New Video Game Recreates Kennedy Assassination 832
theodp writes "Lee Harvey Oswald-wannabes will be able to simulate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy when Traffic Games releases the $9.99 JFK Reloaded on Monday to coincide with the 41st anniversary of Kennedy's murder in Dallas. 'It is despicable,' said a spokesman for Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, the late president's brother."
Doesn't Sound Fun to Me (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Doesn't Sound Fun to Me (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Doesn't Sound Fun to Me (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Doesn't Sound Fun to Me (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Doesn't Sound Fun to Me (Score:5, Informative)
Verbing weirds language....
Dubya character?! (Score:3, Funny)
Guys, read the site before you jump to conclusions (Score:5, Insightful)
Historians are always reconstructing the assassination. The Discovery Channel once ran a special where they ran a dummy by in a car and had an expert marksmen sharpshoot at its head as it drove by. It wasn't horrifying; it was supposed to be educational. This game is clearly an attempt to show just how implausible the official explanation for the JFK assassination is. I would love to see if any player actually achieves a high passing score.
Personal, I find the idea of this fascinating. The angle of "play as assassin and shoot JFK!" was given by Slashdot; that's not the intent. It's more of an academic exercise, and it will be very interesting to take part in this and see if the government's explanation for what happened actually plays out when you try it yourself. There's a reason they have the assassin's floor blocked off in the Assassination Museum--as Bill Hicks said, they didn't want thousands of American tourists going up there each year, pointing out the window, and realizing "There's no fucking way!"
Of course, all of this publicity is probably more than they could have hoped for. I doubt many people would have known about this sim otherwise.
But that's all irrelivant/invalid (Score:5, Insightful)
Assuming that the WC's report is true and Oswald was the lone shooter he had one objective: Kill president Kennedy. So, to that end he was firing at the prsident until he was convinced he was dead. Most likely by a visual clue indicating a headshot. The first two shots were misses, as least as far as he was concerned. He wasn't trying to miss, he was trying to hit, however he failed to do so.
It's not hard ot take two shots and miss and hit with a third one, even at a moving target if you are an experienced marksman. That doesn't mean you can recreate the happenings perfectly. It will happen one way one time, another the next.
Also, no game can accurately model the physics of what will happen. Realtime physics engines in games are pretty primitive. They can deal with the basics like ragdoll simulation on bodies, falling objects, and simple destructable objects, but any real simulation is FAR beyond what we have.
Well, to accurately simulate a bullet impact, it takes some serious power. Bullets do NOT act intuitively, espically high power ones. Lots of people forget that the bullets fired were high powered rounds form a Carcano military rifle. Thos act quite differently from a 9mm JHP round. Their penetration is extreme, and you can easily shoot through 3 or more unarmoured people with one. TRying to say that a game can simulate the trajectory of a bullet through a complex structure like the body is just stupid.
Sounds to me like these people are really doing one of two things:
1) Trying to play up the consparicy nut angle saying "See, lots of gamers couldn't do it in our (highly invalid) simulation, how could it possibly have happened in rea life?" and thus "prove" their theory.
2) Make money off said consparicy nuts.
I see nothing here approaching valid or interesting.
Re:But that's all irrelivant/invalid (Score:4, Insightful)
you sure were long-winded in replying for it to be not valid or not interesting.
Re:But that's all irrelivant/invalid (Score:5, Interesting)
This is a commonly repeated falsehood. Oswald was rated "Sharpshooter" in the Marines. He was able to place repeated shots in a small target at 200 yards, rather more than the 60 yards beteween him and Kennedy.
Marine = good shot (Score:3, Insightful)
That Marine A calls Marine B a "lousy shot" is comparing B to the best.
That Marine B is a Marine means he's still a far better shot than the general population.
Re:But that's all irrelivant/invalid (Score:4, Informative)
Using lots of new technological goodies unavailable to the Warren Commission, they were able to show that with Kennedy sitting higher than Connally, and Connally sitting slightly to the left, the bullet would have passed through Kennedys throat and into Connallys arm then wrist then leg. Exactly as the Warren Commission said.
They even used someone who was approximately the same height and weight as Kennedy and by putting small pieces of metal on a shirt, and then doing an x-ray, the bullet wounds were exactly as were done in real life. They even had this model sit in a position just like Kennedy had been and did the x-rays with the same result.
They even used a nearly identical rifle and fired a round into specially made recreation of the human body. A firm in Australia does it I believe. The bullet, when examined, came out almost intact. Just like in real life.
In the past I always poo-pooed the single bullet theory. However, after looking at the Zapruder film and comparing it to the model and the computer generated recreation, I have my doubts. It does look plausible that a single bullet could have done what was done.
Re:Guys, read the site before you jump to conclusi (Score:5, Informative)
Except it's already been done. It was covered on either the History Channel or the Discovery Channel a while ago. They made models out of ballistics gel with pig bones inside, and had a shooter on a crane to get the same angle and distance Oswald had, using the same model gun from the same year, firing the same model bullets. He made the shot, the "wounds" on the ballistics gel model matched the wounds on Kennedy and Connely, and the damage on the bullet was almost identical to that of the so-called "magic bullet".
Re:Guys, read the site before you jump to conclusi (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Guys, read the site before you jump to conclusi (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, the authors are trying to show exactly the opposite, that the Warren Commission made perfectly reasonable conclusions. Perhaps you should actually read what the game's authors said before you spout off your tired old conspiracy theories.
Funny, when I visited Dealey Plaza, it seemed so... small. Then I visited the Sixth Floor museum and stood next to that window. That shot was easy! The only mystery is how he actually managed to miss one shot out of three.
By the way, I've actually read the Warren Commission report. Have you?
Re:Guys, read the site before you jump to conclusi (Score:5, Informative)
As someone who lives in Dallas and has been to the six floor museum several times I can definitively say you are full of B.S.
The entire six floor is dedicated to a museum covering the event. Until a couple years ago, you could actually crouch down at the window, in the exact position Oswald was in. They had to block that area off (about a 10'x12' area) with glass walls because idiots kept trying to "rearrange" things or "leave momentos" that they had been there. I believe that you can actually still get into the area, you just have to pre-arrange it with the curating staff.
The six floor museum is actually the best museum on a political subject I have ever seen. I really expected it to be highly biased, one way or another, however, it turns out to be an incredibly unbiased and thorough review of all the credible work that has been done on the assasination, as well as a good, unbiased review of Kennedy's life and presidency. I was overwhelmed the first time I went through with all of the information presented. I've been back 3 times, by myself, just so that I could spend timing examining some of the displays and presentations, rather than rushing through with visiting family and friends from out of town.
Even if you aren't really interested in museums or the assasination, I would still definate recommend a stop at Dealy Plaza and the museum if you pass through Dallas.
UP UP DOWN DOWN LEFT RIGHT A B SECLECT START (Score:5, Funny)
Re:UP UP DOWN DOWN LEFT RIGHT A B SECLECT START (Score:5, Funny)
back, and to the left.
Cartoon Physics sure helps get it accurate (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Cartoon Physics sure helps get it accurate (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Doesn't Sound Fun to Me (Score:4, Interesting)
That's nothing. Back in the 80's a buddy and me wrote a game based on the Kennedy assassination for the Commodore 64.
It was kinda cool. It played a cheesy version of "Hail to the Chief" while you shot at the president. If you remember the kind of sounds that came out of a Commodore, you know what I mean.
Naturaly, not everybody thought it was as funny as we did. My girlfriend came home from work, took a look at our game and the collection of beer bottles around the apartment, and made a face like she'd bit into a lemon. She asked us, "Don't you two shingle-heads have anything better to do?"
I gave a copy of it to friend to take to work with him at the water department. He showed it to some old man who worked there. I understand the old geezer flipped out, and threatened to call the FBI on us.
We uploaded it up to some bulletin board, and promptly got banned after some of the other customers complained.
I guess we should have stuck with it, since it looks like there's a buck to made.
But we didn't exactly get a lot of encouragement at the time. Didn't look very promising. I wonder if there's still a copy of our version floating around on the net some where?
Sequel ideas? (Score:5, Funny)
see if you too have the skills to beat the rap! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Sequel ideas? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Sequel ideas? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Sequel ideas? (Score:3, Informative)
Grover Cleveland [wikipedia.org] was the only president to be elected into office(1885-1889, fail at his first re-election* then run again 4 years later and win a second term(1893-1897), making him both the 22nd and 24th president.
*Interestingly enough he lost under the same scenario that Al Gore fell victim to in 2000, namely that he got more popular votes, but lost in the Electoral votes.
Re:Sequel ideas? (Score:4, Funny)
Or perhaps a Senator Kennedy Driving game. Extra points awarded the further you can distance yourself from the body of the woman you just killed [politicaly as well as physicaly.]
Re:Sequel ideas? (Score:3, Informative)
Whats wrong? (Score:5, Interesting)
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
that's not really responsive (Score:5, Insightful)
This is a historical event, and while all three things are probably true for many recountings of such historical events, I'm not convinced that video games should be treated differently from any other historical account. Certainly the game is there for entertainment, which makes it different from a documentary (for example), but not so different that it isn't still (at least implicitly) a narrative about an important historical event.
Re:that's not really responsive (Score:5, Insightful)
1) Tens of millions of people were killed in WWII. The sheer number of deaths depersonalizes the victims. (Unfair as that may be) So you can't compare it. AFAIK most WWII games do not center on specific named individuals either.
2) Time, WWII was two generations ago, the Kennedy murder was one.
3) Morality. All but the strongest pacificts would agree that killing another armed man in war is one thing and murdering an unarmed civilian is another. WWII reenactment games usually center on warfare, not the Holocaust, for example.
I don't see that being a 'historical event' is much of a mitigating factor. So was 9/11, and I think most people would be quite offended if someone were to make a 'hit the twin towers flight simulator'-type game out of it.
And that would be because of the reasons stated above.
Re:that's not really responsive (Score:4, Interesting)
1) Tens of millions of people were killed in WWII. The sheer number of deaths depersonalizes the victims. (Unfair as that may be)
Arguably, a game that desensitizes participants to the slaughter of thousands of faceless combatants is worse from a moral perspective than one that targets a particular individual. In any case, I have seen games that focus on individuals -- Hitler, for example. And again, the Kennedy assassination is an important piece of history -- I think it would be different with say a game that focused on the murder of Joe Blow from Indiana or whatever.
Time, WWII was two generations ago, the Kennedy murder was one.
I see the point, but who decides when enough time has passed? There are WWII vets alive today who are probably offended by WWII games. Besides, what about games that depict (and even celebrate) the slaughter of vaguely defined swarthy terrorist-types from the middle east? We have wars going on right now that some games portray (with varying degrees of specificity). I think the real difference is that American culture recognizes one as an "enemy" and it's ok to slaughter enemies.
3) Morality. All but the strongest pacificts would agree that killing another armed man in war is one thing and murdering an unarmed civilian is another.
Political assassination, however, is a third case. I think you're right that we shouldn't see games reenacting the gas chambers or Columbine or whatever, but I'm not so sure about an event that involves heads of state (especially when the past 40 years of popular culture have been obsessed with the details of this particular head of state's assassination).
I don't see that being a 'historical event' is much of a mitigating factor.
The problem is actually that you do see being a "video game" as a mitigating factor in the other direction. The fact that this is a historical event is important for the same reason that it is OK to write a biography exposing the sexual escapades of a President while it is not OK to write one exposing those of your next door neighbor. As a public official, his death is a matter of public interest and insofar as there has been intense public speculation about the circumstances of it, well, this is just another form of expression for that speculation. I agree with many that this is in poor taste, but I don't think it's beyond the pale, at least no more so than a documentary about the Kennedy assassination.
So was 9/11, and I think most people would be quite offended if someone were to make a 'hit the twin towers flight simulator'-type game out of it.
They already did -- some company called Microsoft made it - in 2000. As far as a post-911 game like that being offensive -- I think the bigger problem for many people would be the game's use as a training tool. There is no way this game could be used to train for assassination unless you're planning something in Dealy Plaza. But I don't think there would be as much objection to a post-911 game that simulated the collapse of the WTC or the Pentagon in order to cast doubt on the official story -- some sort of physics simulation of the buildings coming down or the Pentagon collapsing that implies that there is no plane or whatever. That's a more apt analogy.
Such a simulation would be too "serious" though; I think the real problem people have with this is that it is billed as "entertainment" rather than "education" or "advocacy," but we've got to recognize that many things are both.
Re:that's not really responsive (Score:3, Interesting)
What about a game like I described above about 911? Or the kinds of games used by the armed forces for training? What about a movie like "Team America," which is obviously meant to be "just entertainment," yet portrays in what some would say is a very offensive way the current US war on terrorism as an igno
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:So, what about... (Score:5, Funny)
No, silly. It's called Sim-Camp. Getting started is easy- just follow the steps below and you'll have your concentration camp up and running in no time.
Step 1 -- Build an Incinerator
Every camp needs an incinerator to dispose of the bodies of its victims. To build an incinerator, click on the Incinerator tool, then click on an empty area of the map. (Note: If the smoke from your incinerator is not animating, the game is probably paused. Choose a game speed to start the smoke animating.)
Step 2 -- Add Zones
Zones are areas that you designate for different kinds of buildings in your compound. The people who will be enslaved in your camp need to live in Residential Zones, work in Industrial Zones, and die in Disposal Zones. Place each zone type on the city map near the incinerator.
Step 3 -- Build Railways
The residents will need some way to arrive in your camp from the rest of the Reich. Place some Railways along the sides of your zones. Now that the zones in your camp have transportation, you should see your death camp slowly come to life. Congratulations! You've created your first concentration camp -- you may now call yourself "Kamp Kommandant!"
Re:Let's see...It's not: (Score:4, Insightful)
While this is recreation of a historical detail for points, it's also recreation of a murder.
I imagine you would be extremely upset if someone created a videogame reenacting the murder of your sister or brother, asking players to try and mimic as perfectly as possible the trajectory of the bullets that exited your loved one's skull.
This isn't a history role-playing game, this is recreation of an actual murder.
There's definately more wrong than right in this. You should be able to see that.
I agree.. sorta (Score:3, Interesting)
I agree completely. And this game could be more than just exploitation if only they allow some depth...
Allow the player to be one of the bo
Re:Whats wrong? (Score:5, Insightful)
Games about WWII: OK.
Games about shoveling the dead naked bodies of Jews into ovens: Not OK.
I guess the point is that some things just go beyond what most people think is appropriate/acceptable/good taste.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Whats wrong? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Whats wrong? (Score:4, Interesting)
I agree that a game portraying Jews thrown in graves would be more offensive but it's also not that far removed from a visit to the Holocaust Museum or the Museum of Tolerance, where the conditions of Jews are recreated in rather direct ways. The difference there of course is that in the museum you play the role of the victim.
It's an interesting question and I'm not sure where I fall on it but I can't say I'm too offended by this, especially given the explanation someone else posted that the videogamemakers want to prove that the Warren Commission hypothesis is not possible. If that's the case, then there is little question that this is a form of political speech and even historical research, poor taste or no.
Re:Whats wrong? (Score:5, Insightful)
More to the point, you get _points_ for drilling JFK just so with your rifle. That's pretty tasteless, and for a president who was liked pretty well (so I'm told) by most of the world, you'd think they could stay away from that...
-Erwos
Re:Whats wrong? (Score:4, Insightful)
I would be more inclined to draw the moral line at the shooting of defenseless people, if I were going to draw one.
Re:Whats wrong? (Score:2)
The primary difference here is that you are the one doing the "killing." All of a sudden it is interactive and YOU are making the choice to assasinate the President, regardless of the fact that it is still a video game. When watching a documentary about it on the History Channel your motives are hopefully a little better than getting pleasure out of seeing JF
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I'm suprised to be agreeing.. (Score:2, Funny)
Oh my god! They killed JFK! (Score:4, Interesting)
Seriously, tho, WTF?! Is this a way to commemorate what is reportedly (I wasn't born at the time, so I can't speak for it) a very sad day in US history?
Or is this just a thinly vieled cover for the "Shrubya" skin that will be showing up on 0-day sites shortly after release?
Re:Oh my god! They killed JFK! (Score:4, Interesting)
That may be why they are doing it.
How would that be at all valid? (Score:3, Interesting)
However all in all it's not relivant since a desktop computer can't accurately simulate reality. However they designed this game, they are making shortcut assumptions, simplified physics, and so on. It
Well... (Score:5, Funny)
Awww.... (Score:5, Funny)
Warren Commision. (Score:5, Informative)
If you can, they offer a $100,000 reward. [jfkreloaded.com] Sounds like it's bot time to me...
Re:Warren Commision. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Warren Commision. (Score:3, Interesting)
The shot that baffles people is the one before, where it enters JFK's back, then travels into the Governor, and ends up in the Governor's leg. A path a lot of experts say is impossible. Yet, on this new Discovery Channel re-enactment, they pretty much recreated the shot, and got pretty much the same results.......
how about a simulation of (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:how about a simulation of (Score:2)
Heh... (Score:2, Insightful)
Oswald. (Score:5, Funny)
My question is... (Score:5, Funny)
I get to shoot one guy, four times? If that costs $10 bucks, I owe Bungie about 180 billion dollars.
'It is despicable,' (Score:3, Insightful)
But thats in the past and doesn't matter.
Re:'It is despicable,' (Score:2, Informative)
Just like Teddy.
Re:'It is despicable,' (Score:3, Informative)
Well, that's pretty much off the topic--so what? That doesn't change the fact that what he's saying is correct.
But if we're merely trading partisan barbs, it is fascinating how many prominent politicians are guilty of drunk [thesmokinggun.com] driving [thesmokinggun.com] and vehicular manslaughter [usatoday.com].
weeeee (Score:5, Funny)
Nintendo Power Classified Information (Score:4, Funny)
even tasteless chuckleheads deserve entertainment (Score:2, Informative)
Turnabout is fair play... (Score:4, Insightful)
The last I checked... (Score:2, Insightful)
I live in a free country. Namely, America. (Yes, I realize a significant number of /. readers do not, sometimes I wish I was among that number...) We have freedom of speech and expression the last I heard. If you think the game is in poor taste, by all means, do not buy or play it. To me, it just doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun, but I could care less about the subject matter.
Why is there not this outcry against Call of Duty, when it recreates the tragic deaths of millions during WWII? Is a historical
Re:The last I checked... (Score:5, Insightful)
Those freedoms apply to the brothers of assassinated presidents too, yes?
seems boring. (Score:5, Interesting)
so, you only get to aim and shoot. sounds quite boring, and doesn't really offer anything for the conspiracy heads either, as the conspiracy and plot is already played out with oswald as the shooter. now if you would be able to reconstruct the happenings in different ways, like placing the shooter at different locations or using multiple shooters.
Too Soon? (Score:4, Insightful)
Couple thoughts. (Score:4, Insightful)
Second, Could this be to prove that the 3 bullets didnt come from the same gun? No matter what you do, you can't recreate the assignation since the bullets come from different directions?
I thought it was proved when the home movie was finally released showing the driver getting hit, that there was a 2nd gunman.
Or is that damn Magic bullet bullshit true? Bounces around like ping pong ball. Hey, even snopes.com doesnt explain that urban legend.
Re:Couple thoughts. (Score:5, Interesting)
The History Channel (IIRC) just ran a special about that last week. A team set out to prove or disprove the single bullet theory. They constructed two very realistic torsos, placed them the way Kennedy and Connally were seated and oriented in the car, and fired a bullet exactly like Oswald used from a rifle just like Oswald's from Oswald's relative position to the limo.
The result? They almost got a single bullet to produce all the wounds. The only difference was they broke an extra rib in "Connally's" torso-- that deformed the bullet more than apparently happened in the real assassination, and took away the energy it needed to penetrate a block of gel meant to represent Connally's thigh-- it just bounced off, instead. I thought the single bullet theory was a bunch of shit, but after seeing their recreation it certainly seems plausible.
The show was fascinating, and I'm sure it will see another airing or two this week for anybody who's interested. I think it was "Investigating History," and if so then it's on tonight (Monday night 11/22) at 10PM ET.
~Philly
Unsolved History: JFK - Beyond the Magic Bullet (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Couple thoughts. (Score:4, Insightful)
(I wouldn't. In fact, I'm going to go burn a U.S. flag now, because the flag symbolizes the freedom to do just that. :)
--
other shooters (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't like that it only allows you to be oswald though. It would be much more intresting if you could also try it in the multiple shooter scenario. if this were an option, the game would be much more likely to "undermine the theory there was some shadowy plot behind the assassination" as the developer claims its purpose is.
Change history... (Score:5, Funny)
Multiplayer Sequel (Score:4, Funny)
For a more tasteful take, try XIII (Score:4, Informative)
Coming soon from the same developer... (Score:5, Funny)
You'll throw the switch on an electric chair holding a convicted baby-butchering doctor in this educational look at both sides of the abortion debate. Learn all about electric current, too.
Take Dat, Bitch!
Use a crowbar on a conniving hooker before the jury rejects her opportunistic criminal complaint against you. The game has been designed to debunk phony assault charges; after all, she's a hooker.
Voterator
Install and, with the help of a bottle of Windex and a micro-fiber cloth, debug the latest U.S. touchscreen polling machines. Can a vote here or there go awry? Find out when your candidate enjoys late surges in the opposition's key districts!
Firefox RSS feed Live Bookmark misleading (Score:5, Funny)
The latest Flash ad (Score:3, Funny)
Question (Score:3, Funny)
Enjoy (Score:5, Funny)
If you RTFWS (Score:5, Informative)
Why stop there? (Score:5, Insightful)
MS Flight Sim (Score:3, Insightful)
It's called "Microsoft Flight Simulator" and it's been around since the 1980s...
This is a shocking game. (Score:3, Interesting)
Damn Conspiracy theorists... (Score:5, Funny)
The most despicable thing (Score:3, Interesting)
If I was Sen. Edward Kennedy, I'd find this game less tasteless compared to a lack of answers and justice.
Of course, if I saw the game sold in a store, I'd reconsider ever purchasing from them again. Thourougly tasteless and disrepectful, regardless of whatever you might happen to think of JFK.
Re:The most despicable thing (Score:3, Insightful)
Dont give this trash publicity (Score:4, Insightful)
Seriously, there are some fantastic games out at the moment, Half Life 2, Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, maybe Pirates will be good even *cough plug* my own Starship Tycoon
Its always pretty depressing to see that you can get a million dollars worth of advertising just by ensuring your game is sick and tasteless.
Lets treat trash like this the way it deserves, and ignore it completely. there are plenty more worthy pieces of entertainmemnt out there that could be covered instead.
What!!!!????? (Score:3, Funny)
New theories for JFK tinfoilers (Score:4, Funny)
"The killer grenade jumped the parade, and bunny hopped across to a grassy knoll where it spray pained a clan logo before shouting 'j1h4d l0l rotflmao gg' and then using an aimbot to assassinate JFK.... the final words of the killer before police emptied the munitions budget of a small state into him was: k1ll4h dropped - connection reset by peer"
Games.
Killing USA:s president is trivial, but... (Score:4, Insightful)
[Trivial, with money and manpower inside united states, and with some time for preparitions.]
Quicklist:
Someone inside does it with poison or something: blackmail, bribe, personal hate towards president etc...
Longrange rifles and explosive bullets 2 kilometers away from target...
Mortars 8 kilometers away from target... Best would be if you could get enough firepower to take down a building, if not then in the street right in front of it.
Bazooka trough a wall...
Burry explosives before hand to a location you know president will be at sometime future....
Best location would be a large bridge. Feed the sharks below the bridge before hand just to make sure...
Navy/airforce insiders... Well get missile, zero it to a building where president is. Hit the fire button. Or better yet. Use insiders to get it from armory, deliver it withing its range to the president and then fire it at the target...
Now none of the tricks are something you could get AWAY with actually, so there has to be something more important than persons own life for a motive to do it. Doing it isn't going to make anything better, you just get another dumb polition that does same mistakes, perhaps few additional mistakes os it won't solve a thing.
An appropriate time for the quote: (Score:3, Insightful)
Besides... if both guns and games were banned, which do you think would've been more likely to save Kennedy?
Serious simulation (Score:3, Insightful)
While I appreciate that this must be painful for some of the family--as, most likely, are the periodic rehashing of the event in the news and documentary media--I see this as another part of the loss of privacy that is part of the price of leadership. The assassination of President Kennedy is one of the pivotal events of modern history. It is also uniquely controversial. What really happened is still being hotly debated decades later. Nobody seriously questions, for example, whether it was possible for a beginning pilot to fly a plane into the WTC, yet there are many people who believe passionately that Oswald could not have made the shots as described.
This project appears to be a serious attempt at interactive history, allowing people to investigate for themselves the plausibility of the "official" version of events. This is a unique way to breathe life into history; I hope we see more serious simulations of this nature
Re:If it were a different president (Score:3, Informative)
Re:"They Hate Us For Our Freedom!" (Score:3, Insightful)
When does freedom of speech = freedom to threaten another human life? Do you think someone has the right to make a video game about killing you personally? What about someone you love?
Would you suggest that a society where threats on life are accepted and protected, would in fact be more free? That sort of system of intimidation would only sacrafice our freedom to those who have the greatest ability to end our lives.
Lets say some very rich and powerful person were to threaten the life of th
Who are "the people"? (Score:3, Insightful)