Online Game Helps Troubled Young People

September 24, 2007
Online games take a lot of heat these days over issues like violence and addiction.

But an online game developed by a youth welfare organization in Australia is designed to help 16-25-year olds who are going through rough times.

Reach Out Central lets players "test-drive life," according to the Inspire Foundation, which developed the game. As reported by Stuff:
Helping and befriending the computer-controlled characters that inhabit the online world is essential, and Inspire hopes skills developed in the game - and choices made there about friends, partying, work and life in general - will transfer to the real world.

Said Inspire's Jonathan Nicholas:
The purpose of the game is to build social standing with other characters and progress through the storyline, and to do that and progress well you have to maintain your own happiness, maintain self-confidence and you have to have physical energy.

[Reach Out Central] should be a place where young people want to go, rather than the classic educational games that may be good for you but you didn't particularly enjoy.

Mark Rosser, who works with issues involving youth and depression, cited statistics showing that only 40% of depressed 16-25's sought help.
Young people are online, we know that they're high consumers of the digital age, so we need to get our messages and we need to interact with young people online - that's a given.

The Sony Foundation backed the project with a donation of $A500,000.

Comments

Definitely a thumbs up sounding project. I don't have a lot of time to check it out at this moment, but it sounds like a great addition to an arsenel of tools to help young people through difficult times. The more tools that come along, the better coverage catching those that one tool won't work with but another will. The more the better.

Nightwng2000
NW2K software

I agree that this is a positive idea, but I wonder if "troubled" youth will seek this out and/or take anything away from the experience? How relatable can an fantasy experience viewed alone, in the solitary confines of a computer, can anything be? Likewise, how much social impact can a narrative have, as opposed to actual social contact (or even virtual contact via instant messaging)?

True, it probably won't help everyone. Still, the "every little bit helps" falls into play. If it were the only solution to such issues, I'd say it were seriously lacking and people should be looking for other ways to help also.

But, we know that there are already other ways to help, this one added on helps others that those solutions don't help, and other newer solutions will come along to help those who none of the other solutions help. Every solution has some form of weakness when it comes to some individuals. But additional solutions work to cover the weaknesses of other solutions, so it does tend to be a hit or miss to find the right solution or the right way to deal with the problems.

We all wish there was one simple, perfect solution for everything and everyone. Sadly, there isn't.

Nightwng2000
NW2K Software

What a great idea, take that you game haters out there.

Anyone here about Iraq veterans being given Parrots as therapy? Same thing isn't it?

Anyway, two thumbs, right up.

I'm confused...is this an MMO, of sorts? Are players interacting with each other?

If so, what's to stop jackasses from logging on to grief people, just as they do in every other online medium? I would worry that this would turn into griefer's shooting fish in a barrel.

Fish who are already emotionally or psychologically troubled... =(

Don't think it's an MMO. Computer Controlled Characters...

This sounds like it follows the same pattern that many of the online dating sims do.

I'm looking it over now. It seems interesting enough. I did like that it has a bit of a survey at the beginning to keep track of a player's mood. Like Nightwing and Gavin said, it's not a perfect solution. I'd give anything for tools like this to be unneeded, but once again, anything helps. I'd still rather be out of a job though. Seeing depressed people suffer is a hard thing.

-Mike Schwinger

The main site's video demo is in QuickTime, which our work computer doesn't use.

HOWEVER, there is a YouTube video news story about it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dvo7nQLiW2s

Nightwng2000
NW2K Software

I wonder if there are any negative consequences in the game? In the youtube, one of the players watching the screen notes "I think she wants us to go home". I certainly don't take this as a bad thing, but is it possible to reject the NPCs, or be rejected yourself? Or is it a solidly feel good only game?

I think it would be a shame to rule out reality, in a drive to make this a stabalizing environment for troubled teens...

I just went threw the game and it is really worth checking out even if your not a teen like my self it really hits on the key points on reality for teens moving to a new place meeting new people making new friends etc

I really like the idea. I think it would be a good way to ease people with social issues or who are re-entering society with the transition one has to make.

I'm interested in seeing if there's any uproar over the fact that the game is fairly restricted (in that players are interacting solely with NPC, as that's what it seems at the moment). I'm sure someone will be crying over unrealism.

This looks interesting. Its kinda set up like a Cheap Flash game or one of those "Gaming College" Commercial's games you see.

If they got a Full Blown investment, you could end up with a game like AA:RoS. AA really sucks you in, so, with a bit of work, they could make a REALLY helpful game.

Thats my 2 Copper.

Nice move. We rarely see projects like these. I hope they succeed in their goals. XD

If anything this would probably make the emo population more suicidal, not less. I know I'd want to kill myself if I could only make friends in a game designed to make me not want to slit my wrists.

lolz u all sok cok jk u should go to xpeeps.com or xxpeeps.com great sites well l8r motha f*krs jk lol

[...] GamePolitics.com Blog Archive Online Game Helps Troubled Online games take a lot of heat these days over issues like violence and addiction. But an online game developed by a youth welfare organization in Australia is designed to help [...]

This is definitely a great idea. I think it would be a good way to ease people with social issues or who are re-entering society with the transition one has to make.
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ZippyDSMleesigh...was playing anice game of empire at war and then boom crash...hope new oparts come soon ><05/22/2012 - 1:17pm
Andrew EisenI still say the particular word or phrase the MPAA uses to describe what it's fighting against is the least of its problems.05/22/2012 - 1:12pm
ZippyDSMleeMPAA finally admits piracy is not the same as stealing, kinda http://tinyurl.com/chtcf8p05/22/2012 - 11:55am
ddrfr33k@EZK Bwahahaha! @Michael: Yeah, several news sources have said that google DNS can bypass the TPB roadblocks.05/22/2012 - 11:38am
Michael ChandraWeird, I can still visit piratebay. Wonder if Google DNS is related to that, or I simply have an exotic ISP?05/22/2012 - 9:03am
Lisa PhamNo harm done, E. Zachary Knight. :)05/22/2012 - 4:50am
Uncharted NESBSA Claims Half of PC Users Are Pirates- http://slashdot.org/palm/17/12/05/22/0051216_1.shtml05/21/2012 - 11:18pm
E. Zachary KnightAh. Missed that. My mind just connected DDR3 with ddrfr33k and ran with it. Oh well.05/21/2012 - 10:12pm
Lisa PhamHe also mentioned the game "Shadows of the damned" which is on PS305/21/2012 - 8:08pm
E. Zachary Knightddrf33k, I think Zip is referring to computer hardware.05/21/2012 - 7:33pm
ddrfr33k@Zip: Excellent game. It's a trip.05/21/2012 - 7:09pm
Lisa PhamIanC - if you read/looked at the report (PDF and written) then you'd see where they failed and why. Some games have come close to passing and some have passed. The list of games evaluated. http://www.reclaimyourgame.com/content.php/18-RYG-Evaluations05/21/2012 - 5:49pm
Andrew EisenMaybe I'll luck out and the Wii version won't have this retail exclusive DLC nonsense.05/21/2012 - 5:12pm
ZippyDSMleeBought new guitar...trying to find a nice DDR3/mobo combo under 200$ sicne I need new ram thats 100$....fun times..... picked up shadows of the damned tho!!05/21/2012 - 4:56pm
E. Zachary KnightYeah, that's how I feel about retail exclusive DLC too. ;)05/21/2012 - 3:37pm
RedMageThat's what I started to figure too. They seem to have trouble coming up with an effective scare tactic. At one point they referred to it as "online looting" which just sounds stupid.05/21/2012 - 3:34pm
E. Zachary KnightOf all the sucky suckiness that ever sucked. Lego Batman 2 will suffer from sucky retailer exclusive DLC. Suck! http://tinyurl.com/ckq67vg05/21/2012 - 3:30pm
E. Zachary KnightAs for Dodd, I think it is mostly that he realizes that calling copyright infringement "theft" is bad for PR and that they need to change tactics. Just like how they went from using "piracy" to using "theft."05/21/2012 - 1:48pm
E. Zachary KnightIan, I think in this case, the rating is well deserved. To get a good rating, I would assume that a company would have to release the game with no DRM, or at least fully disclosed DRM.05/21/2012 - 1:46pm
IanCLisa - what do companies have to do to get a good rating from that site?05/21/2012 - 12:54pm

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