All Access. All in one subscription. From $2 per week
Subscribe now

All Access Weekly

From $2 per week
Pay just
$15.75
$2
per week ongoing
Subscribe now
BEST VALUE

All Access Annual

Pay just
$449
$49
per year ongoing
Subscribe now
Learn more
30
NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Budget 2025
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Entertainment

Matt Heath: Boxing in a virtual world takes some beating

Matt Heath
By Matt Heath
Newstalk ZB Afternoons host·NZ Herald·
9 Dec, 2018 04:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Nature wants us guys to fight, society doesn't. The answer is simple. Virtual reality.
Nature wants us guys to fight, society doesn't. The answer is simple. Virtual reality.

Nature wants us guys to fight, society doesn't. The answer is simple. Virtual reality.

Matt Heath
Opinion by Matt Heath
Newstalk ZB Afternoons host
Learn more

COMMENT: Men have been beating the crap out of each other since before we were lobsters. We love it. We are evolved both mentally and physically for man on man fighting.

This can lead to problems. That's why we don't do it much anymore. Turns out people can get hurt when you punch them really hard in the face. Especially wimpy dudes like me.

Unlike the movies, real fights are generally grim humiliating affairs.

Shirts ripped off, screaming bystanders and punches that sound like dull slaps. Gross. Definitely not for the workplace. Terrible for productivity. So what do we do? Nature wants us to fight, society doesn't. The answer is simple. Virtual reality.

I've been playing Creed: Rise to Glory VR on my PS4 all week. I haven't been this happy in ages. Smacking a realistic 3d dude right in the face is so satisfying. He's right there in front of you, he looks big, he looks tough and you punch him right in his 3d face. It's so good. It's also a victimless crime.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Artificial guys have no families, no responsibilities, no feelings, no soul (well not yet anyway). So there's no cost to the taxpayer in terms of hospitalisation, policing or imprisonment. It's win win win.

Best of all you immediately gain perfect abs and massive arms in the game. It's a pleasure to look down at your new rendered body. VR boxing is also great for real fitness. Exercise is boring. Beating up dudes is not.

I can hardly write on this keyboard I'm sweating so much from the virtual work out I just did. Rocky Balboa really put me through my paces in a fully immersive 3d version of Philadelphia's Front Street Gym. It has dozens of bags to hit, a treadmill and a practice ring. It's large and spacious and it only takes up a metre of the actual world.

Then there are the fights. Some in-front of huge cheery crowds at massive virtual stadiums. You get so into it you'll find yourself celebrating a victory. Jumping up and down. Hands in the air. Emotionally pointing over at Rocky in your corner.

Like many New Zealanders, I've flirted with real boxing and failed. I trained for many years at a downtown gym. Sadly I was useless.

Discover more

Opinion

Japan charms me from top to, erm, bottom

11 Nov 04:00 PM
Opinion

Matt Heath: The secrets to domestic bliss

18 Nov 04:00 PM
Opinion

Matt Heath: WWI horrors put life in perspective

25 Nov 04:00 PM
Opinion

Heath: Rusty bike proof of faith in Kiwis

02 Dec 04:00 PM

A terrible combo of unco and angry. I'd get so hyped up before sparring I'd be shagged before I got in the ring. Then I'd get clipped and fly into a pathetic red mist. Throwing wild baby like haymakers which invariably led to me getting knocked on my arse. Luckily a lack of fitness meant I could only fight for about 30 seconds at a time.

Then one-day my foxy boxing career went from bad to worse. Against no opponent, at all, I put myself in hospital. I popped a disc punching a heavy bag.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Had to get major surgery. If only I had had Creed: Rise To Glory VR I would have been sweet. Virtual boxing is the perfect option for talentless, wusses with an urge to fight like me. You can't hurt yourself or anyone else because it's not real.

Obviously, actual fighting means many magnitudes more emotionally and physically. If 1000 likes on your Instagram humble skite pix is equivalent to half a smile in real life. It's the probably the same in terms of VR hits to the head.

Still, men need to fight for the sake of our mental health. We aren't allowed to on the streets and can't be bothered going to a real boxing gym so this is the next best thing.

Obviously being completely immersed in a virtual world has its risks. You're standing in your lounge in your undies throwing your fists around deaf and blind to the world.

Someone could easily come in and rob your house, pull your pants down or worse, film you on their phones and share it. I imagine I look like a massive spoon in the real world whilst kicking arse in the virtual one. I suggest making sure everyone is out and the doors are locked.

You'll need to spend a bit of cash on gear. A PS4, the game, a VR Headset and Move Controllers. But it's totally worth it.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

I think we can all agree that randomly beating real people up on the street isn't a good thing. Being beaten up even worse.

Thank God we live in a world that we can leave. Where we can take out our instinctual need for fighting on a bunch of pixels in a headset in our lounges. Get yourself a VR boxing setup. It's bloody good for the soul.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Entertainment

Entertainment

Sir Rod Stewart eyes sprinting record at 80

23 May 12:13 AM
World

'Wanted to fight him': Cudi's testimony at Diddy trial

22 May 11:21 PM
Entertainment

'Extremely difficult to perform': Miley Cyrus opens up on health battle

22 May 08:16 AM

Sponsored: How much is too much?

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Recommended for you
Judge blocks Trump move to end student visas, grants nationwide relief
World

Judge blocks Trump move to end student visas, grants nationwide relief

23 May 12:48 AM
'Very uncomfortable': Cops called after man approaches teen on beach to take photos
New Zealand

'Very uncomfortable': Cops called after man approaches teen on beach to take photos

23 May 12:37 AM
'Survival mode': Driver brandishes knife in road-rage incident
Bay of Plenty Times

'Survival mode': Driver brandishes knife in road-rage incident

23 May 12:22 AM
Police seize 400kg of cannabis, cocaine in major Auckland bust
New Zealand

Police seize 400kg of cannabis, cocaine in major Auckland bust

23 May 12:21 AM
Record floods claim four lives, isolate 50,000 in eastern Australia
World

Record floods claim four lives, isolate 50,000 in eastern Australia

23 May 12:21 AM

Latest from Entertainment

Sir Rod Stewart eyes sprinting record at 80

Sir Rod Stewart eyes sprinting record at 80

23 May 12:13 AM

He used to enjoy a good chart run, now he's after something different.

'Wanted to fight him': Cudi's testimony at Diddy trial

'Wanted to fight him': Cudi's testimony at Diddy trial

22 May 11:21 PM
'Extremely difficult to perform': Miley Cyrus opens up on health battle

'Extremely difficult to perform': Miley Cyrus opens up on health battle

22 May 08:16 AM
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning | trailer

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning | trailer

Sponsored: Cosy up to colour all year
sponsored

Sponsored: Cosy up to colour all year

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
All Access. All in one subscription. From $2 per week
Subscribe now

All Access Weekly

From $2 per week
Pay just
$15.75
$2
per week ongoing
Subscribe now
BEST VALUE

All Access Annual

Pay just
$449
$49
per year ongoing
Subscribe now
Learn more
30
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search