Sweating it out: Exercise bike controller for Mario Kart

While we all know that ‘opposable thumbs’ is what makes primates so very different from all other animals, but gaming has often taken that to a whole new level with the thumbs numbing out at times. The idea of all those Xbox Kinect and Playstation Move games is to get you out of your couch and give a bit of exercise to a lot more than just your thumbs. But, Brent Smith of Canada decided to add a bit of workout to his Super Nintendo console by using an old exercise bike as a controller for Mario Kart.

Bike Controller for Mario Kart

The modder put in a few sensors, switches and an Arduino microcontroller in his old exercise bike to turn it into a controller for his game. The pedaling pretty much gets the Kart going and you need to pedal at a certain rate to get the same acceleration as you would by holding down the button in your traditional controller. There are sensitive switches on both the handles of the bike that allow you to turn left and right and a central will let you collect the perks on the way.

Obviously we quite like the mod and it really is always more fun to get involved in a game with lot more than just the buttons. Seems like the left and right switches though are too sensitive and Brent himself says that it is not easy as it looks or sounds. It takes some time before you get a hang of the new bike controller. Brent also uses it for few of his other flash games and he seems to be getting plenty of work out this way. Good way to lose all that extra weight!

Via: Kotaku