TMCnet News
Iraq war video game sparks outrage(AlArabiya.net (United Arab Emirates) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) The development of a video game that depicts the Falluja battle and the victory of the American military sparked anger amongst activists, veterans, and families of killed soldiers and raised questions about the ethicality of turning a gruesome war into a means of entertainment. Atomic Games first announced launching the controversial Six Days in Fallujah, based on the real life battle that took place in 2004 and was codenamed Operation Phantom Fury, in April 2009. In late June 2010, Atomic Games president Peter Tamte announced that the project is almost complete, yet landing a publisher remains a problem. Only 21 days after the launch of the game was announced, Konami Corporation pulled out of the project as its publisher after public fury and negative press reports. Konami U.S. was reportedly under pressure from the mother company in Japan. The game was first announced in Japan and caused an uproar that Tamte attributed to cultural differences and the fact that the Japanese do not see the Iraq war in the same way as Americans. Critics argued that turning a brutal conflict that left more the 2,000 dead, mostly civilians, to entertainment was both "insensitive" and "inappropriate." Playing, critics argue, is not the right way of addressing serious subject matters especially when loss of human lives is involved. Doing so, they add, would encourage taking critical issues lightly. Human rights activists, families of soldiers who died in this battle or in Iraq in general, as well as Iraq war veterans shared this view. Several gamers even saw the topic unsuitable for a video game. On the other hand, Tamte defended the game as a truthful chronicle of a brave battle in which U.S. soldiers who sacrificed their lives are remembered and honored. The fact that the game focuses on the victories of the American military while ignoring civilian deaths was amongst the main reasons for the backlash that followed the announcement of its launch. According to Tamte, the game does feature innocent civilians and makes a point of highlighting the rules of engagement to show that the Marines did not shoot civilians and only targeted armed insurgents and who classify as "combatants." The game, Tamte added, will therefore be over if the player assuming the role of an American soldier shoots at a civilian. In response to the anger with which the idea of the game was met, Tamte asked the people to look at it from a different perspective, as a portrayal of a horrific situation that would otherwise be unknown to people who have not been through the experience. "Our goal is to give people that insight, of what it's like to be a Marine during that event, what it's like to be a civilian in the city and what it's like to be an insurgent," Tamte told Los Angeles Times. "For us, the challenge was how do you present the horrors of war in a game that is also entertaining." John Choon, senior brand manager at Konami, defended the game before his company's withdrawal and said that the idea first came from the veterans themselves as they wanted to tell their stories and the ordeals they faced in the battlefield. After leaving the project, Konami marketing Vice President Anthony Crouts said the company is not willing to take part in a game that makes people uneasy. "We're not pro-war," he told Wall Street Journal. "We're not trying to make people feel uncomfortable. We just want to bring a compelling entertainment experience. At the end of the day, it's just a game." The game starts with American helicopters bombing Fallujah. A mosque appears in the background and smoke rises from the middle of the city while American soldiers shoot at "insurgents." Atomic Games, one of major video game developers in the United States, is specialized in war games. Its most known productions include Close Combat, World at War, and V for Victory. (Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid). Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company (c) 2010 All rights reserved. Albawaba.com |