To meet the demands of a Western population that's growing in number and waistline, the games giant Nintendo's to release a specialist anti-obesity variant of their popular canine maintenance game.
Nintendman is designed to get fat people to reduce the size of their gut with a simple electronic game.
"The idea is that people complete educational tasks that subliminally teaches them to control their cake-based urges." Hideo Masaoke from the game's developer told reporters.
"We've been working on this for the US and European markets for 18 months, after it became evident that there was a gap in the market that wasn't being catered for. Unfortunately, the obese have been catering for it themselves, which is why they've been getting fatter. This game will teach them to waddle away from the chocolate bar or fried chicken and try a salad instead."
In the game, a human based version of the popular Nintendogs series, players will attempt to keep their chosen character alive by looking after and feeding them. Higher points will be awarded for healthier food choices and games will end in their character's death if they go for things that taste good.
"We expect this to be a top seller. We've already got the NHS in the UK interested and HMOs in the United States are to recommend the game for their larger customers from June 2011 as a way of reducing their premiums."
A spokesman for the Department of Health confirmed they were interested in the game, but said as long as it was free, or could be sold on commission through GP's surgeries, they would 'seriously' consider adopting it as a frontline medical tool.