Two Torque Games Combating Obesity, Diabetes in Development

News Link:	http://www.archimageonline.com/
Submitted:	Dylan Romero
Posted:	Apr 18, 2007
Synopsis:	Houston-based design studio Archimage is developing two games using Torque Game Engine Advanced in an effort to help prevent childhood obesity and type II diabetes.
Keywords:	torque game engine advanced obesity diabetes escape from diab nanoswarm archimage childhood serious

Article

Archimage is developing two games using Torque Game Engine Advanced in an effort to help prevent childhood obesity and type II diabetes. The Houston-based design studio has received funding from the National Institutes of Health for the purpose of creating serious games dealing with significant health issues.

In Escape From Diab, the main character must help other kids overcome the evil King Etes, who prevents all his subjects from eating healthfully and exercising. Nanoswarm: Invasion from Inner Space allows the player to pilot a microscopic ship into a human being to destroy equally tiny robots. Thanks in part to considerable funding, both games have extensive cutscenes and high production value.

------------------------------Escape From Diab------------------------------------Nanoswarm: Invasion from Inner Space--------------------

Over the next year, Archimage is going to use these games to perform a study to see whether or not 200 kids change their eating and exercise habits after playing these games.

"These are fun games, but they are also serious games. We want to see if the games create a real behavior change in children before releasing them into the marketplace," says Archimage President Richard Buday.

To learn more about Escape From Diab, Nanoswarm, and Archimage visit www.archimageonline.com.

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Ed Johnson (Apr 18, 2007 at 22:24 GMT)

Very cool!

Andrew Hull (Apr 18, 2007 at 23:11 GMT)

HAHA. That's pretty cool, but it reminds me of Captain Novolin on the SNES.

Joshua Dallman (Apr 18, 2007 at 23:43 GMT)

Reminds me more of Rex Ronan: Experimental Surgeon, also for SNES.

How can you beat playing a microscopic spaceship-flying power-weapon-wielding surgeon trying to save the life of a dying tobacco salesman while simutaneously battling big tobacco's deadly microbots sent to destroy your patient? You can't. Except when it's Torque.

It's great news to hear about these educational projects, the public health issue of the 90's (when the SNES was out) was teen smoking, now obesity has caught up and has almost passed smoking as the #1 preventable health issue. Teen obesity has gotten so bad that they had to rename "adult onset diabetes" to "type 2 diabetes" because so many kids are now getting it. Unfortunately (and ironically) when playing a game to learn about diet and excercise, you're stationary at your computer. But you have to meet people where they're at, and there's a lot of kids playing video games and not taking part in other excercise, so hopefully this will reach some of them. And hopefully these games teach real values and practices and are not just video games with some edu-feel-good tacked on like a water bottle and pedometer with your burger and fries happy meal.

Kevin Erkelenz (Apr 19, 2007 at 04:25 GMT)

This is great, this shows that games arent just "mind manipulating weapons of mass destruction" as some parents might describe them. Video Games have the power to change things in people and if the production value is high and the team knows what they are doing (not only marketing, but all the aspects that make movies, plays, books, and storys catchy) then this will be a total success!

Gabor Forrai (Apr 19, 2007 at 14:51 GMT)

When im was in the US most of the restaurants selling different calorie-bombs hamburgers like hell. A family visited the restaurant (6 people) and all of them was eat different hamburgers an sunday. Thats was pretty crazy to me, just becouse im a traditional european :) and the first McDonalds was opened only in 1989 in my country. Now i feel that we were was really lucky nation not to be a hamberger country.
Its the summary for eating burgers for some decades...you must to teach your children to eat healthy stuff. Ist so strange ?

Dev Jana (Apr 19, 2007 at 15:00 GMT)

Also, if they "prove" (here meaning if the evidence shows a direct correlation between playing time and the development of habits promoted by the game) the same can be said for violent games and their influence on developing minds.

If "good" games can change your behavior so can "bad" games. Be prepared for the onslaught of reverse engineered press when the results of this test are released.

It is a great idea, but the always comes with the bad. If they prove that these fun games can change the behavior of children then they just helped the argument that violent games can also change the behavior of children. If not then there will be less funding for this type of work and games will remain "toys" for entertainment to the public at large for a while.

ahh.. doncha just love the world we live in?

Vashner (Apr 20, 2007 at 06:02 GMT)

Cool project(s).

J Sears (Apr 20, 2007 at 23:01 GMT)

@ dev - they've already tried that with bad games by showing that people who play violent video games are less reactive to real pictures of violence. But it didn't change anything

Mark Grooby (Apr 22, 2007 at 06:24 GMT) Resource Rating: 1

I'm sorry but I find the whole idea of this stupid.

After reading the description I wouldn't even take a look at screenies of the game.

0 fun factor. Just my two cents

Eric \"Intangir\" Rutherford (Apr 30, 2007 at 07:12 GMT)

awesome ;)
i helped work on those games when i worked there

it would be neat to see how much progress has been made since i was there

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