Lanebreak Is a Video Game Workout for Peloton Bikes

Speaker 1: So imagine if DDR Antron had a baby with your spin machine? Well, that is what pelotons doing with lane break I'm on beginner mode. I just got through the first of four songs and it's a good workout. <laugh> Speaker 1: Hey, what's going on? I'm Justin tech today. I've got something really exciting and that is pelotons brand new video game. So Peloton is known for its workout classes [00:00:30] at scenic rides. And now they've added an interactive music video game. My mom has a Peloton. I've used it in the past and I've really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I don't have space in my home for one, otherwise I would consider getting one. So I had to head over and check it out at the Peloton showroom here in New York. And I'm gonna take you there right now. Try it out and let you know what I think of it. I'm here over at Peloton [00:01:00] showroom in Hudson yards and exhausting three blocks from my place, cuz I knew I had to try out this game, right? It combines a video game with fitness. I'm a gamer. I love fitness. How could I not right. So let's go check it out. Let's get riding Back here. They'd be got a bunch of private rooms where you could try out their machines for 20 minutes. Take a course and see if you like it and want to take one home. We've got our own bike [00:01:30] plus here where we're gonna play the game. So let's put these on and get going. Speaker 2: So Speaker 1: Let's let's start. Riding Lane break is an interactive music game that takes inspiration from track based games like Dan Sans, revolution, guitar hero and beat saver. Players control [00:02:00] a digital wheel, rolling through a strong track, along to a variety of songs using the resistance knob and pedals players control the wheel to gain as many points as possible by completing different objectives. Along the way. Speaker 1: Peloton partnered with Warner music group as the exclusive music launch partner that initial launch included 20 tracks and some remixes exclusive to Peloton. As you can see here [00:02:30] they are. And on top they have Broadway buzz. I really love that. We got waving through a window from dear Hansen, some Hamilton, it plans to release more tracks regularly. We've got David getta songs. We've got Mary J Blige and there's even David Bowie remixes that are only on Peloton. After trying out the five minute demo, I was ready to tackle any of the courses. Here's how to play. Speaker 1: You control the wheel [00:03:00] in a couple different ways to switch lanes. You use the resistance knob. Adding resistance will bump you up to a harder lane on the right and taking resistance off brings you back down to the left. Next you'll need to adjust your cadence throughout the game in order to hit certain beats and stay within certain is cadence is controlled with the speed of your pedaling. It's as simple as that using these two controls, you'll navigate through the three different mechanics or what Peloton calls moments where you can rack up points. First, [00:03:30] there are beats. First one you got are these blue lines. Those go to the beat in order to get points for these. All you need to do is be in the same lane and have a cadence or speed that is above the minimum requirement. Although it looks like you should be hitting the bars in some sort of rhythm. That's not really the case. I found that no matter what rhythm my legs were going, I would still get the points which felt a little lackluster Speaker 1: With other music based games. I, I played [00:04:00] the challenge of hitting marks right on time added to the competitiveness. I didn't really feel that same satisfaction here, which was a bit of a bummer. Next, there are breakers. These are intermittent lanes that require you to max out your speed for a short period of time. So the faster you pedal the faster the triangle at the end fills, and you can also score additional overcharge points for filling up the second triangle, go in the tougher lane for this one. [00:04:30] Boom. And lastly, there are green zones called streams. When you're inside these zones, a cadence range appears right on the wheel. Now to get the point you need to stay within that range, which is roughly the beat of the music. And I get more points. If I'm within that range, if you go too high or too low, you won't score the points. Each track has the option for four difficulty modes from beginner to expert for the purposes of filming this video. I only pedaled on beginner [00:05:00] and let me tell it was still a very challenging ride. My original plan was to sit on the bike, play the game and explain it to you on camera, which I attempted to. The cadence is controlled with my legs. I can't gotta move tracks. And then in these different moments throughout the Speaker 3: It's just difficult. Speaker 1: Let me pause this for a second. That didn't go as planned. Kind of almost want to pause and interestingly enough, there's no [00:05:30] pause button. There's no way to pause. Is there. I can't get outta here. I was looking all over the screen for one. I couldn't find one and that's because it doesn't exist. It's probably because Peloton doesn't want your score to be inflated. If you take a break, get a coconut water and then hop that gone, that would affect like the online leaderboards. So I'm a very competitive person and there is a competitive aspect to this on Peloton. You'll have access to the leaderboards and at the end screen, it shows up all your [00:06:00] statistics. Let's see how I scored. Not so great. Cuz we did take a break in between this song, but here come take a look. I got one and a half stars. Speaker 1: 37% completed. Pelotons bikes have cameras on them. So you can ride along with friends, but currently they, there is no ability to play this video game along with friends on camera. So I hope that they add that feature later if you've tried Peloton before. And you're wondering if lane break would be the deciding factor to get [00:06:30] one? Well, I'd have to say no lane break was fun, but it wasn't groundbreaking. Sweat, not looking really camera ready, but it feels good. The game was challenging and it was cool to look at, but I could see it growing kind of old that said there were some fun tracks to play along to specifically, I loved the Broadway hits and the exclusive remixes and the fact that they will be introducing new tracks over time. What excite me if I had a Peloton, especially [00:07:00] if I'm paying, you know, that subscription price every month. Speaker 1: It's nice to see that there are consistent updates coming. That doesn't mean that I don't want a Peloton though, because I do. And honestly, if I had enough space in my apartment, I would already have one, ultimately lane break sheds light on an even bigger topic. And that's the intersection of video games and exercise. Now this isn't anything new, but it does seem to be an area that's growing more than ever before. In fact, my co-host Bridget Carey, she tried out [00:07:30] the air godda rower, which challenges you to personal goals and races against each other. Speaker 4: Okay, good. I'm not totally the worst. Speaker 1: We also see workout apps in VR. Get a lot of attention lately with games like B saber and supernatural, both on meta quests. If you are interested in learning more about Peloton, we've got links down below the description. See ya in the next one. I'm Justin and I'll take you later.