When Does It Become OK To Make Games About a War?

The cancellation of Six Days in Fallujah seems to have stirred up almost as much debate as its original announcement. Given the popularity of World War II games, it seems clear that the main concern about a game focusing on modern war events relates to how recently they happened. Kotaku takes a look at some of the obstacles such a game would need to overcome to achieve broad acceptance. "When approaching a game that realistically depicts a modern combat situation, one criticism that often arises is the subject of fun. Can a realistic military shooter be fun? According to Ian Bogost, that's the wrong question to ask. 'We use the word fun as a placeholder, when we don't even really know what we mean when we look for some sort of enjoyment in a serious experience,' he said. Fun and entertainment aren't mutually exclusive, especially when it comes to entertainment based on real-world military conflicts. As Bogost explains, fun isn't the key word in this situation. 'It may not be possible to make a realistic war game that is fun — war is not fun — but it is possible to create an experience that is informative, appealing, and startling in a positive way.'"

Comments

Re:Try this. Make a GERMAN war game

[Hognoxious]

How would a GERMAN point of view in a war game be like.

Well for one thing, there won't be many jokes.

Exactly 22.3 years after.

[HansWurst]

n/t

Re:Not even going to RTFA

[dougisfunny]

It's too much effort because American Idol is on.

Re:This is the politically correct version

[afabbro]

Talk to some real germans soldiers when they are willing to let their guard down.

You better be quick about it, since the youngest ones are in their 80s now.