Kick the Habit With Nintendo DS
Kick the Habit With Nintendo DS
May 29, 2008
Ubisoft has announced that it will release a handheld video game designed to help users kick the cigarette habit.
Allen Carr’s Easyway to Stop Smoking is scheduled for November release on the Nintendo DS. The game is based on the smoking cessation program of the same name, which currently features books, DVDs and clinics. According to an Ubisoft press release, over 10 million people have already availed themselves of the Carr method. Ubisoft exec Christian Salomon commented:
Ubisoft’s creative team has worked hard to deliver a game that successfully communicates Allen Carr’s Easyway method via play. The player experiences a truly interactive engagement with the game through which he or she learns that it can actually be enjoyable to quit smoking.
Robin Hayley, managing director of Allen Carr’s Easyway to Stop Smoking, added:
There was an amazing synergy between Allen Carr’s Easyway team and Ubisoft as we worked on this project. Our experts worked hand in hand with the Ubisoft team to create an entertaining and illuminating game that delivers Allen Carr’s Easyway method in a new, dynamic and highly effective way.
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Posted 09/07/08 at 09:07pm
BlackIce: If you asked me, the problem is that clothing exists.
BlackIce: If you asked me, the problem is that clothing exists.
Posted 09/07/08 at 08:05pm
Shadow Darkman Anti-Thesis of : @BlackIce: Most guys stare at what's showing instead of who's wearing it. There is the prob. Skimpy clothing is a distraction.
Shadow Darkman Anti-Thesis of : @BlackIce: Most guys stare at what's showing instead of who's wearing it. There is the prob. Skimpy clothing is a distraction.
Posted 09/07/08 at 08:03pm
Shadow Darkman Anti-Thesis of : Once again GRIZZAM wins the Internet.
Shadow Darkman Anti-Thesis of : Once again GRIZZAM wins the Internet.
Posted 09/07/08 at 06:06pm
BlackIce: Ooh, you sound like you have a problem with skimpy clothing!
BlackIce: Ooh, you sound like you have a problem with skimpy clothing!
Posted 09/07/08 at 04:23pm
DarkSaber: Barely
DarkSaber: Barely
Posted 09/07/08 at 04:21pm
BlackIce: I believe that a Bikini counts as clothing.
BlackIce: I believe that a Bikini counts as clothing.
Posted 09/07/08 at 03:53pm
Brokenscope: I'll give a you a hint, its not a shotgun, and its not actually palin.
Brokenscope: I'll give a you a hint, its not a shotgun, and its not actually palin.
Posted 09/07/08 at 03:52pm
ZippyDSMlee: GRIZZAM PRIME:I know sad eh? but I try anyway :P
ZippyDSMlee: GRIZZAM PRIME:I know sad eh? but I try anyway :P
Posted 09/07/08 at 03:27pm
Adamas Draconis: admitidly its a photoshop, but the thought....http://punditkitchen.com/2008/09/03/political-pictures-sarah-palin-photoshopped-b.
Adamas Draconis: admitidly its a photoshop, but the thought....http://punditkitchen.com/2008/09/03/political-pictures-sarah-palin-photoshopped-b.
Posted 09/07/08 at 03:24pm
Adamas Draconis: theres a pic of her in a bikini with a shotgun...horrifying
Adamas Draconis: theres a pic of her in a bikini with a shotgun...horrifying
Posted 09/07/08 at 01:50pm
BlackIce: Sarah Palin does not look nice. She'd look worse with no clothes on.
BlackIce: Sarah Palin does not look nice. She'd look worse with no clothes on.
Posted 09/07/08 at 01:06pm
sortableturnip: McCain is just a man...he even likes MILF boob ;)
sortableturnip: McCain is just a man...he even likes MILF boob ;)
Posted 09/07/08 at 08:47am
HarmlessBunny: @DarkSaber: ROFL
HarmlessBunny: @DarkSaber: ROFL
Posted 09/07/08 at 08:26am
DarkSaber: http://sameritech.wordpress.com/2008/08/30/mccain-caught-staring-at-sarah-palin%E2%80%99s-boobs/
DarkSaber: http://sameritech.wordpress.com/2008/08/30/mccain-caught-staring-at-sarah-palin%E2%80%99s-boobs/
Posted 09/07/08 at 05:44am
Matthew: Little-known fact: The LHC is designed to reveal the existence of a meal between breakfast and brunch.
Matthew: Little-known fact: The LHC is designed to reveal the existence of a meal between breakfast and brunch.
Posted 09/07/08 at 01:38am
GRIZZAM PRIME: Zippy: Better jokes I have heard. Worse too...
GRIZZAM PRIME: Zippy: Better jokes I have heard. Worse too...
Posted 09/07/08 at 01:34am
ZippyDSMlee: Shadow Darkman Anti-Thesis of : its humor...everyone was talking about eating "bunches" the cereal..I just could not ignore it. :P
ZippyDSMlee: Shadow Darkman Anti-Thesis of : its humor...everyone was talking about eating "bunches" the cereal..I just could not ignore it. :P
Posted 09/07/08 at 01:20am
Shadow Darkman Anti-Thesis of : Zippy: WTF?
Shadow Darkman Anti-Thesis of : Zippy: WTF?
Posted 09/07/08 at 01:12am
ZippyDSMlee: zippy wants to know...why uuu all eating on poor bunchakneejerk ... =0_o=....LOL
ZippyDSMlee: zippy wants to know...why uuu all eating on poor bunchakneejerk ... =0_o=....LOL
Posted 09/06/08 at 11:38pm
Shadow Darkman Anti-Thesis of : The words of SounDemon in the Nuked Cat thread are LEGENDARY Win!
Shadow Darkman Anti-Thesis of : The words of SounDemon in the Nuked Cat thread are LEGENDARY Win!
Copyright © 2007 ECA. All rights reserved.
Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Comments
First.
And yet I have nothing to say to this.
Posting "first" without actually having any real content is almost as bad as replying to a first post without really referring to it just so your comment shows up closer to the top of the pages.
But that's not really why I replied; I just thought you'd be interested in my 300-page manifesto on whether or not mustelidae will eat Jell-O. (Spoiler alert: no, they don't.)
(I promise not to do this more than once a year.)
---
The Mammon Industry
I realize the goals of this game are to benefit health, but some watchdog group is going to say it promotes the idea of smoking. I am very curious to see how a DS program can help people quit smoking.
Gay. Also lame.
So: glame.
Homophobic. Also unoriginal.
So: homoriginal.
I dunno... If it works, wouldn't that be proof that video games CAN influence people's behavior?
Maybe, but it still won't prove the "games = instaviolence" people right either.
Everything influences everything. Your (purposefully, I hope?
) ridiculous comment here influenced my decision to write this response, for example. You didn't make me write this response, however, just as no video game ever made anyone do anything.
....What...?
Aren't nicorette gum and rehab enough anymore?
If I'm so thick that I require a video game to make me stop smoking, dying of cancer would probably be best for mankind.
I can't stand the smell of smoke, so I cannot help but applaud any effort to help more people stop, but... "synergy"? "illuminating"? "a new, dynamic, and highly effective way"? What does that even mean?
I believe that is code for "we would like to exploit money out of people who have been unfortunate enough to gain an addiction to a harmful substance because either way they are wasting money and its better in our hands than in the hands tabacco companies." I can't remember that last time I seriously listened to any PR jibberish...
This is rapidly becoming my drum to beat it seems...but what is political about this? Not getting any hint of politics from this story whatsoever.
I don't think its about the article being inherently political, but that its something that could be used politically. If it actually works, and helps someone quit smoking, it could be claimed as proof that games can influence behavior despite the fact that its simply another method of teaching a method already taught through other media. It also shows a way that games can be used for something good, which goes against what all of the anti-game pundits claim. I'd like to see Jack Thompson, Bill O'Reilly, or Hillary Clinton say that a game that reinforces a stop smoking program is a bad thing.
Or it could be the fact that GP doesn't have to be entirely political if Dennis doesn't want it to be. So long as the majority of articles are of a political nature, which they are, the name GamePolitics still fits the bill. I wouldn't call articles about gamers helping their local communities political either, but they show up here and serve as an example that gamers aren't evil murderers like some people would have others think and that games aren't something that will turn you to being one.
@ Hannah
"I can't stand the smell of smoke, so I cannot help but applaud any effort to help more people stop, but..."
Yeah, well I can't stand the smell of Aqua Net. I think fuckers should all be coerced to walk around with frizzy hair just so I don't have to smell it. And before you retort that Aqua Net won't kill you, I'd like to see you huff a few cans and tell me it isn't deadly.
All joking aside.
I think it's kind of pointless to bring it to a game system since the books seem to work just fine. But if it really helps someone who wan't to quit do so, then I guess that's cool.
Sooooo... Does the DS shock the person if they smoke when they aren't supposed to? Play the hamster dance while you're allowed to smoke? Or simply scream over the speakers, "It's smokey time help this person light up! [Start Puff the Magic Dragon music]"
If it doesn't then it's pointless.
-Loudspeaker
"Volume helps to get a point across but sharp teeth are better."
Interesting. So, which method did you use to stop smoking?
I used the method that involves never starting in the first place.
-Loudspeaker
"Volume helps to get a point across but sharp teeth are better."
I used the 'stop smoking because I have willpower and am not a complete pussy' method to stop smoking. But apparently, kids these days need a DS to help them quit.
You know why people have trouble stopping smoking? Because of those goddamn anti-smoking commercials reminding them about ciggarettes!
-GRIZZAM PRIME(c)is property of the U.S. Marine Corp. Wetworks Dept., and also The Incredible Hulk-GRIZZAM PRIME is not to be associated with GRIZZAM 512 or any other GRIZZAM entity under penalty of law, so sayith ZARATHOS.
You know I've never had any desire to smoke whatsoever, but whenever I see one of those commercials I consider it just out of spite. Maybe there just really,really good reverse psyciology.
I quit smoking three years ago using Allen Carr's book. Basically went from a pack every two days to zero, with only about two weeks discomfort and no supplements of any sort. Nowadays whenever anyone I know even mentions the *idea* of quitting, I buy them the book right away, for the cost of two packs of cigarettes it's the best money I've ever spent.
What makes it so effective is that it's expressing ideas about *why* you smoke, and *why* you're afraid to quit, that no-one else seems to discuss. It would be interesting to see those same ideas and how they would be presented in a DS game, but the book itself is so effective (and undoubtedly a lot cheaper) that I wonder how useful it'd be.
I wonder how long this was in development? Part of me thinks they got the idea from that guy who used Pokemon to quit smoking.
Myself, I only smoke when I'm out drinking, and I only drink on days ending in y. "Backdaywards" is my least favourite day of the week.
---
The Mammon Industry
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