It's an interesting move from the renowned video game publisher, attempting to bridge the gap between fitness apps and casual mobile games. As well as offering health goals, the app motivates folk to get fit with a gamified mobile experience, combining elements from both fitness and gaming industries. A perfect marriage for those who find exercising a chore.
The app itself was also developed in collaboration with fitness expert Michael Porter, a certified personal trainer and performance enhancement specialist. Over 100 exercise and 30 workout plans are included in the experience, with customizable programs including full-body workouts, running programs and conditioning routines.
Highlighted features include:
- Support for wearables (Fitbit, Jawbone, etc.) by connecting to Google Fit, earn in-game rewards.
- Connect with Google Fit, Runkeeper or Facebook and receive useful data.
- Join a team and workout together or race against each other.
- Post your achievements to social media.
Atari Fit is set to challenge you regardless as to how fit you may be already. It's also a cool concept and one we know many casual gamers will enjoy. Atari games unlocked through Atari Fit include the likes of Pong, Super Breakout, and Centipede. It's simply an added bonus that you'll be keeping fit in the process.
See the press release below for more details.
NEW YORK – March 19th, 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 exercise, 30+ workout pland 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.
