Video games are the cure for pretty much everything now.

Pokemon is more addictive then smoking though..

Seriously, once you get into breeding and making teams you just can't stop. o_o

Nat Shermans? Seriously?
wow...

Cool, but trading one vice for aint exactly a good thing. For smoking to Sloth and being on a game all day (he said playing for 8 hours at a shot) aint good either. Im sure he gained some nice weight. Aint that right tubby?

Good for him! I'm always happy to hear that another person is on their way to kicking what is a disgusting habit, and I'm even more overjoyed to hear that video games are helping. Further evidence that video games are powerful tools that can have a positive impact on people.

@Mikazukinoyaiba: yes, but Pokemon won't give you lung cancer and make everything around you smell like a freshly paved road.

I must also say the picture for this article is fantastic.

Fantastic! I think I may have spent as much on Pokemon as I would have on cigs all things considered though.. but I regret nothing.

I feel like Pokemon fundamentally made me who I am today. It wasn't the only thing, but it is a major part of me now. Anyone else agree?

Amazing.
Just goes to show you how being horribly addicted to something can quit your horrible addiction to something worse...
...
...?

Everyone who quits smoking gets addicted to whatever it is that got them to quit. It's why you see so many people constantly rolling around holding bottled water or all the time asking for gum. Guess what? They used to be smokers.

I'd be able to quit if I could:

1. Stay inside for at least three days.
2. Stay away from the bars.
3. Not hang out with people who smoke.
4. Never have to wait on anything.

Sadly, all of my friends are smokers, I frequent bars, I HAVE to leave the house (driving + smoking....ughhh), and I frequently find myself waiting in lines of some kind...usually outdoors....and get kind of fidgety.

@Kai_:
Oh I certainly agree, Pokemon and Zelda were the two things that made me into a gamer.

I got a Gameboy for pokemon and I became a Nintendo fan through the Gameboy. I had so much fun with friends and spent all summer trading, battling, and training. It was a real disappointment w/ R/S/E though because I was a bit older and had no one to compete with.

Online really made a difference with D/P, although Gamefreak needs to do two things:
1. Fix the WTC, because there are jerks out there asking for a Mew or Dialgia for their crappy Pidgey or Bidoof.

2. Make all of the pokemon procurable in one game,sure you can require trading with Diamond or Pearl but don't make people buy Leaf Green, Ruby, etc. That's frustrating.

I can't kick it. I really should with the history of cancer in my family and pretty much every other Korean.

Hmm, maybe this article is another initiative.

POWER TO THE POKEMON....hhmm is it really that hard to quit smoking? i would try but my wife is like "If you start smoking I will leave you and take the kids!" I really dont want that.

Quit, if only because someone is getting rich selling you something that basically equates to rat poison.

Gl giving up guys.

If only I could get my friends to not smoke...

You're still craving and going through withdrawal in your sleep.

@WolfCreek 19: What's so bad about substituting a rather harmless addiction for one that is much more harmful? I'd say being "addicted" to gum or water or Pokemon is a lot healthier/cheaper than being addicted to cigarettes. Besides, Pokemon isn't chemically addicting, only psychologically. Much easier to break.

If you really wanted to quit, you'd get some new friends (or convince your old ones to quit too), start frequenting more wholesome haunts, take up gardening, and start carrying a portable video game system to play in lines. You could do it, if you tried.

@Kai_: Pokemon's definitely part of who I am, too. Oh nostalgia, a fickle mistress!

New study links Pokemon to brain cancer!

I quit once before for almost a whole year. The fact that they sell them behind the counter at gas stations is what I think hooked me all over again though. I need my smokes, I can't go more than a couple (non-sleeping) hours without them. I congratulate anyone who does manage to stop, even if just for a little while. Good job.

Kids!!! Don't smoke! Don't ever start!

At least it wasn't WoW, than he'd still be spending money.

I'm amazed. Wow, it's pretty cool to go cold turkey like that.

I have never smoked, but I do know a few people that have tried to quit. It is tough, but I am glad that Dan found a way to deal with it by focusing his mind on Pokemon instead of "ineedasmoke." Way to go, dude, seriously. For anyone else out there trying to quit: It doesn't have to be Pokemon. It doesn't have to be a video game, even. Find some activity that takes your mind off of smoking whenever you get the urge. It'll help.

Videogames help people in so many ways!
I don't smoke and don't want to start ever! it just sucks to smoke cause it does'nt help at all but it does hurt you.
BTW I love that image, I'll show it to a friend and tell him thats were cigarettes come from.

I bet his favorite Pokemon are Koffing and Weezing.

but what a about when you go out to a night club?? can you carry on your DS and play some game instead of drink or smoke??

It would be a nice method for me, but i usually got out with my friends to night clubs on weekends, so....

@Otacon91: You're seriously criticizing the guy for trying to stop smoking? Who cares what he's doing in exchange for it, it's still hundreds of times better than smoking.

Besides, considering smoking causes people to generally lose weight, your suggestion that he's managed to gain weight simply by struggling to get past his cravings is pretty moot due to the fact that he could possibly have needed the weight.

I'm in the same boat right now. I'm 3 days in and just consuming my schedule with working with Unreal Engine 3 and my portfolio. The big thing is truly and honestly taking ownership of your emotions. That's what feels like is controlling my urges. When something irks me I simply remind myself that I'm in control of me and I don't need an external to dictate my mood.

@Len Bias Cocaine Surplus: OLD NEWS! =D

i have never really smoked before, too many breathing problems ( asthma, cinusitis, pick one )

but i have seen what smoking can do to people, not cool man
so yeah, training pokes instead sounds like a good solution .-.

Good on you, Dan. You definitely took a really hard thing to do and made it somewhat entertaining.

I should seriously consider trying something like this. Granted, I don't smoke two packs a day - I usually make a pack last about two to three days, but I should still quit.

Maybe I'll come up with a neat idea like this one. Except not using Pokémon! Once again, though, more power to you.

@Okari: ...you WIN! XD

@Okari: Wooooow....

So if I want to quit world of warcraft I should start smoking? Nah it's probably cheaper and better for my health to stay on world of warcrack

So Sonic gets kids smoking and Pokemon helps them quit?

This is similar to how I got over my addiction to porn. Whenever I would feel like masturbating to porn, I'd just masturbate to Pokemon instead.

@mrplow8: Somehow, I don't think your addiction was to porn...

@WolfCreek 19: amen brother. when i was a delivery driver i would smoke a lot of cigarettes. I also smoke a lot while waiting or after a hearty meal or drinking.

Gatta love them menthols. MmMmM.

I also like to smoke a cigarette in between matches of COD4 from my window

@Okari: Dude, this post was made for that comment. Hilarious!

After sex, pull out the DS to relax, and get yourself kicked out of bed!

@Mikazukinoyaiba: I'm addicted to breeding mainly... but that really has nothing to do with Pokémon...

@Squamden:
Except for AIDS because nothing cures AIDS

I know I'm insufferable, but I just have to say it.

The 'RPG' mechanics are nothing but conditioning mechanisms that are powerful enough to drive *any* behavior, let alone one that's any good. Pokemon sells on an epic scale not because the basic game is particularly good (it's extremely shallow, assuming you could simply get the pokemon you wanted, and raise them instantly, a typical person would lose interest inside a week).

This is a case of someone going off smoking by going on heroine. Usually you're supposed to downscale the addiction, not upscale it.

This kind of insanity could certainly be useful. For instance, I imagine a genuinely therapeutic scenario where someone who's coming off heroine (real heroine, not hyperbole heroine) could be distracted from the rough experience of withdrawal and cravings by getting into a game such as this or WoW or whatever else is on tap. Perhaps a chronic gambler would be well served by this experience.

But I think in cases of something as benign as increased risk of lung and throat cancer, you're better off smelling like the smooth flavor of virginia slim.

He's been playing Pokemon for fourty days?

(Isn't the real word you're looking for 'withdrawal', Bashcraft?)

There are obviously a lot of other games that offer more benefits than Pokémon as a thing to do instead of smoking. How about DDR? Play that for forty days and you'd not only give up smoking but likely drop 40 pounds!

Still not as fun as trading smoking for sex addiction.

Trading addictions, lol. Well, at least Pikachu won't give you cancer.

One of my old bosses was a chain smoker. He literally sometimes lit the new one with the end of the old one. He would give me a $20 to go buy packs of Salems and Kents and despite my disapproval, I went anyway instead of saying something.

He died early this year at the ripe old age of 59 due to chronic cancer caused by his bad habits.

I have a female friend who smokes and honestly, I have probably seen her quit at least twice. She seems to be off them again now but I don't see her much.

@deathbunny: This may be the most outrageous thing I've ever heard. Are you really equating Pokemon to heroine? Are you insane?

You're suggesting that you'd rather see someone be addicted to cigarettes than a harmless video game? You call an increased risk of cancer "benign"?

I'll stick with Pokemon, thank you.

And by the way, the smell of cigarettes is only pleasant to people who smoke. Most non-smokers do not find it "smooth." They find it disgusting.

@VakeroRokero: You jest, but I've done this. Many times.

Psychology is very important - don't be someone who is trying to quit smoking, be someone who has already quit. Then instead of going "yeah, I'm going to crave these things like crazy" you have already quit, and if you crave them, you deal with it then.

Just for the record, everyone:

Heroine: a female hero, such as Wonder Woman.

Heroin: an extremely addictive substance.

This sounds like a good plan if you have the time to play (fill in videogame here) for 8hrs and have it available no matter where you are. The wickedness of smoking for me are those in between times; like driving to work or home, walking to/from lunch, incubation times (I'm a scientist).

@AlexDitto: I think I am equating pokemon with methadone.

And yes, I am *also* saying that smelling bad (and eventually getting cancer) is better than playing something which sucks up your life now. Cancer may take off some of the less exciting years of your life, but pokemon will take off your prime years. Years you should be spending smoking and playing tickle-pirates with the gender of your choice.

plus, you don't smell like a rose after 8 hours of stewing in your own juices while you game. Ideally, I think, if he took a shower instead of smoking, or washed his hands instead of smoking, he might experience some chafing from over-scrubbing, but will be the least smelly of the available options.

@deathbunny: Smoking reduces your chances of playing tickle-pirates.

Both b/c it turns off a lot of people and b/c it can cause... hrrrmmm... erectile dysfunction.

@PowerButton: Why not go to non-smoking nightclubs?

I say "good job!" to Dan.

@Evil Tortie's Mom: Not if it's pole smoking.