Take That, Cancer!

July 1, 2004 11:01 AM

Ben's Game. A young cancer patient, Ben Duskin, designed a video game, a LucasArts developer built it for him. The game follows a young protagonist as he searches for protection from the debilitating side effects of chemotherapy.
posted by o2b (19 comments total)

how cool! i love this! thanks o2b, and i hope it helps kids undergoing chemo. : >
posted by amberglow at 11:45 AM on July 1, 2004

When I read this in the paper on Monday I wondered -- what happens when you get a game over? Does cancer riddle your body and that's it? Anybody want to download and find out? I couldn't imagine any end-game in a game about cancer that would be life-affirming.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 12:04 PM on July 1, 2004

i just played it--you can't really lose, and it's fun to get all the cancer cells.
posted by amberglow at 12:05 PM on July 1, 2004

I still think it's funny that the character can't die and the cancer can't win.

I mean, I understand giving kids hope, but isn't that...unrealistic to the point of meanness?
posted by u.n. owen at 12:43 PM on July 1, 2004

I heard that after you beat the last level, you find out that you were destroying real cancer cells and now the war's over.

</ender>
posted by GeekAnimator at 1:24 PM on July 1, 2004

hmm... ben + ender = ???
posted by GeekAnimator at 1:26 PM on July 1, 2004

GeekAnimator: the worst part is when thousands of years later people think you're evil for killing off so many innocent cells that didn't know what they were doing.
posted by u.n. owen at 2:47 PM on July 1, 2004

I mean, I understand giving kids hope, but isn't that...unrealistic to the point of meanness?

Try the game--it's fun--You'll see. You have to reload on medicines and stuff to get the cells and keep your strength up, and it's zoomy and cool.
posted by amberglow at 2:57 PM on July 1, 2004

[ this is good ]
posted by bison at 3:02 PM on July 1, 2004

I read about this a while ago. I think if I was a kid with cancer, the last game I would want to play would be cancer-related. But, whatever.
posted by stifford at 3:35 PM on July 1, 2004

I saw a double post of this a day or so ago, and I made a comment. But when I went to look for the post, I couldn't find it. And it's not in my comment history. It was completely inoffensive and not something Matt would have deleted.

Am I going mad?
posted by orange swan at 3:59 PM on July 1, 2004

Anyway, my comment in the possibly alternate universe thread was, I had a boyfriend in high school who had leukemia, and he told me that as a cancer patient he was coached on using visual imaging to deal with the pain, i.e., imagining yourself in a balloon floating away from the sickness on the ground. He said it helped.

So this game might have the same sort of effect.
posted by orange swan at 4:01 PM on July 1, 2004

I heard that after you beat the last level, you find out that you were destroying real cancer cells and now the war's over.

I didn't know there was anyone on Metafilter who has read that book.

BTT: Back when I discovered Loom, Lucasarts became my favorite videogame company. After several years of crappy starwars games, I changed my mind. Now, after seeing this, I think I just might be ready to give them a try again.
posted by whoshotwho at 5:23 PM on July 1, 2004

I didn't know there was anyone on Metafilter who has read that book.

is that sarcasm? I think a large percentage of the metafilter population thinks they are Ender. :)
posted by GeekAnimator at 6:34 PM on July 1, 2004

So a friend of mine reads MeFi; he's been meaning to read Ender's Game for a while. Now he knows the ending and he's furious. I'm slightly amused.
posted by thebabelfish at 8:11 PM on July 1, 2004

Pretty good game, and the reason it was made is touching. Guess which video game developer I am going to support, instead of pirate?
posted by Keyser Soze at 8:51 PM on July 1, 2004

"GeekAnimator: the worst part is when thousands of years later people think you're evil for killing off so many innocent cells that didn't know what they were doing."

Are you a goddamned cancer lover? Huh? Not gonna side with the humans? Listen closely, friend: We don't take well to your kind around these parts.
posted by Keyser Soze at 8:56 PM on July 1, 2004

it's way better than Captain Novolin.
posted by mcsweetie at 10:06 PM on July 1, 2004

whoshotwho: Lucasarts just cancelled Sam & Max 2, presumably to work on another Star Wars game. Don't give them a try, just buy their adventure game back-catalog and whine, like me.
posted by kevspace at 9:57 PM on July 2, 2004