Gamers are no strangers to odd game controllers, but the upcoming Xerdeck Kickstarter has a very specific peripheral in mind. The Australian company behind the campaign intends to turn Bluetooth-enabled treadmills and exercise bikes into controllers. Of a sort.
The product, an interface between a game console, PC, or VR headset, is “an exercise platform which turns your treadmill or indoor bike into a powerful programmable game controller,” according to creators Lava Software. In practice, it’s a way to walk through either custom-built or open-world digital environments without leaving your home.
Top Xerdeck
According to the company, “Xerdeck is deliberately simple: a joystick for looking around and a small set of remappable buttons for light actions, like jumping. That makes it approachable for people who haven’t exercised in a while, or who’ve found other exercise games too aesthetically crude, demanding, or competitive.”
‘Players’, or a second person in attendance, use a handheld controller to move the environment’s camera and perform simple actions. Open worlds, like Red Dead Redemption, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Assassin’s Creed titles, or perhaps Nintendo’s Breath of the Wild, are given as possible exploration locations. Ubisoft’s games in particular would be a handy option — there are several games with Discovery Tour support, which excludes combat and has plenty to see.
The Xerdeck’s Kickstarter campaign only kicks off on 29 September, when we’ll likely get a closer look at what the peripheral is and what it can do. The main unit connects supported treadmills to consoles and PCs. The handheld unit above is an optional extra. But if it sounds like something you’d back, pricing during the Kickstarter and at retail is already known. More or less.
The main Xerdeck starts at around R2,300, with the controller costing another R1,650. Two other peripherals, a PS4_CE cap and an RP2040 maker cap, cost R500 each. There’s also a subscription, but early backers will get lifetime access should Lave Software make enough cash during the crowdfunding campaign. For everyone else, the subscription will cost another R3,300. It’s not much to never leave your house to go for a walk, surely?
