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War (Games) are Hell and so are the Ads

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the beyond-the-boundary-of-taste dept.

An anonymous reader writes "As the clock ticks down for ShellShock: Nam' 67 we find out that the press releases are as controversial as the game. RedassedBaboon quotes several of the email press releases that seem to brag about the joys of killing and fun of having sex with a base camp mama san. My favorite obnoxious and mostly non-sensical email quote: 'You'll always remember your first kill. And in ShellShock: Nam'67 you'll definitely get more than just one.' The article goes on to point out how this behind the screens publicity push runs contrary to the public face of the game - which is supposed to depict the real horrors of war. The article ends with this thought: 'I can't imagine Coppola or Stone sending out exhuberent messages to the national press about how fun it was going to be to catch a wave off the coast of Vietnam in Apocalypse Now or how sexy Platoon's mama sans are. Before the gaming industry can be taken seriously by the world, it has to be taken seriously by itself.' How very true."

2 of 111 comments (clear)

  1. Seriously? by ioslipstream · · Score: 0, Troll

    "Before the gaming industry can be taken seriously"

    Games taken seriously? Gimme a break. Why would you want that? Lighten up, games are escapism.

  2. The content is nothing new. The realism is. by huchida · · Score: 0, Troll

    There have been plenty of games about 'Nam in the past-- Platoon on the NES, Nam 1975, etc... But it's hard to get riled up over 8-bit sprites. Now that games are much more immersing and realistic, they also run the risk of being unsettling if they don't handle

    Two games that come a little close to crossing the line IMO are Black Hawk Down and the upcoming S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

    For the one or two who aren't aware, in the former, you're a U.S. soldier in Somalia defending villages and U.N. caravans from warlords. Maybe I'm touchy about race, but something just isn't right about the context-- too recent?-- and the fact that all of your enemies are black. It just feels... wrong.

    S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is another I'm not sure about... A fps where you're fighting monsters who grew out of the radiation in Chernobyl. Considering the hundreds of thousands who were affected in horrible ways by the accident-- which wasn't that long ago-- this on e also feels a little... wrong.

    But I'll still play them if they're good games. And I really don't know what the answer is. I like a game that feels realistic, but I have the feeling if they made games that emulated completely what it's like to go to war they'd be miserable and unplayable. The first rule would have to be no saved games, no do-overs, no medic kits-- when you get shot, you're crippled or dead. And that wouldn't be much fun at all...