Mobile games could help find a cure for cancer
Mobile games are often seen as nothing more than entertainment, but they could have a much loftier purpose when organizations like Cancer Research UK get involved with them. Cancer Research UK has teamed with Guerilla Tea, a developer of mobile games and software, in order to create its first game. The game is meant to serve as a research platform that may help unveil new ways to treat and even cure cancer.
Cancer Research UK and Guerilla Tea take aim at cancer
Throughout the world, mobile games have been gaining momentum among consumers as a primary source of entertainment. The low cost and high availability of these games have made them extremely popular among those with smartphones and tablets. For most consumers, these games are only meant to provide entertainment, but Cancer Research UK believes that they could have a far more practical purpose without actually sacrificing any entertainment value. As such, the organization and Guerilla Tea have begun working on creating a game that aligns with this concept and provide consumers with an entertaining, yet purposeful, experience.
Gamers to discover genetic triggers of cancer
The game being developed aims to task players with accurately locating new genetic triggers of cancer. Exactly how this will be done has not yet been disclosed, but tracking down these genetic triggers could help Cancer Research UK researchers form a better understanding on various types of cancer. This understanding would eventually lead to better treatments and, in some cases, cures for certain types of the infamous disease.
Mobile games may be valuable research tool
Mobile games have proven to be engaging platforms to which consumers have devoted countless hours to. Using mobile games to find new treatments and cures for cancer may be a lofty goal, but Cancer Research UK believes that it is possible. There is no telling when the organization’s game will be released, but it is likely to be made available by the end of this year, if not sooner.
Mobile games attract the attention of the BBFC
Mobile games are becoming a more prominent part of British society and have even become the preferred medium of entertainment for some. As mobile games continue to grow in popularity, they are beginning to attract the attention of influential organizations, namely the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). The BBFC is a non-governmental agency that is funded by the film industry and responsible for the classification and appropriate censorship of video content both online and off.
BBFC will take over Classification Framework this year
The BBFC has announced that it will begin managing the “Classification Framework” that allows mobile network operators to handle access to commercial content. This framework imposes restrictions on content for consumers that are under the age of 18. Currently, the framework is only responsible for video content that is produced, but will soon cover mobile games as well. Beginning in September of this year, the BBFC is expected to begin imposing classification and censorship standards on various kinds of mobile games.
Organization will work to address privacy issues with mobile games
The move from the BBFC comes as consumers begin to consume more content through their mobile devices than through traditional mediums. As consumption trends change, so to must the regulatory infrastructure in order to better serve a new generation of people and their shifting interests. Notably, the connection that mobile games have with children has become an area of concern within the United Kingdom as well as other countries. Many of these games are designed with children in mind, but they collect personal information from mobile devices upon which they are played. This has created a great deal of controversy, much of which is focused on the potential of mobile games violating the privacy rights of young people.
Mobile games may soon be regulated in the same way as film
The Classification Framework was initially managed by the Mobile Classification Board, but the organization has yielded control of the framework to the BBFC due to that organization’s extensive experience in the film industry. The BBFC is likely to help resolve some of the privacy issues that currently exist with mobile games in the United Kingdom as well as work to restrict access to mobile content involving drug use, ethnic discrimination, and nudity.
