'Shoot-em-up' helps teens battle cancer

[Tek7]

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Dan Neumann was a 14-year-old struggling against cancer when he came across an unexpected ally in his battle.

Cancer survivor Dan Neumann plays Re-Mission and is helping create the game's next edition.

He was receiving treatment for leukemia at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University in 2004 when he saw a flyer inviting teenage cancer patients to test a new video game.

A self-described gamer, Neumann says he was immediately drawn to the posting. He signed up to try it and was won over by the game, which simulated what goes on inside the bodies of cancer patients.

"When you go through cancer treatment, chemotherapy becomes something you dread," Neumann, now 19, recalled. "But with the game you're actively playing something and shooting cells."

That game eventually became Re-Mission, a video game that's helping teenagers around the world in their fight against cancer. Since its release in 2006, more than 145,000 free copies have been distributed, and now a new version of the game is in the works.

Source: 'Shoot-em-up' helps teens battle cancer

You can read more about Re-Mission and download it at re-mission.net.

 

[tjguitarz]

Very cool. Here's a YouTube video demonstrating gameplay.

 

[Neirai the Forgiven]

An interesting idea, but the question in my mind is, how true-to-life is "Re-Mission?"

On the flip side, I can see the game being a great tool in keeping kids' spirits up -- an "if I can beat this game, maybe I can beat cancer" sort of thing.