Konami Cuts and Runs From Iraq War Game 321
Less than a month after the announcement of Six Days in Fallujah , a video game based upon a real-life battle between US Marines and Iraqi insurgents in 2004, Konami has decided that it is too controversial, and abandoned plans to publish the game. The developer, Atomic Games, has not commented on Konami's decision other than to say an announcement will be made soon. Konami told a Japanese newspaper, "After seeing the reaction to the video game in the United States and hearing opinions sent through phone calls and e-mail, we decided several days ago not to sell it." While the game did receive a great deal of criticism, others were optimistic, including several outspoken veterans of the Iraq war. One of the major complaints was that in researching the battle, Atomic Games reportedly interviewed several insurgents. This prompted speculation that the insurgents were compensated for their help, though Atomic later denied that was the case. Konami's decision also may have been influenced by the fact that they seemed to represent it as entertainment, whereas Atomic's president, Peter Tamte, was more hesitant to describe it as "fun." He said, "The words I would use to describe the game — first of all, it's compelling. And another word I use — insight."
Release it anyway (Score:4, Interesting)
Why not just change the name and the story and release it?
I think that's a shame (Score:5, Interesting)
controversial to interview participants? (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm not any kind of gamer, but if you accept that video games are a legitmate form of artistic expression enjoyed by a growing number of people (and you're an idiot if you don't), the idea that interviewing insurgents is somehow sinister is ludicrous. Would it be evil for a filmmaker making a movie about Fallujah to interview people on both sides of the fight?
Plus, I hate to break it to people, but a lot of the guys the Americans were fighting in 2004 and 2005 in the Sunni Triangle were later recruited into the Awakening Movement, which then turned against foreign fighters and our now allies (albeit uneasy ones) with the US military. Enemy of my enemy, shifting alliances, etc.
In other news.. (Score:3, Interesting)
An executive from Atomic Games, the maker of the unreleased game Six Days in Fallujah was seen handing over the complete source code on a 1.44MB floppy disk to an executive from 3D Realms. Gamers around the world rejoice that this controversial title might yet see the day of light in the latest release from 3D Realms.
Exactly what title that be, we're not authorize to report here.
kneejerk army bashing (Score:5, Interesting)
The army didn't pull it. Konami did.
Re:Thanks a whole fucking bunch (Score:5, Interesting)
So it was going to be a game in which the player spent years growing and being nourished by self, family, friends, community and the state until the late teens before being shipped to another country and then unexpectedly killed without warning, after which the game becomes locked and unplayable?
I understand your point - but it is extremely hard to see how this game could have been a serious depiction of war. Would it include horrible brutality by some of the soliders on your own side? Would it throw up the extreme moral quandraries surrounding civilian casualties and the invasion of Iraq itself? Would it even include civilians? Animals? Disease?
Re:Thanks a whole fucking bunch (Score:3, Interesting)
...the crude reality of war should only be depicted in movies, TV shows and documentary...
As it should be, IMO. The only TV show you see the current war in is appropriately somber and analytical (at least as somber and analytical as most of our journalists can get). If you want realism, watch al-jazeera. If you want to inform the general populace about a war, I don't care how realistic a game is, it'll still be a pale comparison against the real thing.
/.ers equate with gaming, 99% of the population still thinks of gaming as a fancy toy. It's a pretty tough sell to those with kids overseas fighting the real thing.
And despite the seriousness some
And if you still want realism, join the Army.
Re:Release it anyway (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Cowards. (Score:5, Interesting)
After seeing the realism of the first Call of Duty I refused to play any more WWII FPS. I've convinced many of my gamer friends to do the same. Obviously that's not enough to turn the tide of an entire industry. But I continue trying to reach out and change minds. Posts like yours give me hope that more people will start to think about what they are simulating when they play these types of games.
Re:The medium (Score:2, Interesting)
The problem isn't the medium of videogames, it is the presentation of the subject matter within the game. But how are we to know whether the presentation in Six Days In Fallujah approached the subject matter effectively (or not), when outcry from people like you prevent such works from being created?
Comment removed (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Thanks a whole fucking bunch (Score:4, Interesting)
We got *this* close to at last having a war game that was even vaguely anything like war.
Uh... games are supposed to be fun. Pretend wars where you tend to kill lots of bad guys without being killed are fun. Shooting zombies and aliens is fun. I'm not sure I'd really have any interest in getting home from work and sitting down to relive the most horrifying nightmares of human history.
Who cares, not every one agrees, and want something different. What matters is this, and the fact that people like you want to prevent anyone from doing something that doesn't fit to what they want.
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Release it anyway (Score:3, Interesting)
As opposed to imaginary wars like World War 2 and Vietnam?
WW2 wasn't all that controversial at the time, and especially not now. Everyone is pretty clear that we did (mostly) the right things and the good guys won. Vietnam is another story completely, but look how long it took to make video game about it, and even then I'm not sure they were based so closely on real, historical battles. Maybe 50 years from now we'll have games with Saddam running around in a mechanical battle suit [wikipedia.org], but not today.
Re:If Iraq bombed and invaded America (Score:1, Interesting)
Conflicting Feelings on This (Score:3, Interesting)
I have conflicting feelings about this.
I am all for free speech and I love games that try and tell a story. I get honoring our sons who fight in war with a medium that they enjoy.
In this case, however, I'm wondering if it's the proper time for something like this.
It almost seems tacky to create a game based on the battles of soldiers who are still around and still fighting.
I know that we have world war 2 games and vietnam games, but those conflicts are over with and done with. There are soldiers still over there fighting these battles and maybe that's why i feel this decision by Konami might be on okay thing.
I don't agree with making movies about a war during the time of war, either. I feel there is a time and place, and normally these things should be at least a decade after the conflict has ended.
I know we didn't have that long after vietnam ended, and it seems more and more studios try and push out content based on our wars faster and faster.
I know I don't feel right about this, I think people should be able to come back and have time to heal before being bombarded with war movies and war games based on what they did.