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Alum helps turn a
boy’s wish into reality
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Eric
Johnston (left) met with Ben Duskin weekly for six months
to create Ben’s Game. A man of many talents beyond video
game making, Johnston has also worked as a NASA engineer,
a stunt man, and a flying trapeze instructor since he left
Berkeley in 1992.
PHOTO COURTESY OF GREATER BAY AREA MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION |
Eric Johnston (B.S.’92 EECS), maker of video games since
1989, took on a unique project last fall, one that kept him working
nights and weekends for six months, enlisting the help of his
employer and colleagues and bringing to life unheard-of monsters
like Robarf.
The project, which made its debut in May, is “Ben’s
Game,” a video game envisioned by nine-year-old Ben Duskin
of Greenbrae, who believed his own experience with leukemia and
two years of chemotherapy could help other kids with cancer. Ben
called on the Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation, which spread
the word to gaming companies, looking for someone to take on the
project. Make-A-Wish representatives were told it would require
several years and several million dollars to accomplish.
But Johnston, senior software engineer and technical director
at LucasArts, stepped up to the challenge. He met every Tuesday
night with Ben, whose cancer is now in remission, to create the
game according to his specifications. LucasArts donated after-hours
use of its recording studio and other professional facilities.
Johnston’s colleague and former classmate Brad Post (B.A.’91
CS) got involved in the programming, and co-workers Chris Miles
and Ellen Meijers provided character art and sound.
“I thought Ben’s idea sounded like an amazing project,
but I had no idea how much fun it would really be,” Johnston
says. “Ben is smart, mature and articulate, and he came
prepared with design ideas we could put to use right away."
Still involved in putting finishing touches on the game and doing
media and other events, Johnston says he feels like he acquired
a new little brother in Ben.
“I wasn’t ready for the project to end,” he
says. “I worked about eight to 20 hours a week on it and
honestly can’t think of a better use for six months of spare
time.”
The object of Ben’s game: To search and destroy mutated
cells and collect shields that confer protection against nasty
creatures representing the common side effects of chemotherapy
like vomiting (Robarf Monster), hair loss (Qball Monster), and
fever (Firemonster). The weekend it was released for free download
by Make-A-Wish,
the Web site got more than 60,000 hits and 20,000 downloads, and
the story got worldwide media attention.
Also participating on the project as medical advisor was Seymour
Zoger, Ben’s physician at UCSF Children’s Hospital,
who had counseled Ben early in his treatment to visualize his
body fighting the cancer. The hospital will be the first medical
facility to install the game for use by its pediatric patients.
“The science for the game came largely from what Ben learned
himself in the course of treatment,” says Dr. Zoger. An
avid video gamer who played for distraction and solace during
his own illness, Ben thought his game would provide not only relief
from pain and stress, but also give patients like him a sense
of fight in their cancer recovery.
The Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation, located in San Francisco,
is one of 103 U.S. chapters and international affiliates offering
to grant a wish to children with life-threatening illnesses.
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