Vietnam - A Belated Gaming Invasion?

Thanks to the New York Times for its article (free reg. req.) discussing the plethora of recent videogames based on the Vietnam War. The piece notes: "Before the year is out, the game industry will have released five major titles involving a conflict that it has largely ignored for nearly two decades", and muses: "World War II games have in principle been simple to design. But because Vietnam changed the rules of engagement, the virtual battles had to be chaotic and the goals less clear." The article ends with a quote from one of the creators of Shellshock: Nam '67, arguing: "With video games, I think you can be more neutral. You can say, this is the environment. Go and experience what it was like and then come up with your own verdict of what you think of war."

Comments

Credit where credit is due..

[Migrant Programmer]

SEAL Team was a pretty groundbreaking game set in Vietnam, all the way back in 1993!

It was a realistic depiction of Vietnam too, because it was frickin' hard and I always died.