"Their first gripe was about what they claimed was offensive sexual content in the game, which amounted to a couple things that we had included based on these stories.

"There was this guy in Chicago a couple years ago, who had this penis pump that he was trying to take in a carry on. Someone asked him what it was, and they thought he said it was a bomb, or he was joking and he said it was a bomb. And there was this kind of international story about this whole thing because it was funny but also it really highlighted the kind of embarrassment of having a personal item exposed to the world. And so that was one that they were uncomfortable with.

"We had also included a woman’s underwire bra, because there’s just a whole mess of stories about the underwire in women’s brassieres setting off certain metal detectors when their sensitivity is raised. And this has led to actually quite a large number of complaints about, you know, inappropriate groping by agents. So these are two items that Apple found offensive I guess."

I wonder if Bogost lectures on the topic at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Now that's a class I'd love to take.

The Making of an iPhone Game & Things That Make Apple Uncomfortable

Jetset is still about the absurdity of security at airports, but now it comes with a bunch of extra airplane-safe bells and whistles. In the game you play as a security office making sure that people don't bring a constantly changing list of prohibited items onto a plane.

The items, all inspired by real events in airport security, have to be plucked from the lines of waiting people. The game includes 100 airports, a new ability to strip search and high score tracking. Jetset also automatically selects the airport you're playing in based on where you are actually based using the iPod's location service.

The $5 game lets you collect virtual souvenirs from airports and save them up to redeem Jetset travel trophies. Sounds like a neat addition to an already fun and provocative game.

Jetset: A Game for Airports

By choosing your character's dietary and exercise habits, you can experiment with the constraints of nutrition and economics as they affect your character's general health. Will it be wheatgrass and soy? Or fried chicken at every meal? How much can you afford to spend on food, and how does that affect your general health? Characters who eat poorly will get fat. Characters who don't exercise will move around the world more laboriously. Disease and death will eventually ravage players with poor health, while those with good health will live to a ripe age.

Sounds ... weighty, on a number of levels. We'll see what public reception is like in a few days.

Prepare to Fatten [Water Cooler Games]

CALL FOR PAPERS
Persuasive Technology 2008 will gather together people interested in how software and related technologies influence people's attitudes and behaviours. This conference will also feature the best new insights into how web sites, video games, and mobile phones and other applications can be designed to motivate and persuade people.

CONFERENCE AIMS
Until recently, most software applications have been developed without much thought to how they influence their users. This perspective is changing. Today persuasion matters more than ever. Now experts in industry and academics are embracing a purposeful approach to persuasive design. In an industry context, designing for persuasion is becoming essential for success. In academic settings, the study of persuasive technology illuminates the principles that influence and motivate people in different realms of life. This Persuasive 2008 Conference aims to place such work on a firm scientific footing with an emphasis on social and psychological issues as well as ethical awareness.

Persuasive technology is rapidly growing into a major discipline. The previous conferences held in Eindhoven and Stanford were infused with energetic spirit and a large attendance, with representatives from both academia and industry.

This year's conference will highlight new knowledge in the understanding and designing persuasive technology. The event will bring together researchers, practitioners, industry professionals interested in this important new field.

RESEARCH THEMES
Research themes of the conference include:
- Motivational technology
- Persuasive games
- Smart environments
- Web2.0
- Mobile persuasion
- Well-being and health behaviour
- Theory of persuasive technology
- Ethics of persuasive technology
- Social and organizational issues
- Business models for persuasive systems
- Conceptual and theoretical approaches

SUBMISSION CATEGORIES
Full paper: 12 pages in LNCS format
Short paper: 4 pages
Poster: 4 pages
Refer to www.persuasive2008.org for more detailed information on paper and poster submission guidelines.

KEY DATES
Paper submission: January 1, 2008
Author notification: February 8, 2008
Final version submission: March 8, 2008
Conference: June 4-6, 2008

DOCTORAL CONSORTIUM
A doctoral consortium will precede the conference (June 1-3, 2008). The application deadline is expected to be February 1, 2008.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Ian Bogost, Georgia Institute of Technology
B.J. Fogg, Stanford University
Kristina Höök, Stockholm University

"I know that comparisons to the film industry have grown tired and overused," [Ian Bogost of Persuasive Games] says, "but indulge me in this one: When you watch the Academy Awards this year, how many films in the running for awards are about big explosions and other forms of immediate gratification, and how many are about the more complex subtleties of human experience?

I don't think we need to take the fun out of video games any time soon, but the point that a lot of these serious game developers is a valid one (especially considering their own healthy dose of self-criticism), regardless of the entertainment value of current offerings. As Bogost says, ""For 30 years now we've focused on making games produce fun .... Isn't it about time we started working toward other kinds of emotional responses?"

Who Says Video Games Have to be Fun?: The Rise of Serious Games [Gamasutra]

Ian Bogost writes that his studio, Persuasive Games, just released their latest newsgame, Bacteria Salad.

In Bacteria Salad you have to harvest mass amounts of cheap produce and sell it for as much profit as possible. As you run your agribusiness you have to look out for floods, animal waste and agroterrorists. Ian says they game, which is published by Addicting Games and Shockwave.com, does have some strategy built into it around the question of which is safer, small family farms or big industrial ones. Oh and there's tons of shit, so now you have to go play it. Brian Crecente

Persuasive Games Releases The Arcade Wire: Bacteria Salad [Watercooler Games]

The site lists games and toys that are "long-lasting" and "imagination-provoking" like finger puppets, wooden blocks and, to just about everyone's chagrin, computer games by Persuasive Games.

Older kids and adults will enjoy Persuasive Games' Oil God (engage in realpolitik to double the global price of oil) and may get an insight into politics with Activism, The Public Policy Game (www.persuasivegames.com/games/).

You may also adopt a member of an endangered species such as a Sumatran rhino (see "Saving Something Wild"). And for your artistically-oriented child, check out the options listed in "Better Art Supplies for Budding Artists").

Remember too that a gift can be a service, such as building a fort or renting an instrument and getting lessons for a musically oriented child (see "Greener Guitars"). And don't forget a massage for your spouse.

I'm not sure if inclusion on this particular Hot List is a compliment or an insult. Brian Crecente

Hot Toys [The Green Guide]