In a post entitled "Cheesesteaks vs. PlayStation showdown," Philadelphian and Joystiq blogger Vladimir Cole announced that he's taking the EyeToy: Kinetic fitness challenge, which he himself made up based on the product's "Body by PlayStation" marketing. His plan: work-out with the EyeToy PlayStation 2 video game at least four hours a week from March 12th through June 15th. If by the end of that time he has failed to lose 25 pounds (!!!), he's going to give $500 to one of the top 20 Joystiq readers - the winner to be selected, for extra geekiness, by the roll of a 20-sided die.

Cole blames his recent weight gain on cheesesteaks, the weekly pub events at his full-time MBA program, and Philly itself; he says he's gained 20 pounds in the seven months he's been living here. We take a bit of offense at that, and think he should exercise some self-restraint along with the other exercise he's going to be doing. And we also think he'll be coughing up that 500 bucks; 25 pounds is a lot to lose with just a video game to help you.

Btw, check out Joystiq's fascinating "Are you a fat gamer?" poll, which was apparently at least partially the inspiration for this stunt, and which is also an interesting examination of a video gaming stereotype. Phillyist must admit we were forced, in the interests of being truthful to the internet at large, to select the "I'm overweight." answer...but we're not blaming it on Philly! Or on video games, for that matter.

Image Credit: Game Warp