Simulating Fatigue in Video Games

As video games become more and more realistic, here's one area that has tended to be ignored: those darn characters never get tired! You can play for hours on end, and your soldier/alien/athlete/car-thief still runs around with the same vigor, like he's on some kind of super-drug. Well, the Near Future Laboratory has hacked Playstation controllers to add a realistic fatigue - the hack simply "dampens" the analog joystick movement, meaning that after time, pushing the stick all the way forward won't have the full effect it used to. It's an interesting concept to add this feature for realism, but even more interesting for the implications on long game-playing sessions - namely, they'll be less likely to happen! It's a built-in motivation to take a break from the game when your character gets tired. And, you know, maybe go outside and get some exercise...?
[via MAKE]