The Texas Medical Center reports that the U.S. Army recently awarded a $3.7 million grant to Alexander Prokhorov, M.D., Ph.D.,to develop an anti-smoking video game for Army personnel. But, in its infinite wisdom, the U.S. Army failed to realize there’s already a game that can help you quit smoking: Pokémon.
Regardless, the Army has a really big problem with smoking, as Prokhorov says “tobacco use rates in the Army are alarming – 38 percent of service members smoke cigarettes and 15 percent use smokeless tobacco.” Those are alarming rates indeed, but hey, if we had some Gunnery Sergeant screaming in our face, we’d probably turn to smoking too.
Put out your butts: Army awards grant for anti-smoking game originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 11 Jul 2009 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
-
Under :
Featured, Joystiq
-
Tags: anti-smoking, army, blank-mage, Joystiq, military, movies, music, nintendo, podcasts, the-dark-wayne, travel
Ohio Democrat and US House rep Dennis Kucinich has got some serious beef with America’s Army (the game, not the US Army) and the US government’s “Virtual Army Experience.” Billing the recruiting center-cum-arcade as a “high-tech traveling exhibit” and saying it advertises to “children as young as 13-years-old,” Kucinich requested a variety of improvements be made to the experience — for instance, not targeting the experience at people under 18 years old.
The House Armed Services Committee chairman Ike Skelton acquiesced to Mr. Kucinich’s requests in monotonal agreement, matter-of-factly stating, “I support the VAE — at the same time, I know it can be improved.” To see the entire thrilling exchange play out on C-SPAN, check it out after the break.
[Via GamePolitics]
Continue reading House representative speaks out against ‘Virtual Army Experience’
House representative speaks out against ‘Virtual Army Experience’ originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 26 Jun 2009 19:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
