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A new game based on an infamous battle in the Iraq war is causing outrage
Nothing cuts so close to the bone as dredging up a controversial incident in an unpopular war and turning it into a money-making exercise.
Japanese games publisher Konami, along with developer Atomic Games, has caused a bit of a stir with a new game it is developing called Six Days in Fullujah, based on the famous battle between a US/Iraq coalition and insurgents in 2004.
Most combat war games are either set in wars from long ago, or at least attempt to not be that historically accurate. However, this game was specifically designed with the cooperation of some of the marines involved in the battle – and in some cases, even using said marines likenesses for some the characters in the game.
The UK’s Daily Mail quote a veteran’s father as saying the game “trivialised [the battle] and [the game was] rendered for thrill-seekers”.
Some in the gaming industry counter that if this was another entertainment medium – a book or movie – then there would not be so much fuss. This in turn is countered by critics, who state that this puts the “guns” in the hands of teenagers and they are living almost directly through others who were actually there.
No doubt, there will be a call by some to ban the game, which will in all likelihood not succeed. What it probably will do, like any controversy, fuel sales of the game when it is finally released next year.
