US games developer makes quitting smoking child's play

Smokers are about to get help kicking the tobacco habit: an interactive computer game that aims to "coach" cigarette users away from their addiction.

Based on the successful "Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking" method which reportedly has helped more than 10 million smokers to stub out their cigarettes once and for all, the game, designed for Nintendo DS, will be developed by the Quebec bureau of California-headquartered Ubisoft.

It is expected to go on sale in November.

Ubisoft is the company that has brought the world games that pit players against an invasion of demonic rabbits or allow them to learn a foreign language using the Nintendo DS, with its interactive touch screen.

In the smoking cessation game, players enter a brief personal smoking history and their tobacco habits and choose a personal coach to guide them through the process of quitting, according to a press release issued by Ubisoft.

Fifteen mini-games help to "dispel the illusions about nicotine addiction" and players can track their progress in kicking the habit using the "Path to Freedom" meter.

And even after that last cigarette butt has sullied the ashtray, "you can still play the game and measure the daily benefits you get from your new life without cigarettes," Ubisoft promises.

"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," said Christian Salomon, vice president of worldwide licensing at Ubisoft.

想戒煙的煙民們有“救星”了！他們可以借助一款互動式電腦游戲“指導”自己戒掉煙癮。

這款專為“任天堂DS”掌上游戲機設計的游戲將由總部位于加利福尼亞的育碧軟件公司的魁北克分公司開發。這款游戲主要以“艾倫•卡爾戒煙法”為基礎，據說這種戒煙法已幫助一千多萬煙民永久戒煙。

“戒煙游戲”預計將于今年11月份上市。

育碧軟件公司曾推出過大戰“瘋狂兔”以及學外語游戲，玩家可通過任天堂游戲機的互動式觸摸屏學習外語。

據育碧軟件公司發布的一份新聞通稿介紹，在這款戒煙游戲中，玩家只需輸入簡短的個人吸煙史以及他們的吸煙習慣，然后選擇一個私人教練來指導他們戒煙。

有15個“迷你游戲”可幫助戒煙者“驅除煙癮”，而且玩家還可以使用“自由之路”計量器來跟蹤自己的戒煙進展。

育碧軟件公司介紹說，戒煙后“你還可以繼續玩這個游戲，看看不抽煙每天能給你帶來多大好處。”

育碧軟件全球許可部副主管克里斯丁•勒蒙說：“游戲玩家能與這個游戲進行真正的互動，他們能在這一過程中體會到其實戒煙也可以很愉快。”