Shoot fireballs for your health!

It’s been said that sports participation in Japanese schools has been on a steady decline in recent years. It would seem that tossing the old ball around and climbing ropes has taken a backseat to tossing grenades and climbing rusty ladders out of the stygian depths of a demon-infested video game underworld.

There’s also the tendency for sports to ostracize those with less physical strength and coordination, making it a traumatic and depressing ordeal for some. So, in an effort to make sports both more inclusive and glitzier, Shizuoka Nishi High School in Shizuoka City has become the latest to adopt the AR sport of Hado into their physical education curriculum this June.

▼ Welcome to Hado

Hado is brought to us by Meleap Inc., whose CEO Hiroshi Fukuda always wanted to shoot fireballs from his arms as seen in video games and TV. In the sport, players wear an AR visor and wrist terminal and get into teams of three before taking the court. When the battle begins, one arm is used to shoot fireballs and can be charged by holding it up. The other arm can be raised to also raise a shield and is charged by keeping it down.

Through their visors, each player can see a ring divided into four segments in front of all the other players. Points are awarded for each segment hit and the team with the most points after 80 seconds wins.

Also, before playing, everyone can use their arm terminal to set their stats. You are allowed to allot up to 10 points across four skill: Bullet Speed, Bullet Size, Charging Speed, and Number of Shields that can be deployed at one time. This allows players to augment their own natural ability during games either by balancing them or enhancing existing strong points.

Playing in this way lets students enjoy a more level playing field so kids of all shapes and sizes can compete together while still getting a lot of exercise and eye-hand coordination practice.

Hado is currently played in 100 schools in Japan and 300 around the world. Adults also play the game and the Hado World Cup was held in Shanghai, China on 24 May. The entire event was streamed online and can still be viewed on YouTube, so I won’t spoil it by saying which of the 18 participating countries won if you want to watch it.

Of course, it’s also possible to go full AR game with Hado and still get some exercise in. Team-based games like Hado Monster Battle let you and your friends work together to take out a giant beast with your fireball-throwing skills.

I have to say, it makes me a little jealous that kids today can do this in gym class when all we had when I was their age was a parachute… Aw, who am I kidding? The parachute was awesome, but this is really cool too.

Source: PR Times, Hado
Featured image: PR Times
Insert images: PR Tines, Hado
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