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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LOGINGamePolitics ShoutBox
Posted 08/20/08 at 02:05pm
sortableturnip: It's funny, he sends a letter b4 any investigation...what a moron...
sortableturnip: It's funny, he sends a letter b4 any investigation...what a moron...
Posted 08/20/08 at 02:00pm
GRIZZAM PRIME: @Nova: 643
GRIZZAM PRIME: @Nova: 643
Posted 08/20/08 at 01:45pm
lordlundar: Okay, forget sending flowers to him. We should send him something he needs, like a foil hat.
lordlundar: Okay, forget sending flowers to him. We should send him something he needs, like a foil hat.
Posted 08/20/08 at 01:32pm
NovaBlack: hahah JT's logic is baffling. "The bar changed insurance providers!, *GASP* another 'smoking gun' "! (how many are there now?)
NovaBlack: hahah JT's logic is baffling. "The bar changed insurance providers!, *GASP* another 'smoking gun' "! (how many are there now?)
Posted 08/20/08 at 11:59am
sortableturnip: JT's latest conspiracy theory: http://jaablog.jaablaw.com/2007/09/04/ pardon-our-appearance.aspx?pg=2 &view=threaded#comment-12959
sortableturnip: JT's latest conspiracy theory: http://jaablog.jaablaw.com/2007/09/04/ pardon-our-appearance.aspx?pg=2 &view=threaded#comment-12959
Posted 08/20/08 at 11:07am
Krono: a name. People can type in Anonymous if they wish, but as things stand people keep ending up Anon simply due to forgetting.
Krono: a name. People can type in Anonymous if they wish, but as things stand people keep ending up Anon simply due to forgetting.
Posted 08/20/08 at 11:06am
Krono: On the subject of registering: While requiring people to register probably isn't needed yet, I'd recommend requiring inputing
Krono: On the subject of registering: While requiring people to register probably isn't needed yet, I'd recommend requiring inputing
Posted 08/20/08 at 10:26am
ZippyDSMlee: Amazed that the "Dumbest Generation" article has the smartest posters in it(me not included of coarse)...mmm bbwwwaiiinnnsss *shuffle shuffle*
ZippyDSMlee: Amazed that the "Dumbest Generation" article has the smartest posters in it(me not included of coarse)...mmm bbwwwaiiinnnsss *shuffle shuffle*
Posted 08/20/08 at 09:36am
Austin_Lewis: There's a pub in a village with thatched roofs on the way to Stonehenge that had the best garlic bread ever. I ate like 12
Austin_Lewis: There's a pub in a village with thatched roofs on the way to Stonehenge that had the best garlic bread ever. I ate like 12
Posted 08/20/08 at 09:36am
Austin_Lewis: orders of it and ended spending 24 pounds on the bread alone.
Austin_Lewis: orders of it and ended spending 24 pounds on the bread alone.
Posted 08/20/08 at 09:35am
Austin_Lewis: @Novablack: That's funny, when I was at the Peele Center, they reported London's knife crime at 850 with some change.
Austin_Lewis: @Novablack: That's funny, when I was at the Peele Center, they reported London's knife crime at 850 with some change.
Posted 08/20/08 at 09:18am
gamepolitics: used the Tube continually, except took a bus tour to Stonehenge... such a tourist.
gamepolitics: used the Tube continually, except took a bus tour to Stonehenge... such a tourist.
Posted 08/20/08 at 09:14am
NovaBlack: true. wasnt there a 'good news paper' that sold practically nothing and went bust?
NovaBlack: true. wasnt there a 'good news paper' that sold practically nothing and went bust?
Posted 08/20/08 at 09:08am
ZippyDSMlee: NovaBlack: the news media needs soemthignto tak abotu and good thigns do not "sell" news.
ZippyDSMlee: NovaBlack: the news media needs soemthignto tak abotu and good thigns do not "sell" news.
Posted 08/20/08 at 09:01am
NovaBlack: Also knife crime in london last year 160.. in new york (similar size etc) 400+ knife attacks... wierd how things get reported
NovaBlack: Also knife crime in london last year 160.. in new york (similar size etc) 400+ knife attacks... wierd how things get reported
Posted 08/20/08 at 09:00am
NovaBlack: its wierd the knife crime thing in the UK atm. knife crime is actually at around one of its lowest levels. Just reported alot.
NovaBlack: its wierd the knife crime thing in the UK atm. knife crime is actually at around one of its lowest levels. Just reported alot.
Posted 08/20/08 at 08:54am
sortableturnip: @Stickboy: GP went out of his way to avoid cabs
sortableturnip: @Stickboy: GP went out of his way to avoid cabs
Posted 08/20/08 at 08:10am
SticKboy: @ GP: But you had a good time, yeah? Avoided the rampant knife crime, I see ;)
SticKboy: @ GP: But you had a good time, yeah? Avoided the rampant knife crime, I see ;)
Posted 08/20/08 at 07:46am
gamepolitics: StickBoy: my apologies. We had a tight schedule, so much to see and so little time.
gamepolitics: StickBoy: my apologies. We had a tight schedule, so much to see and so little time.
Posted 08/20/08 at 07:02am
ZippyDSMlee: sortableturnip:Naw there is a difference from comments and forum trolling :P BTW I started a thread over this http://forums.theeca.com/showthread.php?p=84166#post84166
ZippyDSMlee: sortableturnip:Naw there is a difference from comments and forum trolling :P BTW I started a thread over this http://forums.theeca.com/showthread.php?p=84166#post84166
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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.)
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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.
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The Mammon Industry
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