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.

想戒烟的烟民们有“救星”了！他们可以借助一款互动式电脑游戏“指导”自己戒掉烟瘾。

这款专为“任天堂DS”掌上游戏机设计的游戏将由总部位于加利福尼亚的育碧软件公司的魁北克分公司开发。这款游戏主要以“艾伦•卡尔戒烟法”为基础，据说这种戒烟法已帮助一千多万烟民永久戒烟。

“戒烟游戏”预计将于今年11月份上市。

育碧软件公司曾推出过大战“疯狂兔”以及学外语游戏，玩家可通过任天堂游戏机的互动式触摸屏学习外语。

据育碧软件公司发布的一份新闻通稿介绍，在这款戒烟游戏中，玩家只需输入简短的个人吸烟史以及他们的吸烟习惯，然后选择一个私人教练来指导他们戒烟。

有15个“迷你游戏”可帮助戒烟者“驱除烟瘾”，而且玩家还可以使用“自由之路”计量器来跟踪自己的戒烟进展。

育碧软件公司介绍说，戒烟后“你还可以继续玩这个游戏，看看不抽烟每天能给你带来多大好处。”

育碧软件全球许可部副主管克里斯丁•勒蒙说：“游戏玩家能与这个游戏进行真正的互动，他们能在这一过程中体会到其实戒烟也可以很愉快。”