Studies have shown that the impact that smoking does to your lungs over years of smoking are almost completely reversed in about two years. [tobaccocontrol.bmj.com] just thought you'd like to know. I will quit smoking as well... eventually.

jvandub

*looks at picture*
*right-clicks and saves into "Photoshop Fodder" folder*
Oh, and you misspelled smoking:P *renames file*
*ducks*
Quack.

Parsifal

@Mike Fahey: I quit mostly cold turkey about 5 years ago. Occasionally I would slap a nicotine patch on my arm when the craving was unbearable. Good thing I quit, too. Cancer is a popular pastime in my family. Now I'll probably die of a heart-attack much sooner due to overeating, though.

Dragon_Warrior

I'm 3 weeks out from quitting smoking now... easiest quit I ever attempted... Took Chantix for 3 weeks, lovely dreams. I never really even noticed the actual quit.

Fujoshi

Bah. I started reading that Allen Carr book a couple of years ago when I was on the old cancer sticks meself.

Couldn't hack it though, it's so incredibly condescending and patronising, like it's aimed at elementary school kids.

In the end, I binned the book, as well as the ciggies to boot.

In all seriousness though, the key to quitting was that the wife quit at the same time, and we solemnly promised one another that neither of us would ever smoke a ciggy again. That was what got us through the cravings - the knowledge that you'd be letting someone else down by giving in.

Jonman

get on the chantix bro

you take a pill twice a day for a few weeks and it turns off the part of your brain that wants to smoke. it makes it hella easy to quit

the_dannobot

@My name changed for an unknown reason: Screen cleaning fluid should work to get that stank outta your games.

PlayerX

@noliferuin (PSN): That is so true.

I started because I was curious, plus the landscaping crew I was on smoked during breaks, so I took it up. Dumbest thing I ever did.

The unfortunate reality is that a lot of people DO start smoking for whatever reason, so the more tools available to help people, the better! Hooray! :)

PlayerX

I hate buying games that smell like tobacco. It just completely ruins that [delicious] musty plastic smell of old games.

I have two TG16 games that reek strongly of marijuana, which doesn't smell as bad of tobacco but it's still nasty.

Also, yes, I do sniff games after I buy them.

My name changed for an unknown reason

@Mike Fahey: I decided that after my current pack, I'm quitting cold turkey. I have one cigarette left, and that will be the last one I'll ever smoke.

I quit cold turkey for 2 months once, and I feel like an idiot for going back. To think of all the video games (and bank account balances...) I could have bought/saved by not smoking!!!

Let's do it together, Mike!

PlayerX

There already was an antismoking Nintendo game: Golgo 13 for the NES. In one level here was a pack of cigarettes on the ground. If you picked them up you would light-up a smoke and your health would drain to about three bars. Then when you scrolled a little to the right a barrage of East Germans would come at you and you were pretty sure to be a goner.

mzs

Fahey with the STEELY EYED GAZE...so sexy!

Spoony Bard

For what it is, I would have never guessed that you're a forty-year old smoker. I always thought you were much younger. And you look great!

Good luck on quitting.
Remember:
"Quitting smoking is easy. I've done it hundreds of times"
-Mark Twain.

Palladium

Smoking is a no-no. Though, on the offhand, maybe you can try many of the non-smoking methods, so much that you have no time to smoke while trying several techniques.

Zosic

Was saying that Guitar Hero III owned Rock Band in the guitar department another side effect?

But seriously, good luck. My brother is trying to quit now, and my Dad managed to quit after 26 years as a smoker, so I know how tough it can be.

actorpull

I'm actually having a smoke, right now, but it's getting to the point where a gallon of gas costs as much as a pack of cigs. Hmm... I supppose I should look into this.

m3rcer

I'm not much of a poster on Kotaku, I mainly just lurk. But I must say, Fahey, your previous post on this site on the topic has influenced me to quit smoking. Isn't that strange? I've seen people die from the stuff, and this is what caused me to quit.

More or less, I think it may have been the final straw that broke the Camel's back, because the reasons have been weighing on me for a good amount of time now.

So in any case, thanks for that. So far, I'm... irritable. I've been extremely irritable. My girlfriend's been laughing at me because all I've been doing is rambling about things that could easily be summed up in one or two sentences.

Ah crap, it happened again.

priscabel

I've never smoked before but I feel the author's pain.

I'm trying to quit jacking off.

Diesel_Power

Between this and WiiFit, Nintendo should have a couple of Nobel Peace Prizes before they're done!

NeVeRMoRe666

I had an M.D.(who was himself an ex-smoker) say it's harder to kick nicotine (smoking) than it is to quit heroin. o_O

It's something I should do too, but right now it's my psychological crutch as I finish my PhD. I'm hoping my change in status (from chronic student to worker) will help facilitate a change in mindset and I'll be more inclined to stick to quitting. Maybe I'll check out the game.

All the best to you Mike.:)

hikergirl

Get the book now or start smoking again and quit in November. At this point, I might as well wait until November. I was gonna take a shot on my b-day (6/13) but I guess I could wait another 6 months.

Import98

Oh Fahey, I wish I could quit you.

SuedeGopher

and some people say Wii fit isn't a game, now this THIS isn't a game!

excel_excel

I tried Chantix and it made me cuckoo, slowly. I realized it when I couldn't remember my girlfriend's name and I was experiencing auditory and visual hallucinations that I believed! I started smoking again after 4 months and have returned to normal. Creepy experience though. Chantix is dangerous and reacts differently with different people. I should have known not to replace a drug with another drug, that never works. Good luck, Fahey.

Featherhammer

As a... ... an odd announcement that is, I'm way more stuck by what you told about your experience with kicking the stuff >< Best of luck to you, Mike.

AuraHACK

Whatever happened to using Pokemon games to stop!? I liked that idea! XD

Kado

The idea of the game is pretty cool IMO, because there's nothing passive about quitting smoking, and getting yourself involved in the process heavily by playing this game would be a nice way to do so. Anyone saying they don't need the book (or any help for that matter) hasn't been smoking long.

NoahIdea

@Dan Zuccarelli: hey i used the patch too. Was great until time came to get off the patch. Anyways, best of luck Fahey.

houkah

Reading this makes me want to smoke...

Quasimodo X

Despite all of the fatuous, childish comments flying around in this thread, the Allen Carr book was the thing that finally enabled me to quit smoking after 15 years in which I'd tried pretty much everything. I was starting to think I would never be able to give up, but that book was a work of unbridled genius.

No tricks.

No fear-mongering.

Just simple reasoning and deprogramming of all the subtle, almost imperceptible traps that you fall into as a smoker. He just gradually takes you through every reason you could ever have to be a smoker and then disconnects the hook - hooks that you never even knew existed.

The fact that it's coming to DS is a fantastic move.

Pizzicato

Too bad Easyway is complete bullshit, if you want to quit you can find better information on Wiki.

karasu47

@Mike Fahey:
Did I ever tell you you're my hero?
You're everything, everything I wish I could be.
I could fly higher than an eagle,
'cause you are the wind beneath my wings.

liquid_kore

here's a fool proof way to stop smoking:

Stop smoking and don'T make weak excuses.

I'M SO DAMN GOOD!

IrisMR

I read this book several years ago. And I quit smoking.

elementary

Ubisoft has some weird games.

zaky

@liquid_kore: Have I ever told you you're my hero?

Mike Fahey

Honestly, the easiest way for me was to go to the doctor and tell him that I really wanted to quit. I got this magic pill that, so far, keeps me from feeling any withdrawal symptoms. It might be a coincidence, but I quit smoking around the same time as you did. Now if I could just figure out what to do with my smoking hand, I'll be all set.

RPGJunky

I bought that book for my friend. Didn't work. Don't think he was scared enough.

Bernard McGraw

I always figured the majority of gamers don't smoke because they were spending their money on their real addiction...games.

Szin

Hmmm, might come out a little too far off from MGS4. Cosplay fanboys will get hooked!

Solid_hedgehog

@DragonYen: Just smoke a few packs over a few days. It doesn't take much. I have "quit" for going on one month and a half and starting because you haven't isn't actually funny to someone that has tried to stop permanently for going on for going on 7 years now.

Anyways, Fahey, you could easily be the best Age of Conan player if you'd focus your frustrations into the game. In a months time or so, you'll be past the rough period and won't have those inclinations to snap on anything that moves or breathes. It isn't healthy to utterly crack out on a game for a month straight, but it could save your life (and make you the stuff of legends in AoC). Good luck and stay at it. I'll keep you in my prayers.

Sentientv2

I actually read this book the night before I quit smoking two years ago. I read it one night. I don't know if the "substance" of the book was the impetus behind my cessation, or that after reading his droning on and on about the same things over and over beating my psyche into some strange submission. Either way, I give him partial credit for my health. At the end of the book he tells you to go ahead and smoke that last cigarette. I was done within two drags.
Hard to see the concept translated into a game. Maybe something like Heroin Hero. (i am going to get that damn dragon today :P)

xnicox

...Why does it seem like all the infomertial crap is heading to the gameworld?

Grey Gecko

Ok I seriously need to buy this. I have been smoking for over 8 years now and I am desperate to finally be able to kick the habit. It may be a long shot, but I am willing to give this a try.

sergotron

This will hopefully be a hit with the kids.

I'm serious!!!

DARTH_TIGRIS

@Mike Fahey: Well, if you want to review the game you better start smoking again.

Kanik

Smoking sounds cool, I should start.

Chief2BeaR

How about a game that teachs us to smoke? I'm 31 and have never smoked, but now I'm too old to start for fear of looking uncool. Come on Nintendo, help me out!

DragonYen

It's like a mantra. Nintendo gamers are hardcore, Nintendo gamers are hardcore, Nintendo gamers are hardcore.

Just kidding! Best of luck with quitting, Fahey. Hopefully it won't be too long until you see some real health benefits, and that will make it even easier to keep going.

Seriously, though-- make this an expansion pack for Wii Fit! Blow into the Wiimote-mic (it has one, right?) to measure your lung capacity! And, um, other minigames? That's all I've got.

wild homes

easiest way? don't start kids.

noliferuin (PSN)

When I quit I went with the patch, worked for me...

Dan Zuccarelli

@knikola:

haha we dont read much of him over here...but i guess some of his work bleeds into the consciousness

juscallmeweasel

Who cares of dieing to lung cancer? there are like 50 hundred billion other cancers to eat you + other sickness and disease thats not even cancer?

of course you could be mayan and believe the world ends in 3 years so smoke all you want =p

@juscallmeweasel: you should write a book on it with that much experience =p get in on some of that fat profit this d00d is making.

Zaos

@Mike Fahey: If its any consolation, I understood the joking nature of the post Fahey. ;)

liquid_kore

@juscallmeweasel:
Haha, oh that Mark Twain

knikola

quittings easy....ive done it 6 times!

juscallmeweasel

Damn. I've never hated a person so much that I made enemies of them TWICE. Let alone cats.

Klashe

Bah, quitting cold turkey is working fine, aside from the frequent repeating myself.

See, the point of all this is that I oucld have waited to quit until November and made a game review out of it, as well as the irony of the announcement coming after I quit.

The book is besides the point. I don't need an aid to help me quit. Gamers can read, we just don't need to.

Mike Fahey

read the damn book.

Vileyaser

...

Hrm. This is one of the few things that I'll only believe when I see it work.

TalKeaton: Game Design Major

Cigarettes? A problem? No, no my friend. I can do without them. I need a DS game to help me through the morning without a shot and a beer.

And I'm sure a lot of people out there need a game to kick their Heroin addiction. Nintendo: saving lives every day.

vanderblade

That's that hypnosis book, right?

mind in rewind

Until then you could, I don't know, just get the book?

Guizzy

I'm at a complete loss for words....er....couldn't you buy the book?? Oh!! were gamers of course we can't read!

excel_excel

there's a trick to quitting smoking:

just stop putting cigarettes in your mouth.

mynameisob3l

Been smoking for 20 years, but right now I'm watching both of my parents slowly die of emphysema plus I'll be starting work in autumn where cigarettes or any open flame is a big no-no, so it's time I looked into quitting again. The last time I tried was about 4 years ago, got about a month into it and then got hit with a tidal wave of stressful situations. Needless to say, I fell off the wagon.

PhantomVI

@mynameisob3l: Nothing more agitating than someone who's never been in someone else's situation acting high and mighty, judgemental and nonchalant about that person's situation. And nerdy teenagers are usually the number one offenders in this department.

actorpull

started quitting again a week ago. had quit for 6 months the picked it back up for 6 months. this time's going o.k. it's all my damn friends smoking around me that make it hard. I have one friend quitting with me though and that's helping a lot.

I guess it's the season. Good luck to all.

indemnitypop

@Kanik: Wow...you should have probably read the entire post...

[epic fail]

Tietsu21