My favorite talk was probably by David Whatley of GeoDefense fame in the iPhone Summit. It was exactly what I’d like out of a GDC talk of his sort. Helpful, concrete information, advice and statistics combined with a healthy dose of inspiration and humor.

I’m reminded of an Ontario anti-drug program where the rocket scientists in charge decided the three most pressing issues were heroin, ecstasy and WEED! I chewed the corner off my desk after I read that! By their own numbers the twin plagues in Ontario are meth and prescription drugs (vast majority Oxycontin) and they were completely left out of the literature in favour of the standard EASY targets, even when one of those targets is in the process of being decriminalized.

As long as video games are new and scary they’ll be blamed for all of society’s ills. Better to just say games make you fat than to, I dunno, regulate the amount of fat, salt and bizarre chemicals allowed in lunchables advertised to kids on YTV every 15 minutes. Or why the new movie theaters offer deep fried chicken fingers, rum smoothies and double-wide reclining seats.

Kids already know they shouldn’t eat bad food. Kids already know they should exercise more. A game doesn’t need to teach them that.

A video game needs to teach kids not to play it so much (so kids go outside and exercise more). The better the anti-obesity game, the more time the kid spends playing it, thereby defeating the purpose. This initiative (especially considering the restrictions) appears to be more about legitimizing the games industry (we’re not just making kids fat) rather than address the real problem. Kids need to play less games, eat better food, watch less TV, watch less movies, read less books, and draw less art

This initiative is like Coke sponsoring the Olympics. It makes Coke seem like a healthy product that helps society, rather than an awesome sugary drink that must be taken in moderation.

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Other Thoughts

They couldn’t send the IT guy in person? They couldn’t get Michelle to record a 5 minute video? Would the Oscars play a 5 minute video from a cinematographer saying “Make a film that teaches kids healthy eating habits”. How seriously are they really taking games as a force for good/change?

Are there TV / Book / Movie / Music and Art initiatives? They have a better chance of targeting PARENTS, who really have the power to fix their kids lifestyles. i.e. One commercial saying “If your kid is fat, it’s your fault” will probably do more than any game targeted at children could. A game that targets parents won’t work since many parents don’t play games yet (sad but true).

Why handcuff game designers to a crappy XML database featuring steak and cappacino entries? ARGs don’t qualify? That’s the best chance for exercise. Is hardware allowed? I’d be hooking up real bikes and treadmills to games, but requirements only specify software which is odd. There appears to more concern about justifying the money spent on the XML database, rather than creating a game that truly helps solve obesity.

Why does the database contain only 1000 entries, and no information on the bad foods kids eat daily? Where is Kraft dinner? Doritos? Kit Kat? i.e. Anything being heavily advertised to kids daily. The entries are designed for adults, not kids. i.e. Can a kid distinguish between a steak and lean steak? Are kids doing the grocery shopping?

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My Game: “Your parents are nice but they’re killing you.”

Player is sitting at the supper table and busy Mom & Dad keep bringing player fatty food (pulled from the XML database). Player can either eat the food (making parents happy) or reject the food (making parents very angry).

If player keeps eating, he eventually has a heart attack. High score is your weight at death.

If player keeps rejecting, player is eventually kicked out of the house while screaming “Mom & Dad, you’re KILLING ME!”. Screen goes black. Not eligible for high score.

“I knew that i wanted to control my destiny, so I knew I needed revenues, right, fucking, now. Like I needed revenues now. So I funded the company myself but I did every horrible thing in the book to, just to get revenues right away. I mean we gave our users poker chips if they downloaded this zwinky toolbar which was like, I dont know, I downloaded it once and couldn’t get rid of it. *laughs* We did anything possible just to just get revenues so that we could grow and be a real business…So control your destiny. So that was a big lesson, controlling your business. So by the time we raised money we were profitable.”