Body Fundamental Gaming (BFG)

Its really amazing how much gaming has evolved these last few years. I remember the days when it would be weird to find someone in their living room, waving their arms violently at the television like an air traffic controller having a grand mal seizure. I remember how stoked everyone was when the Wii first came out, and with the introduction of Wii Fit as well as the onslaught of PS3 and Kinect titles on the way, a light of hope seems to be dawning on gamers across the planet who are looking to get into a little better shape.

But what about the games that don’t use those controls? I don’t know about the rest of you, but I was raised in the NES era in which platformers and RPGs dominated the market. Try as we might, I think the fluid controls necessary to run a Ninja Gaiden game are still a little out of our reach, and turn based RPGs will probably never support an interface that will ever make you sweat. To that end I started working on a project I’ve dubbed Body Fundamental Gaming or BFG. Yeah, clever right? Most overused joke next to Chuck Norris, blah blah blah, I don’t care, Body by Gaming was already taken.

Anyways BFG is designed to give gamers a way to maintain a healthy lifestyle by adding workouts to their daily gaming experience. Originally its something I started doing because I wanted to get back into RPGs, but I also wanted to start working out again and didn’t really know how to do both since yeah, I get addicted to games and will easily blow off going to the gym if I’m in the middle of a game. All this program is is a series of workout rules that you apply to whatever game you’re running. Each set of rules comes with a few different levels to use, so if you feel like stepping up your workout you can always move onto the next level.

Here’s an example of my current project:

General rules for all games:

Do an M100 circuit before every gaming session.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkD9LwDBWW0)

Gaming without a BFG routine (must be completed within 24 hours):

Level 1 - For every two minutes you spend not doing a BFG routine while gaming, put in 30 secs of cardio.

Level 2 - For every two minutes you spend not doing a BFG routine while gaming, put in one minute of cardio.

Level 3 - For every two minutes you spend not doing a BFG routine while gaming, put in two minutes of cardio.

Project Final Fantasy Tactics

Game over - Do an M100 circuit.

Deaths (use your favorite pushups or pushup circuit):

Level 1 - One pushup for every death in a battle (friend or foe).

Level 2 - Three pushups for every death in a battle (friend or foe).

Level 3 - Three side to side pushups for every death in a battle (friend or foe).

Every item looted, bought, or used (you can use extended pushup jumping jacks to make it harder):

Level 1 - One jumping jack, keep a tally going and do them once you hit 10.

Level 2 - Three jumping jacks, keep a tally going and do them once you hit 21.

Level 3 - Five jumping jacks, keep a tally going and do them once you hit 30.

Game saves and job changes (use your favorite sort of situps):

Level 1 - Three situps every time you save your game or change a character’s job.

Level 2 - Five situps every time you save your game or change a character’s job.

Level 3 - Ten situps overtime you save your game or change a character’s job class.

Map screen (you can do these while you move around the map):

Level 1 - Five front to side lunges every time you go to the map screen.

Level 2 - Ten front to side lunges every time you go to the map screen.

Level 3 - Twenty front to side lunges every time you go to the map screen.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=iv&v=Pa_YB6EWZrY&annotation_id=annotation_416646)

Level up (do these after the battle finishes):

Level 1 - Five seconds of regular planks per level (job and character level).

Level 2 - Ten seconds of regular planks per level (job and character level).

Level 3 - Ten seconds of regular and side planks per level on each side (job and character level)

By no means is this a certified program, but its better than doing nothing and it definitely promotes a healthier lifestyle. So far I’ve been trying to stick to exercises you can do at home since not everyone can always make it to the gym. This is something I just started working on recently and would love suggestions for other games or workout routines that will fit into these projects. Currently I’m only running with a PSP, a 360, and a PC (as well as an NES, SNES, PS1, and PS2), but I have access to a Wii and a Gameboy should people be interested in those. I don’t really feel right posting rules for a game I haven’t tested first since the results can be….painful. I just tried doing FF Tactics the other night with the “every time there’s a death (friend or foe) you do 10 pushupsâ€?…. Yeah it wasn’t pretty. I stuck to it, but damn….

Anyway, let me know what y’all think and if anyone is interested in hopping onboard!