"Avatar Individualized By Physical Characteristic," is what Microsoft is claiming. "Linking the avatar to a physical characteristic of a user provides leverage to provide incentives or constraints that can encourage good behavior (e.g., healthy behaviors, virtuous behaviors, etc.)," says the patent.

So therefore, if you're fat, your avatar will be fat - or vice versa. And so Microsoft proposes that your avatar's conditioning would be reflected in its capabilities within a game, or unlocking a budgeted amount of time to play, or just making the little guy look all buff and hawt.

As a parental control, its use is quite clear. For the individual gamer, it sounds to me like an opt-in thing, whereby if you've been feeling bad about all the Hot Pockets and three-hour gaming sessions, you turn on this feature. Sort of like fridge locks, noise reminders and other (in my opinion, abusive) gadgets from the dieting craze.

How is it going to know what the real you looks like? The patent offers that Microsoft would get the info through a "third-party health data collection repository," I guess to which the player belongs and links to his or her Xbox Live account. Or, says the filing "a real-time physiological sensor (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, blood glucose, peak flow, pedometer, etc.)" Yay! Sounds like more peripherals.

1Up, which spotted the filing, points out that Nintendo's already explored this to some extent in Wii Fit, where your Mii gets porky if the game decides you're overweight. In this case, Microsoft wants to link some sort of tangible benefit to a healthy, balanced lifestyle.

Those are honorable intentions, but given the butthurt that went up when Wii Fit started calling kids fat, I can't see this ending well. Just last night I screwed around with my avatar - which I always set to large size because, hey, I have a beer gut - and was appalled when I tried on the Vault 101 suit, which is not slimming at all. (My avatar normally wears an untucked golf shirt.) And that's with the existing body type templates. Before they do this Xbox Live should implement a "suck your gut in" button, like, click and hold the right thumbstick or something.

Microsoft Patents "Avatar Individualized By Physical Characteristic" System [1Up via HBG]

"When I was in Best Buy the other day and saw the huge EA Sports Active displays it felt like we'd hit saturation but until we have Richard Simmons Wii Workout I don't think we've reached it,"says Ben Sawyer, who co-founded of the Serious Games Initiative and heads up the Games for Health initiative. "Famous last words, right?"

EA has been capitalizing in the last couple of months on the fitness game craze with half-a-million-plus seller EA Sports Active, but Nintendo lead the re-newed interest in "exergames" with Wii Sports and Wii Fit. In 2007, Nintendo was coming off its smash-hit Wii Remote and Wii Sports one-two-punch. Those successes laid the groundwork for Wii Fit: players got up off the couch, moved around, swung their arms. There was an audience for this — but there had always been. Thing is, it was a largely untapped audience.

During the early 1980s, the VCR revolution brought exercise into the home with Oscar-winning-actress Jane Fonda telling folks to "go for the burn" with her 1982 exercise debut Jane Fonda's Workout. The tapes sold millions and made millions. The same year computer maker Amiga released the Joyboard, a peripheral on which players would stand and use their body weight to play a slalom skiing game. It was a failure, and the two follow-up titles to support the peripheral were never released. Ditto for an Atari exercise-controlled bike that never found its way out of the concept stage. The exercise bike game would later be realized in 1996 by Namco with Prop Cycle.

There was a market that could be tapped, but it needed someone to do it. And do it right. Enter Nintendo.

The Kyoto-based game company brought the Power Pad to home consoles in 1988, letting kids jog in place on a mat marked with giant buttons. The next year, Namco followed up with Dance Aerobics for Nintendo Entertainment System, foreshadowing the deluge of rhythm dancing games released in the following decades.

While they were developing Konami's Dance Dance Revolution, Konami's own staffers were reporting weight loss. Same for players when it was finally released in the late 1990s. Konami continued to release updated versions of DDR with increasingly complicated steps. The home versions were more forgiving, but the arcade ones were not. In Japan, Konami has even introduced DDR exercise routines into its health club chain called "Groove Motion DDR". Group classes use digital projector screens showing DDR patterns, mats and motion sensor belts.

Nintendo has struck gaming gold with Wii Fit, selling over 18 million copies of the game. The follow-up, Wii Fit Plus, goes on sale later this year.

"When we first announced the Wii Balance Board, people were skeptical," recalls Denise Kaigler, Nintendo of America's vice president of Corporate Affairs. "But consumers responded quickly and told their friends about it. Now when a new fitness game like Wii Fit Plus is announced, no one bats an eye. Fitness games are now an accepted part of the video game landscape." Not only that — but the larger cultural landscape. In 2008, Nintendo teamed up with Westin Hotels to offer Wii Sports and Wii Fit as part of the hotel's fitness program.

Get up off your ass, sure, but why not get out of your house? Go take a walk. Jog. Trend or no trend, what's the point of exercising with a game indoors? Explains Nintendo's Kaigler, "Legendary Nintendo video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, who led the Wii Fit team, is fond of saying, 'If it's sunny, go outside and play.'" Sometimes that's not always possible, she continues. "Sometimes it's because of the seasons or inclement weather. Other times it's situational: Some people come home late from work, while others can't leave the house because they can't leave the kids alone."

The medical profession has started latching onto these exergames. Geraldine O'Shea, D.O., an osteopathic physician and Chair of the American Osteopathic Association's Bureau on Scientific Affairs and Public Health, first began looking at the impact of video games as physical activity in 2007. "What might appear as nothing more than another entertaining game was revealed as a tool for not just activity but directed physical therapy," explains O'Shea.

Around the same time, researchers began using Wii Sports in physical therapy. O'Shea has spearheaded a measure by the American Osteopathic Association to support video games as part of a patient's fitness and therapeutic program. "Because I believe any activity is better than no activity," she adds, "I have become a convert."

"Wii gaming actually turns over more energy than sedentary gaming, but not as much as authentic sports," said Gareth Stratton, a co-author of British study on Wii Sports health benefits. "While it's not going to replace the real thing," Stratton told The New York Times, "it's certainly moving in the right direction." Several researchers conclude that Wii Fit does not replace regular exercise, but concede that the game has done something key: raised fitness awareness.

"I think it's more important to realize now that with Wii Fit and EA Active Sports we may be beyond this being a trend," says Sawyer. "We might really begin to see a genre emerge and stay."

The latest victim of influenza type-A, or swine fly, in Thailand has been confirmed to be a worker at a computer game shop in the Ratchaburi province. The Ministry of Public Health confirmed the cause of the 330 pound woman this week, citing that she may have had complications that made her more susceptible to the virus.

The news comes shortly after Deputy Public Health Minister Manit Nopamornbodee issued a statement suggesting that the popular hangouts, where players go to spend countless hours playing online computer games, were a major transmission point for swine flu, with so many bodies packed together in small rooms for large periods of time. The warning was issued after a survey of children that tested positive for the virus indicated that symptoms developed after visiting game shops.

And people wonder why I am a shut-in.

Flu claims 17th victim, 209 new cases [Bangkok Post via G4TV]

Associate professor of biomechanical engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Greg Walcott came up with the idea for a computer program that uses the wireless technology of the Wii remote to help teach proper cardiopulmonary resuscitation techniques. The student team working on the program aim to have the program available for free download via the American Heart Association website this fall.

"The Heart Association's high interest in our students' innovations points to potential of this project and how it fits in with its desire to deliver reliable CPR education to the masses," faculty adviser Jack Rogers said.

The problem here is that this is a computer program and not a Nintendo Wii application, so the masses could largely ignore it. Perhaps Nintendo could reach out to help, offering the finished program as a free download to the console? You never know.

CPR to be taught via Nintendo Wii game UPI.com]

No, the "Didget" isn't a kind of Vitality Sensor; it goes into the DS/DS Lite's Slot-2 and rewards players giving consistent readings with points in a game that can be used to buy items or unlock levels. It doesn't sound like the game itself has anything to do with diabetes or testing, it's just the vessel through which the Didget rewards a player's consistent monitoring.

I'm not in a household with a diabetic child, but I was in one with a recently diagnosed adult; I can testify that testing yourself can be a real bitch, and doing it consistently requires some discipline, which younger kids may not have. The Didget sounds like a helpful peripheral, although some might think buying a video game attachment rewards, rather than corrects, a kid not taking responsibility for himself. I guess it depends on the age. One thing, however, since this requires Slot-2, it's not DSi compatible.

Nintendo DS Glucose Reader Plugin for Kids with Diabetes [Boing Boing

The Wall Street Journal has the full text of the speech, but there's really only one part that even mentions video games:

The second step that we can all agree on is to invest more in preventive care so that we can avoid illness and disease in the first place. That starts with each of us taking more responsibility for our health and the health of our children. It means quitting smoking, going in for that mammogram or colon cancer screening. It means going for a run or hitting the gym, and raising our children to step away from the video games and spend more time playing outside.

It's far from an alarmist cry about the evils of Grand Theft Auto or sex scenes in Mass Effect, but the statement does sort of contradict Gallagher's assertion made at an E3 luncheon that video games "represent zero issues" for the White House. Gallagher says the ESA is doing a good job of entertaining American families, but maybe that's the president's problem: they just do too good a job.

And maybe that's why the president owns a Wii, not an Xbox 360. You move around a lot during Wii Sports bowling, right?

Obama Names Video Games as Health Concern in Speech to A.M.A. [GamePolitics]

Research studies sound like a great deal of fun. You get to arbitrarily assign values and definitions and then cull data based on those arbitrary assignments in order to get obvious answers! Take this University of Arkansas study, which was presented at the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies on Monday, surveyed 137 students - 87 females and 50 non-females, you know, to preserve balance...somehow. They then separated the results for excessive gamers from the casual or non-gamers, defining excessive as those who spend more than 7 hours a week playing computer games or using the internet.

My mother spends over seven hours a week using the internet. By this study's standards, my mom is hardcore.

Principal investigator Amanda Woolems indicated that previous research has determined that excessive gamers spend less time in bed. True, though I'd say that depends on the frequency of save points in whatever game I might be playing at the time and whether or not I've fallen asleep in my recliner. This study's findings?

"Our statistics revealed that those who admitted addiction scored higher on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (sleepiness)," said Woolems. "It surprised us, however, that of the people who admitted being addicted to gaming, only about a third of them recognized an interference with their sleep."

The Epworth Sleepiness Scale is based on a test in which you rate your likeliness to fall asleep in several different situations, such as reading a book, watching television, or stopped at a particularly long intersection. It's the sort of scale I'm surprised doesn't come into play more often, like when you're calling in sick for work. "Sorry, I'm about a 22 on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale boss."

As for the results, one has to look at the numbers to have them make more sense. The study found that only 12.6 people admitted to being addicted to gaming, while 10.81 reported that gaming interfered with their sleep. That's 17 and 15 people, rounded up. One also has to keep in mind that they are polling university students on their sleep habits, and basing their findings against the American Academy of Sleep Medicine's recommendation that adults get 8 hours of sleep per night and adolescents get 9. I'd say that to the vast majority of us, those numbers are a bit unrealistic. Eight hours of sleep is what I get if I pulled an all-nighter the previous evening. From what I remember of my college days...well let's just say I don't remember much, probably due in part to lack of sleep.

In case you were interested, those 15 people who reported that gaming interfered with their sleep spend 1.6 hours less than other gamers, while those 17 who claimed to be "addicted" slept one hour less on weekdays. To put that into perspective, between work gaming and recreational gaming, I probably average about 5 to 6 hours per night, though I generally average less during the weekdays, making up for lost sleep by falling asleep at particularly busy intersections.

Anyway, the study still stands. Excessive gaming, especially gaming that interferes with sleep, can make you tired...as can excessive listening to music, excessive watching of entire seasons of Weeds at 2am, and excessively writing up the results of research studies.

Excessive Gaming Associated With Poor Sleep Hygiene And Increased Sleepiness [Science Daily via CVG]

Why? Because, as you can see, while from a distance the shorts look rather fetching...

Upon closer inspection, they become...less fetching...

Doesn't matter how much you like Punch-Out, no game is worth junk cancer.

[Higgy @ NeoGAF, via Go Nintendo]

The colorful new ad is a big change from the campaign's previous efforts, which depicted a sickly-looking young boy sitting on a couch holding a game controller underneath a headline that read "Risk An Early Death, Just Do Nothing". The ads drew a great deal of fire from the games industry at large, which is perhaps the impetus behind the new campaign.

Created by Wallace & Gromit animation studio Aardman, the commercial features a claymation family who change their sedentary ways by setting aside "60 Active Minutes" each day. While video games are still used as an example of sitting around doing nothing, one of the claymation characters later participates in a generic version of Dance Dance Revolution as an example of healthy activities.

You can view the entire commercial by following the link below.

Anti-obesity TV ads to promote 'active videogames' [guardian.co.uk]

The magazine ad in question features a young boy obviously not enjoying himself while holding a dual analog wireless controller, similar to that used with the PlayStation 3 and its predecessor. The print warns that even healthy-looking inactive children risk cancer, diabetes, and heart disease once the reach adulthood. UK industry website MCV indicates that Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is currently considering legal action against the ad creators.

A source close to Sony revealed to MCV that the agency behind the ad, The Gate, had not contacted the platform holder to ask about using a controller that bears a close likeness to PlayStation's pad.

While I fully agree with the Change4Life mission of insuring that UK children maintain an active lifestyle, I don't appreciate the connotation that video games are a direct cause of that not happening. Despite the controller definitely not being a standard PlayStation issue, as seen below in the larger version of the advertisement provided by Negative Gamer, I think SCEE has every right to take action against an advertisement that basically equates their product with dead children.
Sony considering legal action over Change4Life ad [MCV]

Capcom is hosting an official Resident Evil 5 Blood Drive on March 13th, the day the game launches in North America and Europe. Folks who stop by and give some of their life-juice to the American Red Cross will be able to get their hands on posters, pins, and bumper stickers, as well as a chance to win copies of the game and limited edition Red Xbox 360 Resident Evil 5 bundles. Capcom will have kiosks set up with the game running, for those of you too woozy to make it to the store afterwards.

Besides, even if you don't win a prize, giving blood is an excellent way to give back to society while scoring Nutter Butters and orange Hi-C.

The Resident Evil 5 Blood Drive is taking place at the World of Wonder Gallery on March 13th, from 11am to 5pm. Hit up the link to RSVP, and try to reserve an appointment for when your blood is at its tastiest.

Give Resident Evil 5 A Shot - Win a Red Xbox Bundle [Capcom Unity]

The new skin condition springs from the case of a 12-year-old girl, treated in a Swiss hospital for intensely painful sores on the palms of her hands. The doctors examining the girl determined that she had idiopathic eccrine hidradenitis, a condition usually linked with heavy physical activity and intense sweating that results in sores on the hands and feet. Having the sores only on ones hands was rare, and the young lady in question hadn't been participating in outdoor activities...but she had been playing a great deal of PlayStation. Aha!

Sure enough, after 10 days spent avoiding the console, the girl's condition cleared right up, and the British Journal of Dermatology got a new entry in the form of PlayStation palmar hidradenitis.

Of course video game consoles have been hurting us since the very beginning of the industry. I used to have to tape my hands because the Atari 2600 joystick had torn the skin between my thumb and forefinger to shreds. I think the main difference between this case and all of the cases before it is that the parents didn't have enough sense to put two and two together and had to get doctors involved.

Researchers are calling this a physical symptom of video game addiction, similar to the acute tendinitis that has been reported by playing too much Nintendo Wii. It should be noted, however, that no one has ever listed tennis elbow as a symptom of tennis addiction. Just something to think about.

A Sony Computer Entertainment Europe representative was quick to reply to the BBC.

"As with any leisure pursuit there are possible consequences of not following common sense, health advice and guidelines, as can be found within our instruction manuals.

"PlayStation was launched in 1995 and has sold hundreds of millions of consoles over the last 13 years.

"We do not wish to belittle this research and will study the findings with interest. This is the first time we have ever heard of a complaint of this nature."

See? Because most people can make the association between too much game playing and sores on their palms. Thanks a lot, little Swiss girl.
Game consoles 'cause skin sores' [BBC - Thanks David!]

Citing research studies that show a link between violent video games and child aggression, Baca believes that the Consumer Product Safety Commission needs to institute a rule that all games rated T or higher be labeled with the following: "WARNING: Excessive exposure to violent video games and other violent media has been linked to aggressive behavior.”

“We must hold the video game industry accountable and do everything in our power to ensure parents are aware of the detrimental effects that violent games can have before making decisions on which games are appropriate for their children to play,” concluded Rep. Baca. “I am proud to introduce the Video Game Health Labeling Act of 2009, and am hopeful my legislation can work to stop the growing influence of violent media on America’s children and youth.”

Hey, I'm all for it, if Baca can come up with solid, irrefutable scientific proof that this is indeed the case. We've seen countless research reports arguing both sides of the subject; let's nail down something definitive before we start uglying up our game store shelves. I've a feeling this won't go anywhere and Joe Baca will go back to Kashyyyk.

Rep. Baca Introduces Legislation to Make Violent Video Games Sold With Health Warning Label [Press Release via The Escapist]

The center, which opened in 2004 at military base, has become the model for the nearly 300 similar centers that now dot China. The center treats the addiction with three months of military-style discipline, counseling, confidence building, sex education and for more than half of the cases, medication.

Most of the patients are 15 to 21 year old men hooked on multiplayer online games, most notably World of Warcraft and Counterstrike.

What makes this article stand out is it's talk with the founder of the center and one of the people leading the push to have internet addiction classified as its own disorder. There are also some fascinating talks with the folks afflicted with this addiction, like teenager Jia Chunyang who calls Counterstrike his "drug" of choice.

"My relations with friends weren't good; I only communicated with them online," says Jia. "I stole money from my family and skipped school. And the games also affected my personality. If I couldn't play for a while, I would feel upset."

He hit bottom in 2006, when he ran away from home and went on a 15-day Counterstrike bender in an Internet cafe. He took breaks for instant noodles and half-hour catnaps, but otherwise went on an uninterrupted shoot-'em-up spree, as his parents searched for him.

If internet addiction and, as an offshoot, gaming addiction ever does get it's own classification I can see it eventually leading to legal issues for developers like Blizzard. If gameplay is considered addictive and harmful, what sorts of moral obligations do developers have to not add extra hooks to their games?

Strange and interesting territory.

In an increasingly wired China, rehab for Internet addicts

The Jog, or jOG in hipster screwed-up capitalization marketing speak, is a device that connects between your system's controller and the console, requiring that you run in place in order to move your character. It sounds like pure bliss, doesn't it? Well it should, dammit.

“Obesity is reaching epidemic proportions in the Western world, and many sedentary activities are being blamed, not least playing video games,” explains Brendan Ludden, Managing Director, New Concept Gaming. “jOG is a great way to banish those criticisms, and help gaming be both fun and healthy. We want to make video games good for you!”

Right now the jOG controller is only available in the UK, as exposing Americans to the product would most likely result in sarcastic blog articles, and we wouldn't want that.

NEW CONCEPT GAMING'S INNOVATIVE VIDEO GAME CONTROLLER jOG ON SALE NOW

To move in the game – you have to jOG!

Liverpool, 26 November 2008: New Concept Gaming Ltd, a company dedicated to the development and sale of ground breaking products bridging the video game and health and fitness industries, today announced that its first product, jOG™ is now on sale. Compatible with existing games consoles and games, jOG is an accessory that enables gamers to enjoy their favourite titles with a fun, immersive control mechanic at the same time benefitting from aerobic exercise – quite simply, if you want to run in the game you have to run on the spot to go.

In the basic mode of operation, the user plays their game in the normal way but with one significant difference. jOG detects when the player takes a step and only allows movement in the game while the player is jogging on the spot. Direction and all the other functions are still controlled by the standard gamepad. Using this simple approach, the team at New Concept Gaming has created a very powerful visual feedback loop bringing players deeper into the game experience and compelling them to take light exercise for the duration of game play without affecting the balance of gameplay.

jOG can be used to enhance most existing video games that feature character movement on screen –adventure games, shooters, children’s games, RPGs, sports games. Significantly, in its basic mode jOG requires no changes to any game console or software to use. Players just plug in and go.

“Obesity is reaching epidemic proportions in the Western world, and many sedentary activities are being blamed, not least playing video games,” explains Brendan Ludden, Managing Director, New Concept Gaming. “jOG is a great way to banish those criticisms, and help gaming be both fun and healthy. We want to make video games good for you!”

jOG for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system from Sony is available now from www.ncg-jog.com. A special Limited Edition jOG lite compatible with the Wii™ will also be available in December.

Keith Bakker of The Smith & Jones Centre in Amsterdam explains that while a gamers who show other addictive behaviors such as drinking or taking drugs have been successfully treated using traditional abstinence-based treatment models, the vast majority of compulsive gamers have a social problem, rather than a psychological one.

"This gaming problem is a result of the society we live in today," Mr Bakker told BBC News. "Eighty per cent of the young people we see have been bullied at school and feel isolated. Many of the symptoms they have can be solved by going back to good old fashioned communication."

Responding to this realization, The Smith & Jones Centre is now changing it's treatment plan for compulsive gamers, moving away from substance-abuse type methods in favor of a plan involving activity-based social and communication skills, to help players interact better with the real world.

The BBC article this story originates from goes on to speak to a gamer called "George" who sought help at the center to help overcome his 10 hour-a-day Call of Duty 4 habit.

"I liked gaming because people couldn't see me, they accepted me as my online character - I could be good at something and feel part of a group."

Underlying that new sense of belonging was a young man who felt powerless and neglected in real life.

"I was aware that I played too much but I didn't know what to do. But it helped me because I could be aggressive and get my anger and frustration out online," he says.

Bakker believes that the key to keeping this sort of thing from happening lies with parents communicating with their children, which is the old-fashioned way of preparing them for the real world, back before electronic babysitting was invented.

He also warns of the dangers of continuing to refer to compulsive gaming as an addiction.

"If I continue to call gaming an addiction it takes away the element of choice these people have," he says. "It's a complete shift in my thinking and also a shift in the thinking of my clinic and the way it treats these people."

Compulsive gamers 'not addicts' [BBC News]

Local politician Antonio Buccoliero was quick to comment, "They eventually managed to take care of him once they understood that this was a strange kind of mental detachment connected to his Playstation." It is unknown if this condition could be contracted through rival consoles or if it is a Sony-only disorder. Or indeed if it is an actual medical condition and not something they just made up to make a point about gaming.

The boy had been unable to speak and appeared 'confused' following a marathon gaming session. He reportedly told his father to throw out his console saying, "If I even think about it I want to throw up."

Boy rushed to hospital with Playstation addiction [Ananova]

The boy is expected to make a full recovery but his father said he plans on limiting the amount of time his son is allowed to play computer games. His father also warned other patents about the dangers of their sons’ extended game playing. “They also think the boys need to reduce the amount of time they play and will themselves be more vigilant,” he said.

Daughters, on the other hand, can game all they want.

Not a bad start, Sweden, but only 24 hours? I could do 24 hours in my sleep. Still a ways to go before you catch up with Korea and China.

Boy collapses after playing World of Warcraft for 24 hours straight [TimesOnline - Thanks Voxynn!]

It's about taking advantage of the burgeoning video game trend instead of attacking it, said Deborah Lieberman Ph.D., communications researcher at the University of California at Santa Barbara, during the organization's announcement conference today.

"Research has shown you can learn whatever a video game offers. The question is, what are you going to teach?" said Lieberman.

12 universities were awarded $200,000 grants for innovative research concepts that will either develop new games or use existing commercial games to address specific health issues across all areas of the population. An MMO designed to help alcoholics learn relapse prevention and a social mobile game that would teach healthy eating habits to adolescents are just a couple of the winning ideas - one of them even involves Crazy Taxi.

The primary goal of the research, as Lieberman said, is to build a strong evidence base to better understand how games can serve as a springboard to health behavior change, and the Foundation's Chinwe Onyekere said her organization felt it important to invest in these ideas, given the need for evidence to compel the field forward. The Foundation is investing $8.25 million in the Health Games Research national program, for these and additional grants in the future.

"We're a portfolio looking 10 and 20 years down the road, hoping we can really make an impact on the future of health and healthcare. We are keenly aware of how video games are in homes, crossing socioeconomic status backgrounds, with young and old playing games," said Onyekere.

Lieberman said that anecdotal evidence in support of games as health tools abound, from stories of Wii Bowling nights at senior centers to Dance Dance Revolution and the EyeToy being used to help people in physical rehabilitation regain balance and mobility. Lieberman is also enthusiastic about the potential offered by Wii Fit, but the benefit of games reaches beyond body movement "exergaming" — games make useful motivators and behavioral teaching tools, too, she said.

"A game involves a challenge to reach a goal - that's why we love to play them. It makes us want to do better, and we take pleasure in succeeding. Stroke victims work harder and reach further in rehab when they have a game environment in which to try out their skills." They stop thinking about their pain, she said, and think about goals instead, to "tremendous results."

The 12 grantees, chosen from 112 entrants, will lead one- to two-year studies centered on their proposal. The full list is as follows:

Cornell University, Department of Communication (Ithaca, NY) - Mindless Eating Challenge is a mobile phone game for younger adolescents that rewards their good health habits and food choices. The study will investigate how strategies of persuasion in a game can promote healthy behaviors in daily life. The game uses eating tips, mobile phone snapshots of food that players plan to eat, nurturing of virtual characters and feedback from the system and from peers to promote good nutrition and healthy lifestyles.

Indiana University, School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation (Bloomington, IN) - BloomingLife: The Skeleton Chase is an alternative reality game designed to promote physical activity and healthy lifestyles among college freshmen. It involves an interactive fictional story (a mystery that takes eight weeks to solve) unfolding across a variety of media (e-mail, Web sites, phone calls from fictional characters, physiological monitoring) and real-world physical and mental challenges that players must surmount to gather clues. The study will compare the impacts of competitive versus collaborative game versions.

Maine Medical Center (Portland, ME) - Family-Based Exergaming with Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) will identify impacts of the popular dance pad game on families with at least one overweight child, aged 9 to 17. Participating families will be randomly assigned to receive the DDR game or a pedometer. The study will assess, over time, players’ amount, type and enjoyment of physical activity, quality of life, body mass index and body composition. It also will examine family dynamics in the activities they do together and factors that influence their motivation to be physically active.

Union College, Department of Psychology (Schenectady, NY) - Seniors Cyber-Cycling with a Virtual Team: Effects on Exercise Behavior, Neuropsychological Function and Physiological Outcomes is a randomized, clinical trial designed to identify individual and situational factors that influence exercise behaviors and health outcomes in community-dwelling older adults, aged 50+. The system combines a stationery bicycle with FitClub cardiovascular exergame software, which uses a touch screen to provide individualized feedback to the player and a three-dimensional virtual environment for exercise that can be shared with other players competitively or collaboratively.

University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine (La Jolla, CA) - Behavioral Choice Theory Approach to Testing Exertainment for Adolescent Physical Activity will identify health behavior change principles used in a variety of commercially available exergames and their impact on players’ physical activity levels. The study will use the Xavix system (exergames with sport equipment controllers for tennis, boxing, bowling, cardio-fitness and other sports) to assess the frequency, intensity and duration of physical activity in people aged 11 to 15 that are given a Xavix to use at home for several months. The researchers also will investigate how the social interactions that take place during game play may influence health behavior change.

University of Central Florida, College of Medicine (Orlando, FL) - Practicing Relapse Prevention in Artificial-Reality Environments: [PREPARE]: A Game-Based Therapy Maintenance Tool will investigate role-playing games designed to enable people aged 18 to 65 that are diagnosed with alcohol abuse or dependence to practice skills that can help them prevent real-world relapses. The relapse prevention games are embedded as mini-games within an extensive multiplayer online game. The study will compare behavioral and health impacts of treatment plus access to the game versus treatment without access to the game.

University of Florida, College of Public Health and Health Professions (Gainesville, FL) - Action Video Games to Improve Everyday Cognitive Function in Older Adults will explore the effects of an action-adventure driving video game (Playstation 2’s “Crazy Taxi”) on the visual attention skills of a 3 group of community-dwelling adults, aged 65 and older. The study will compare participants who play “Crazy Taxi,” those who receive a traditional visual attention training program and those who are given no training at all. It will evaluate visual attention performance and cognitive speed and skills, as well as investigate how players’ levels of engagement in the game may influence their motivation to carry out the visual attention training program. University of North Carolina at

Chapel Hill, School of Public Health (Chapel Hill, NC) - Presence: Predicting Sensory and Control Effects of Console Video Games in Young Adults will investigate motivations to expend energy during video game play for people aged 18 to 35. The study will compare physiological measures of energy expenditure while people play traditional video games (those that involve pushing buttons on a standard game controller or on a Wii motion-sensing controller) versus active video games (those that require physical movement, using inputs such as a dance pad, balance board or guitar). It also will explore players’ sense of being present in the game and their intrinsic motivation to play, two factors that are known to increase the amount of time people will spend playing a game. This is the first time that research will identify impacts of these factors on players’ energy expenditure; study results may lead to recommendations for making traditional games more active and active games more compelling.

University of South Carolina Research Foundation (Columbia, SC) - Commercially Available Interactive Video Games for Individuals with Chronic Mobility and Balance Deficits Post-Stroke will investigate the potential of physical activity video games to serve as innovative, cost-effective ways to help people recover motor skills after experiencing a stroke. The study will compare the effects of two video game systems (Wii and EyeToy) on players’ mobility, balance and fear of falling.

University of Southern California, School of Cinematic Arts (Los Angeles, CA) - Effectiveness of Social Mobile Networked Games in Promoting Active Lifestyles for Wellness will use cell phones and the Web to deliver “Wellness Partners,” a character-driven social mobile networked game, to children and adults aged 12 to 44. The game is designed to motivate real-world wellness through a player support system that involves family members and friends, and by incorporating elements from virtual pets, roleplaying games and online social networking. A single-player version provides a fictional game character that offers encouragement, reminders, progress checking and communication with others. The multiplayer version allows players to enlist members of their social network to be partners or helpers. The study will examine how various components of the game may motivate healthy behaviors.

University of Vermont, School of Medicine (Burlington, VT) - Breath Biofeedback Video Game for Children with Cystic Fibrosis will explore whether a breath biofeedback video game can improve cystic fibrosis patients’ self-administration of inhaled medicines, engagement in respiratory exercises and awareness of their respiratory status. The game uses a breath controller and game software developed by the research team in collaboration with patients in the target user group. In addition to potentially helping cystic fibrosis patients self-manage their condition and maintain better health, the game may also be useful for children and adults with asthma and other forms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

University of Washington, School of Medicine (Seattle, WA) - Video Games for Dietary Behavior Change and Improved Glycemic Control in Diabetes will investigate health impacts of online mobile mini-games for people with type 2 diabetes, aged 18 and older. The games are designed to help players attain better blood sugar control by improving their ability to estimate carbohydrates and calories in food portions and by improving their eating habits. In addition to assessing the impact of the games on dietary knowledge and food choices, the study will explore effects of two game design strategies: tailoring and tethering. Tailoring involves customizing a game to meet an individual player’s preferences and goals. Tethering involves embedding a learning task within the strategies that players must use to win a game.

Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking book is one of the most highly regarded books on the subject of kicking cancer sticks, published in 50 different countries. Famous folk like Ashton Kutcher, Ellen DeGeneres, and Richard Branson all swear by his program, while I sit in my apartment, sweating and shaking.

"Ubisoft's creative team has worked hard to deliver a game that successfully communicates Allen Carr's Easyway method via play,” said Christian Salomon, vice president of worldwide licensing at Ubisoft. "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.”

Enjoyable to quit smoking? Scroll up to see how much fun I am having! Do I not look like I am having fun? Over the past 24 hours alone I have fallen asleep and woken up over 15 times. My nose is now running, I have to go to the bathroom every 10 minutes, and I am eating everything that isn't nailed down. FUN! Perhaps you guys could have announced this game last week?

Of course now I am going to have to start up again, simply to test the DS game when it comes out in November. *heads to the store for some cigarettes*

Okay fine, as tempting as it is I wouldn't jeopardize my life any further for a story. We'll just have to get Crecente to start smoking in my stead.

UBISOFT AND ALLEN CARR'S EASYWAY TEAM UP TO HELP SMOKERS QUIT

Ubisoft to Bring Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking to the Nintendo DS(TM)
system in November 2008

SAN FRANCISCO – May 28, 2008 – Today Ubisoft announced that it will develop
and publish the video game based on the successful Allen Carr's Easyway to
Stop Smoking method. Designed for Nintendo DS(TM), Allen Carr's Easyway to
Stop Smoking is scheduled for release in November 2008.

Published in 50 countries, Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking book is an
international best seller, and Allen Carr's Easyway network of clinics spans
the globe. Over 10 million smokers worldwide have already turned to Allen
Carr's Easyway books, clinics or DVD in order to stop smoking. The method
removes the smoker's belief that smoking provides them with any genuine
pleasure or crutch, takes away the feeling of deprivation and therefore rids
the smoker of the fear of stopping. The clinics offer a full money-back
guarantee based on which the success rate after 3 months is over 90% and
independent scientific studies confirm a success rate of over 50% after 12
months.

Brought to an exciting interactive platform, Nintendo DS, Allen Carr's
Easyway method will take on a whole new dimension. Players will be actively
participating in the game's content as they input the details of their
smoking habits and even select their own Allen Carr's Easyway coach to take
them through the process of quitting.

Developed in conjunction with Allen Carr's top experts, the game echoes the
philosophy of Allen Carr's Easyway method, enabling players to be
entertained, challenged and to stop smoking at the same time.

"Ubisoft's creative team has worked hard to deliver a game that successfully
communicates Allen Carr's Easyway method via play,” said Christian Salomon,
vice president of worldwide licensing at Ubisoft. "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,
concurs. "There was an amazing synergy between Allen Carr's Easyway team and
Ubisoft as we worked on this project,” he said. "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.”