Ubisoft bringing Allen Carr's 'Easyway to Stop Smoking' to DS
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ May 28th 2008 at 1:50PM }
As evidenced by the many circular singe marks across our DS' bottom screen, we sometimes forget when we've switched the stylus out for a ciggy. Thankfully, Ubisoft and some guy, Allan Carr, frown upon our deleterious, chain-smoking activities, announcing their intention to teach us the "Easyway to Stop Smoking" via the DS. Developed in conjunction with Mr. Carr's "top experts" (top experts), the game will echo the method featured in the Easyway to Stop Smoking book, as well as its network of clinics. In case you were wondering, Ubisoft's press puff piece notes that said 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." If your lungs haven't been reduced to a hyperventilating mass of black goo by then, you can discover the Easyway to Stop Smoking this November.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Blue_Falcon @ May 28th 2008 1:58PM
It beats all those Petz and Imagine games, at least.
baby sea tuna @ May 28th 2008 2:01PM
I bet spellcheck hates the shit out of 'Easyway'.
Shagittarius @ May 28th 2008 2:04PM
Is it too personal to ask if/which members of the joystiq staff smoke?
Ludwig Kietzmann @ May 28th 2008 2:12PM
No, but it is too vague. You'll have to ask what each of them smokes specifically. I'm a sock man, myself.
Ross Miller @ May 28th 2008 2:16PM
Let me get the "smoking poles" jab out of the way now. Har har, moving on.
And I generally like to inhale the fumes of old Sega MegaDrive games lit on fire. I wouldn't recommend it, though.
Shagittarius @ May 28th 2008 3:31PM
I quit in October last year but I really really miss it still. I just wanted to know who I could be jealous of.
J @ May 28th 2008 2:04PM
Quitting smoking SUCKS!
I'm interested in any method that doesn't involve over-prescribed anti-depressants.
Ludwig Kietzmann @ May 28th 2008 2:17PM
I think you mean it blows, rite? Rite? Anybody?
xGeneral DEATHx @ May 28th 2008 2:22PM
*Crickets chirp*
Couldn't resist, Ludwig.
Martin @ May 29th 2008 2:04PM
You mean those same overly prescribed anti-depressants that assisted me in kicking a 12 year old habit? Yeah, damn those pills! :shakes fist:
J @ Jun 2nd 2008 11:20AM
Yup, those ;)
Courtney @ May 28th 2008 2:04PM
I wonder if the decision to make this was influenced by DS Fanboy's story on a reader who quit smoking using Pokemon on a DS.
http://www.dsfanboy.com/2008/04/17/show-and-tell-trading-pokemon-for-smokes/
Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ May 28th 2008 2:33PM
That's too early. Deals like this usually take at least 6-12 months to complete if their dealing with someone's registered program.
mrw325 @ May 28th 2008 2:08PM
FYI... I have read the paper copy and I quit smoking (5 yrs ago) for good after smoking for 6+ yrs of 1-2 packs a day... Same for my wife. It is a short book but helpful if you commit yourself... And I was able to keep and cherish my beer guzzling habit with no trouble at all...
Joe @ May 28th 2008 2:30PM
Ditto - this book really does work if you put your mind to it.
Mr.ESC @ May 28th 2008 2:08PM
First people addicted to smoke tomorrow Crack addicts and teenage pregnancy!
tmacairjordan87 @ May 28th 2008 2:22PM
With jamie lyn spears on the cover of it amirite?
Zertoss @ May 28th 2008 2:12PM
This makes me think of my grandma, who has been a chain smoker for at least as long as I've been alive.
My favorite story of her is when two of her kids (my mom and her brother) took her to see a doctor. He asked her if she smoked, and she said no as if it were the God-spoken truth. My mom and uncle just glared at her and she explains "I quit this morning!"
She's so batty.
Courtney @ May 28th 2008 2:15PM
I still smoke, but no longer smoke inside my house. I remember chain smoking while gaming (particularly UO, UT, Total Annihilation, MOO2 and C&C). I had a giant glass ashtray that sat on my desk. I could fill it in a single night. If I still smoked inside, I would be a 3 pack a day smoker again. If I was really into a match, sometimes I would light another smoke, forgetting that I already had one burning in the ashtray.
Anyone else have gaming influence their smoking, but by encouraging rather than discouraging it?
xGeneral DEATHx @ May 28th 2008 2:21PM
Top Experts...
...now I have the mental image of all the world's cigarettes being wheeled into one humongous warehouse in a sealed crate, never to be seen or heard from again.
Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ May 28th 2008 2:34PM
I'm... I'm not really seeing a huge market for this.
Mischa @ May 28th 2008 2:45PM
I don't imagine there's a lot of replay value with this game.
Mischa @ May 28th 2008 2:44PM
"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."
I like how this definition can fit with any video game. This is just a way for Ubisoft to package all those hoards of unsold Assassin's Creed DS games with nicotine patches.
Mark @ May 28th 2008 3:13PM
Sweet now I won't need my PS3 to cure my cancer, because I won't get it in the first place.
Burritoclock @ May 28th 2008 4:21PM
I like smoking, so no sale...
You will pry my ciggs and my gun from my cold dead hands.
Donald @ May 28th 2008 5:01PM
Shouldn't take long, then.
phillip @ May 28th 2008 4:37PM
forget that, the amount of money for that game i can by a carton of smokes! :)
Phylicus @ May 28th 2008 5:26PM
There is no easy way.
rockency @ May 29th 2008 4:07AM
This actually works- well, the book does, anyway. I tried quitting about 8 times before I read this book, never managed more than a day or two. I now haven't had a smoke since February when I finished the book.
But... as a game? I got my DS to have fun with, not to "improve" myself. Far better to buy a £7 book (about $14 I think?) than all this money for the same thing on your DS.
Martin @ May 29th 2008 2:05PM
I recommend Chantix to anyone trying to quit. I stopped back in February using this prescription, and haven't looked back. I haven't had a pill or cigarette in over two months.
And there was the added benefit of my girlfriend saying she would do some seriously awesome and equally explicit sexual stuff if I succeeded. w00t.