Spring Break
Iraq war game gets mixed reactions
Fernando Dutra
Issue date: 4/14/09 Section: Focus
Developers looking for free publicity might want to imitate Konami's most recent venture: announcing a game based on one of the most controversial wars in recent history. Only screenshots have been released for "6 Days in Fallujah," announced last week for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and the company has already been criticized for their decision to publish the game.
The game centers itself on providing a realistic representation of the second battle of Fallujah, a battle that was divisive in and of itself. Military officers, the press, and veterans alike have called for the game to be banned, calling upon Konami to halt production of it.
The discussion goes various ways. While developers Atomic Games have stressed their impartiality to the game, saying that it is meant to be a no-commentary documentary in the form of a game, Konami insists that the game was just seen as a unique entertainment opportunity.
Anthony Crouts, Konami's VP of Marketing, told the Wall Street Journal, "We're not trying to make social commentary. We're not pro-war. We're not trying to make people feel uncomfortable. We just want to bring a compelling entertainment experience."
Many think that this is much too soon, since the war is still ongoing.
"[c]onsidering the enormous loss of life in the Iraq War, glorifying it in a video game demonstrates very poor judgment and bad tast," said Reg Keys (whose son died serving in Iraq) in the UK's Daily Mail. "These horrific events should be confined to the annals of history, not triviali[z]ed and rendered for thrill-seekers to play out."
Overwhelmingly, the general consensus was that the game was going to be released much too soon and for the wrong purpose.
Dan Rosenthal, an Iraq veteran who is also a gamer, thinks the game will have to sacrifice realism since it is an entertainment product.
Rosenthal told GamePolitics.com, "A 'realistic' war game is not going to be fun - who wants to play a game where you sit around doing nothing, punctuated by raiding the wrong house and tearing apart the home of an irate Iraqi family, or sitting around on a convoy until your vehicle gets hit by an IED and your character dies, with no clear enemy in sight?"
The game centers itself on providing a realistic representation of the second battle of Fallujah, a battle that was divisive in and of itself. Military officers, the press, and veterans alike have called for the game to be banned, calling upon Konami to halt production of it.
The discussion goes various ways. While developers Atomic Games have stressed their impartiality to the game, saying that it is meant to be a no-commentary documentary in the form of a game, Konami insists that the game was just seen as a unique entertainment opportunity.
Anthony Crouts, Konami's VP of Marketing, told the Wall Street Journal, "We're not trying to make social commentary. We're not pro-war. We're not trying to make people feel uncomfortable. We just want to bring a compelling entertainment experience."
Many think that this is much too soon, since the war is still ongoing.
"[c]onsidering the enormous loss of life in the Iraq War, glorifying it in a video game demonstrates very poor judgment and bad tast," said Reg Keys (whose son died serving in Iraq) in the UK's Daily Mail. "These horrific events should be confined to the annals of history, not triviali[z]ed and rendered for thrill-seekers to play out."
Overwhelmingly, the general consensus was that the game was going to be released much too soon and for the wrong purpose.
Dan Rosenthal, an Iraq veteran who is also a gamer, thinks the game will have to sacrifice realism since it is an entertainment product.
Rosenthal told GamePolitics.com, "A 'realistic' war game is not going to be fun - who wants to play a game where you sit around doing nothing, punctuated by raiding the wrong house and tearing apart the home of an irate Iraqi family, or sitting around on a convoy until your vehicle gets hit by an IED and your character dies, with no clear enemy in sight?"
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