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Konami Cuts and Runs From Iraq War Game
Less than a month after the announcement of Six Days in Fallujah , a video game based upon a real-life battle between US Marines and Iraqi insurgents in 2004, Konami has decided that it is too controversial, and abandoned plans to publish the game. The developer, Atomic Games, has not commented on Konami's decision other than to say an announcement will be made soon. Konami told a Japanese newspaper, "After seeing the reaction to the video game in the United States and hearing opinions sent through phone calls and e-mail, we decided several days ago not to sell it." While the game did receive a great deal of criticism, others were optimistic, including several outspoken veterans of the Iraq war. One of the major complaints was that in researching the battle, Atomic Games reportedly interviewed several insurgents. This prompted speculation that the insurgents were compensated for their help, though Atomic later denied that was the case. Konami's decision also may have been influenced by the fact that they seemed to represent it as entertainment, whereas Atomic's president, Peter Tamte, was more hesitant to describe it as "fun." He said, "The words I would use to describe the game — first of all, it's compelling. And another word I use — insight."
Why not just change the name and the story and release it?
We got *this* close to at last having a war game that was even vaguely anything like war. A chance we've avoided that, the crude reality of war should only be depicted in movies, TV shows and documentary, as God intended!
You just got troll'd!
They'll make any number of "Demonic hordes of Hell storm earth bloodly" games but won't publish something that really happened?
Strange.
I think it's certainly an event worth trying to convey. Whether they'd have pulled it off with appropriate levels of gravitas is unknown at this stage and ultimately open to interpretation in any case but it's a shame if people who choose to be offended by the idea alone have caused it to be shut down.
Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
I'm not any kind of gamer, but if you accept that video games are a legitmate form of artistic expression enjoyed by a growing number of people (and you're an idiot if you don't), the idea that interviewing insurgents is somehow sinister is ludicrous. Would it be evil for a filmmaker making a movie about Fallujah to interview people on both sides of the fight?
Plus, I hate to break it to people, but a lot of the guys the Americans were fighting in 2004 and 2005 in the Sunni Triangle were later recruited into the Awakening Movement, which then turned against foreign fighters and our now allies (albeit uneasy ones) with the US military. Enemy of my enemy, shifting alliances, etc.
An executive from Atomic Games, the maker of the unreleased game Six Days in Fallujah was seen handing over the complete source code on a 1.44MB floppy disk to an executive from 3D Realms. Gamers around the world rejoice that this controversial title might yet see the day of light in the latest release from 3D Realms.
Exactly what title that be, we're not authorize to report here.
The army didn't pull it. Konami did.
Some of the comments so far have been total dissapointment that they are not going live. Being a Veteran and understanding how the culture is I could understanding that if they were to set aside a certain amount of the profit to help the families then maybe. There is a big difference in Warcraft, WOW, DOOM III and any of the other gore and blood offerings than using the unfortunate and sad situation these young kids had to endure and the families have to live with this the rest of their lives. This is one that should never have been thought of.
The Navy Motto "IF it ain't broke Fix It" "A day is wasted if you don't learn something new"
In a follow-up press release, Konami states they plan instead to produce a game where you pilot Air Force One in the skies above NYC, performing daring acrobatic feats like "buzz the highly populated pier" and "read all the hats of the tourists at the top of the Chrysler building".
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
If Iraq bombed and invaded America, then Americans who fought back would be terrorists and insurgents.
Because it's set in Africa, and there's black zombies! I saw one attack a white woman, so clearly the zombie was a racist! Honestly, I played through the whole game, and I didn't see anything that seemed racist to me. But I thought it's worth mentioning because it's another recent case of video games that bother some tiny minority of overly sensitive people. They make a big fuss and somehow it gets picked up by the press, which apparently scares away retailers, publishers, parents, and whatever else. I guess my point is that I don't really believe this game could be that bad or offensive. Maybe not quite what Konami is comfortable publishing, but I'll still check it out when it gets published. Or at least wait for a review of the actual game, not just listen to statements from people that are offended by war or that battle or whatever.
I just wanted to say, excellent job on the title of the post. I chuckled.
Yes, I think that this game would be VERY fun. Why hide the damn fact? Yes, I think it would be VERY fun to act as a terrorist and kill U.S. forces, while afterward, it would be VERY fun to play on the U.S. side and kill the terrorists. Why fun? Why should I say its fun to play a video game character that kills Americans? Why the hell not? The strategy and tactics involved in both sides would be interesting, no matter what it's actually meant to depict. In fact, simulating a defeat of the Marines would be quite fun to do, since they obviously won and outgunned their enemies.
Aside from that, killing anything and everything is fun in video games, and that's just how it is. I'll shoot a baby with a rocket launcher, and then get off the PC and go about my peaceful day in real life. It's a fucking game. Hence the name.
Anyone heard of Counterstrike? That game is notorious for being VERY fun, despite the fact that one of the teams has to play the terrorists. Whoever is sensitive to this needs to not play, and stop trying to ruin the time of those who want to play.
This is more ridiculous than the people who protested against Resident Evil 5, a game set in Africa, where (surprise!) a majority of the zombies are black.
I disagree strongly with this. Try playing Rendition. You'll probably find it difficult to not feel disgust at your own actions in the game.
The problem isn't the medium of videogames, it is the presentation of the subject matter within the game. But how are we to know whether the presentation in Six Days In Fallujah approached the subject matter effectively (or not), when outcry from people like you prevent such works from being created?
They gave in to the opinions of people who would have never bought the game anyway and killed it off. Why would they not let the opinions of the fans of the game dictate their next move instead of those of people who will never buy it, no matter what?
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Intending no offense, that strikes me as a sadly superficial analysis. I have been a member of the anti-war crowd since there was an anti-war crowd, and I would amazon preorder this... [do we really have to call it a] game. There are lots of reasons to. They range from taking part in what could well be the creation of a legitimate medium to simply learning about, for better or worse, a defining moment in our national history. Just because I am, and have been, staunchly opposed to this military action does not mean I would not love the opportunity to learn about the things these soldiers have gone through from their perspective.
That said, I would be horribly nervous. I'm imagining settling in for a quiet evening of serious introspection with my 360 until an achievement pops up for 30 headshots with a pistol (bonus for maximum damage with a fragmentation grenade!) The evening ends with my vomiting for half an hour before drinking alone, wondering when 4chan became my last bastion for finding some kind of ethical center for the human race.
Invading armies waging illegal wars of choice don't get to then complain about "rules of war" when the civilian populace starts using guerrilla warfare to resist occupation.
Soldiers are in uniform, vehicles are marked, etc. Basically the soldiers aren't pretending to be part of the populace and launching attacks.
You mean like Minutemen during the Revolutionary War? Those damn terrorists, I mean patriots, I mean...
And then there's the fact that the U.S. has supported un-uniformed "illegal combatants" for decades, some of them quite nasty, as long as they were fighting socialists.
. . . for actually having an exit strategy!
I have conflicting feelings about this.
I am all for free speech and I love games that try and tell a story. I get honoring our sons who fight in war with a medium that they enjoy.
In this case, however, I'm wondering if it's the proper time for something like this.
It almost seems tacky to create a game based on the battles of soldiers who are still around and still fighting.
I know that we have world war 2 games and vietnam games, but those conflicts are over with and done with. There are soldiers still over there fighting these battles and maybe that's why i feel this decision by Konami might be on okay thing.
I don't agree with making movies about a war during the time of war, either. I feel there is a time and place, and normally these things should be at least a decade after the conflict has ended.
I know we didn't have that long after vietnam ended, and it seems more and more studios try and push out content based on our wars faster and faster.
I know I don't feel right about this, I think people should be able to come back and have time to heal before being bombarded with war movies and war games based on what they did.