Microsoft Helping to Put Xbox 360s in Children Hospitals

[CoFree]

Microsoft Helping to Put Xbox 360s in Children Hospitals
by: Marcus Yam

The Xbox 360 kiosks for children hospitals (Source: Companions in Courage)
Xbox 360 consoles becoming a part of hospital play areas

Microsoft is partnering with non-profit organization the Companions in Courage Foundation to provide hundreds of Xbox 360 kiosks to playrooms in children's hospitals across the U.S.

The first kiosks are being installed today at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian, Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center of Seattle and the Children's Hospital of Orange County in California.

"It's extremely gratifying to witness the joy and excitement of these children and teens when they have a chance to break away from the normal hospital routine, and make new friends while playing video games," said Cynthia Sparer, executive director of Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian.

"The goal for this program is to give these kids a chance to have some fun and just be kids," added Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft.

Games such as Grand Theft Auto IV or Gears of War won’t be found on the special hospital kiosks, as the customized and hospital-friendly systems are pre-loaded with a variety of Y-rated TV programs, G-rated movies and games rated E and E10+.

The Xbox 360 kiosks will also be online capable and come with headsets and Vision webcams, but will be connected to a dedicated network created just for consoles in children’s hospitals that allows patients to play games over Xbox Live, but limits chat via voice, text and video to only those children playing from select hospitals across the country. This will keep the profanity and slur-filled communication of Halo 3 games away from young, sensitive ears.

Companions in Courage founder and NHL Hall of Famer Pat LaFontaine said, "Entertainment, creativity and personal connections can be important factors in alleviating some of the isolation and discomfort these children experience each day. Xbox 360 offers young patients a fun escape through games, TV shows, movies and positive interactions with others over the Xbox Live network. These gaming stations are a perfect complement to the interactive playrooms."

[sadalius]

Good to see MS doing something nice. I hate to sound cynical, but I wonder how long these consoles will last without gong rrod. Since they are going for a good cause, I hope they last a long time.

[CoFree]

Well guys you know ill come down on M$ fast and hard,BUT this time they may have got it right.

I am someone that has spent 60+ days more than once in a hospital with my 3 year old daughter(she has A.L.L. preB leukemia )
I have seen how bad it is for the little people to have to sit in a bed or chair all day in one room.Day after day the same thing.

The hospital that we were in has some xbox,xbox360 and ps2 that the kids can play.Keep in mind that these systems were gave to the hospitals by generous people that wanted to do some thing to help the kids.

I have seen the look on a child's face when there turn comes up and the system is rolled in the room.They would get there few hours play then on to the next child.
It is a indescribable filling to witness this for the first time.Just to see how happy they get, and to hopefully forget,at least for a short time there troubles.

So all that being said.

I tip my hat to you "Microsoft" Good job.

CoFree

[Sesshomaru]

The first 10 minutes are free, after that the 360's are covered by the child's insurance. If they don't have insurance, they get a picture of Bill Gates pelvic thrusting Alan Greenspan.