily designed for FPSs) and a mouse.  My treadmill is just a few feet from my PC (also handy for watching DVDs on the treadmill), so it's no problem running the controller's wire to the treadmill.  The controller, mouse pad and mouse all sit on the treadmill's console.  This means that you can't see the readouts - but I usually just set it at a certain speed when I'm gaming, so it's not a big deal.  It's difficult to run and do involved stuff (I'd never raid like this) but you can do simple questing and grind-type stuff.

     

    I believe the Ideazon Fang is currently discontinued but, if you Google it, you'll see what it looks like.  There are a number of similar controllers on the market that might work instead.

     

    I've been using the above set-up for about 3 years now.  Since then, I've also found out that:

    - One of the guys from Penny Arcade built a wooden frame over the top of his treadmill that holds a keyboard and allows him to game while he runs.

    - A couple of guys wired treadmills to WoW in a way that translated their running on the treadmill into running in the game and then ran across the game world.  It's on YouTube somewhere.

     

    Best of luck!

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    XBOX360 Wireless PC Controller(I use it as a mouse when im being lazy and its good for gaming if you're on a treadmill in FPS/Fighters, MMO's might be a weird setup but it could prolly work), Wii Blue Tooth Mod.