So many companies are invested in activity tracking and fitness right now, why not make a game out of it? So seems to be the thought process behind Atari Fit, a multiplayer exercise-oriented experience from the publishers of the oldest video game console most people care to remember.
How do you gamify fitness? The same way you do anything else. Atari has added ways to up your level and earn coins. This, mind you, is where things get a little interesting. Atari has packed in classics such as Centipede, Pong, and Super Breakout. You can compete on leaderboards to see which fitness-oriented person is the best at playing really old games. These titles require coins to unlock, which you can earn yourself or buy with increments of cold hard cash ranging from 99 cents to $9.99.
Note, this is not the extent of the social experience. Atari lets you create teams, race one another, or simply act as someone else's cheerleader. And, of course, you can share your results to Facebook and Twitter.
Atari Fit is capable of tracking some activities on its own, namely distance, speed, and calories burned while running or walking. But it also works with Fitbit and Jawbone so you can keep using the activity method you're already financially invested in. It provides over 150 exercises, which you're capable of logging. You can also create your own routine and schedule when you're going to do what.
Atari Fit is an eclectic experience, but hey, whatever gets you motivated.
PRESS RELEASE
Atari® Enters Fitness Market with Launch of the Atari Fit™ App, a Robust
Mobile Experience for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Android Devices
Gamifies more than 100 Exercises and Motivates Players to Unlock Atari Games, Earn Walgreens Balance® Rewards Points, and Integrates with other Fitness Apps like FitBit and RunKeeper
NEW YORK – March 19, 2015 – Atari®, one of the world's most recognized publishers and producers of interactive entertainment, today announced the launch of Atari Fit™for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Android devices. Available on the App Store and Google Play, Atari Fit is a rich fitness app that incentivizes users to get fit, stronger and healthier while earning points to unlock fan-favorite Atari games including Pong®, Super Breakout®, and Centipede®.
According to research from NPD Group, more than 25 percent of US consumers use smartphone fitness apps. Furthermore, some of the most avid fitness app consumers (62 percent) include middle-aged women, who use their fitness apps 3x more than the average customer – an audience of significant overlap with casual gaming. Unlike other exercise apps, Atari Fit motivates consumers to reach their health goals with a gamified mobile experience that combines the best of the gaming and fitness industry.
Atari Fit was developed in collaboration with fitness expert Michael Porter, a National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) - certified personal trainer and performance enhancement specialist. Featuring over 100 exercises, 30+ workout plans and customizable programs including full-body circuit workouts, running programs, and conditioning routines, Atari Fit is designed to challenge users at every level – from those just beginning their fitness journeys to the most active exercise enthusiasts.
“Atari Fit provides a great balance of fitness and fun,” said Porter. “The certified programs are safe, effective, and give users access to really comprehensive fitness routines, while additional features like the tracking capabilities, daily tips, Atari games, and multiple social components encourage users to engage with fitness in their every-day life.”
Atari Fit is compatible with the industry’s most popular wearable health and fitness devices, including Fitbit, Jawbone, and Android Wear devices. It can also aggregate data from other world-renowned fitness apps such as RunKeeper, Apple Health, and Google Fit – allowing users to aggregate all of their fitness activity in one location while tapping into the robust set of tracking capabilities to capture the user’s distance, speed, pace, time and calories burned within the comprehensive log-book.
Atari is working with Walgreens to bring real-world rewards through the Walgreens Balance® Rewards for healthy choices program. By engaging with Atari Fit, gamers and non-gamers alike can earn Balance Rewards loyalty program points, which are redeemable at Walgreens locations nation-wide or at Walgreens.com.
Featuring multiple social components, Atari Fit users can exercise individually or in collaboration with friends in multiplayer mode. Players can join a team, workout or race against each other, and track activity statistics for group encouragement. At the end of workouts, users can post updates on Twitter and Facebook to share achievements and personal fitness bests with friends. The unlockable Atari games also grants users access to worldwide leaderboards where they can rank their Pong, Super Breakout, and Centipede skills against other players.
“With Atari Fit, players from around the globe can exercise, play and get healthy together by providing a gamified fitness experience unlike any other app currently available,” said Fred Chesnais, Chief Executive Officer, Atari, Inc. “By uniting the universal need to exercise and live healthfully with the entertaining experience unique to Atari games, we’ve created an app that proves fitness can be fun.”
Development partners for Atari Fit include 8BitFit, a company focused on the gamification of fitness, and Gametheory, an award-winning production studio.
For the latest Atari Fit news and updates, visit www.AtariFit.com, follow @AtariFit on Twitter and Like us https://www.facebook.com/AtariFit on Facebook.
The Atari Fit app is free-to-download on the App Store for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Google Play.