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War Game To Use Troop-Filmed DoD Footage

Posted by simoniker on from the definite-case-of-reality-bites dept.

Thanks to Yahoo!/Hollywood Reporter for the news that a new videogame will incorporate exclusive raw video shot by U.S. troops stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Liberia, and elsewhere. The PC action title, called Kuma:War, launches next February (there are screenshots available via Blue's News), and intends to allow you to "play the news" with a CNN-style filmed introduction to each real-life themed game level - the article explains: "players could get a first-person perspective experience of what it was like to rescue Army Pvt. Jessica Lynch or participate in the raid that killed Uday and Qusay Hussein - staged authentically, right down to such details as the type of grenades that were used in the mission and the exact location of the snipers."

5 of 80 comments (clear)

  1. Make it realistic.. by tprime · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Some sort of forced feedback pain might make it realistic.. Maybe something similar to the video game Bond plays that could electricute. This does seem a little odd though, to take situations where REAL people died and make a profit off of them. Fictional deaths in games, no matter how realistic looking, are OK with me. But when you start acting out the real areas where people died seems to be an insult to the soldiers that died there.

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  2. Jessica Lynch! by metalhed77 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    What a PR stunt for the Army. Jessica Lynch's rescue has been thoroughly discredited by now. (The hospital tryed to return her first, instead the Army ignored them and decided that exploding walls and using flash bangs was the best way to get into the hospital, the alternative being to call them up and ask for her).

    The saddest part is jessica's claim of not remembering anything about the ordeal. I'm sure she was ordered to simply say that. This is a shame, and an insult to the doctors who so cared for her during her stay.

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  3. Re:A new low... by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 2, Interesting
    " And how long before a mod so that you can play as Iraqi soldiers who participated in a raid in which there were U.S. casualties ? My point being, it is all "fun and games" until one takes a different perspective on the situation. Mod me down as flamebait or offtopic if you please."

    Very good point, wish I had mod points for ya. I don't think people would be very happy if someone made a mod where you had to take planes hostage and crash them into buildings (although I have to admit, a mod like that would be very intriguing). Whoops, I'm probably gonna show up on Carnivore or w/e for saying that.

    But anyways, the point is....if you make a game like this that has an inherently political view, someone will mod it, and fight political fire with fire. This game would be begging for it.

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  4. Aside from the moral problems... by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 2, Interesting
    "A subscription component keeps the action up to date with events in the real world (news - Y! TV). The initial PC game, due out in February, will come with eight to 12 missions in a traditional retail package for about $40. After that, players can choose to download an additional mission every week for a monthly fee of about $10."

    Anybody else get outraged at the audacity of that pricing? I'm sorry, I will NOT pay $10 a month for a new fucking level. This isn't even a MMORPG. This would be the equivelant of asking people to pay $10/month for a new mod for halflife or bf1942.

    And what if you signed on after a few missions had been released. Does the $10 entitle you to all the old missions? What if you don't want a certain months mission, do you still have to pay for it? Aside from the fact that charging a large fee for a new mission is insulting and will not work, I think what would stand a better chance is charging a VERY LOW fee, like $1-$2 per new mission. That way you could get the ones you want, and avoid the ones you don't want. But fact is, with every other FPS game out there (that will always be a step above this made-for-marketing crud) giving free updates and levels away fairly frequently, and extensive modding communities, this game won't stand a chance.

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  5. But there's more by metalhed77 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    the govt. refuses to declassify large portions of the lynch rescue taking place. The hospital doctors had attempted to contact the U.S. BEFORE sending the ambulance. Lastly, if I was lynch, I'd be outraged at the amount of lying our government has done so far. Let's also not forget that lynch really didn't do that much. I'm not saying anything bad, but she is not a hero in any conventional sense. She didn't hold any bad guys off till her ammo was out as was said early on. And really didnt' do anything than be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The U.S. army has held her up as a model of courage, when all that really happened was that an unlucky G.I. got in a car crash, got taken as POW, and got busted out in a bizarre case of miscommunication a few weeks later. A hero is proactive, or has to undergo extreme situations. Lynch's situation was a fluke which she passed through essentially in shock. I'm not blaming Lynch at all, she did nothing, but the media is absolutely horrid when they call her a Hero as doing so robs the word of its true meaning.

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