all they have to do is rename the game and all will be fine.

just call it sandbattle or something

I heard theirs an epic minigame where you protest a gay veterans funeral

so.... would a movie be trivializing and minimizing the war wile proffiting off misery as well? or is that just games?

Internet proofs: people are stupid.

@Dyeah: I agree with you, they have every right to feel sad when they think of the loss of their loved ones. The issue is that they have no idea that this game is "trivializing" the war in Iraq, but they were told that by somebody and now they believe it. They're totally misinformed, for the time being.

Ehhh. I don't think its smart. Of course there is going to be a backlash (Konami is probably counting on the publicity) but it does rub me a little the wrong way.

I know, I know I'm traitor to games blah blah. If it makes you feel any better the movies about the current Iraq war rubbed me the wrong way to. Any media outside documentaries imho are not quite kosher. When it comes down to it, for me, videgames and movies are for entertainment and I don't feel comfortable being "entertained" by something still killing people today.

YEAH! Take that, grieving families!

And Jim, you are totally right about them needing to see the game before they judge it.

"Originally I thought this was really disrespectful towards my son who died in Fallujah, until I saw the achievements list."

I bet that will totally happen.

& here I though I was gonna read about Pokémon....

@Chronic:

Whoever said anything about COD, MOH, COH, MOW, DOF and all the other WW2 games 'not' trivializing the war? They are all guilty of trivializing war.

The matter differs now simply because... I dare say... "It's too soon". But don't you, for one minute, think that other games don't trivialize WW2.

Anyone ever see that Generation Kill show? That show's pretty cool.

I also agree with Jack Maverick's first point in that COD4 is one game that essentially addresses the modern Iraq topic successfully due to its general title and plot. In the end, Infinity ward smartly (or safely) made the plot a fictional scenario.

Chronic, sorry to say but your post was difficult to read. Respecting the grieving families of one war does not take away from the sacrifices for other wars.

On a separate point, perhaps a more appropriate argument against the "modern console" FPS portrayal of the WWII wartime medium is maybe that it started rather authentic with the first MOH and COD games and then degenerated into the incorporation of Nazi Zombies. We maybe would all be agreeing on the general point that video games should require good writing and not lazy stereotypes; although it is always fun to kill zombies.

Where were these people when all of the games based on the Gulf War came about? >_>

Jim, your main argument is that the woman is stupid because she assumes there is a health meter in a shooter. That's not necessarily a huge logical leap.

I don't have a problem with this game, but it seems like anyone who does gets ridiculed for having legitimate concerns. People disagree with you, Jim. It happens.

HEY GUYS I AM TALKING VIDEOGAME LANGUAGE I HOPE THEY UNDERSTAND ME

And Jim, your article the other day about the the crap you have to deal with as far as the comments you get on here insulting you was a good read. I can totally empathize with that. But with statements like this one, sometimes you're just asking for it:

"Apparently if your son dies in Iraq, you gain psychic powers like this."

Champion for freedom of speech/expression all you want, but seriously, try to show a modicum of respect at the same time. Do I think Konami should be blocked from making this game or something like that? No, of course not. Do I personally think it is in bad taste? Yes, I do. Like everyone else, I have no idea what the game will actually be like, but I seriously doubt that it will have the same atmosphere, effect, or message while playing it that watching a movie like "Platoon" or a WWI/II/Korea/Vietnam documentary has.

""We question how anyone can trivialize a war that continues to kill and maim members of the military and Iraqi civilians to this day," exaggerates Gold Star Families Speak Out."

I also don't see how any part of this statement is an exaggeration. People are still dying and getting maimed, and this is going to be a GAME. If that's not trivializing it, what is? Of course, I am again assuming about the content, but I think it is safe to assume they will include some aspect of having fun, which I just don't think is appropriate at this point. Just my two (or more) cents.

Kuma War, an episodic game which came out literally right after when the war started.

Do NOT tell the dead soldiers' family members about this game, otherwise they might start raging and die from a heart attack.

WWII wasn't a game, and yet there are plenty of games *about* it. The word vomit continues, it would seem.

There's no flak towards America's Army, a game that apparently encourages interest in fighting wars? And other video-game simulators the Army/etc use.

I know where she's coming from, but her quote is...ergh, it rings on the same level as "(the internet is) a series of tubes" to me. I know you're in pain because of a loved one, but if you're going to speak out, do your homework. I'm at least somewhat certain many of us here would take this person more seriously if she had. ...or at least, she could've worded it differently...

Anyway. I think this isn't poking fun at the ones who have lost their lives, but it could be seen as a kind of honoring. Yes, that's an asspull for the ages, but stay with me, camera guy. I can easily presume that Konami et al are not going to have us cast in the roles of those who died, but giving some sort of "realistic" credit to everyone working on the game, I can see it giving at least some people a renewed or new respect for our troops fighting this war. War is hell no matter when it took place, and what humans can do to each other for the sake of their goals and beliefs is nightmarish plain and simple.

A game may not be the best way to honor the fallen or survivors, but many of us have no idea how things really are. "This is how bad it was for these men" in a way.

Of course, my entire argument is rendered completely null and void if it's not very realistic at all. *cough* I mean, it IS a game. America's Army at least takes you partially out of the game should you fall in combat, but you still don't feel pain or anything, as far as I know. But as this was only just recently announced, I suppose it's a strange waiting game we're all going to be watching for some reason.

I have lurked here for a while now, and decided to register an account because I feel the need to comment on this post.

I love video games. I actually agree with Molyneux - I think that the best story every told will one day be told in a video game. As the genre matures, it will come to be respected as legitimate means of conveying a story - perhaps even the BEST way of telling a story.

We're not there yet.

Frankly, the vast majority of games out there today are just silly, fun ways to pass the time (that isn't necessarily a criticism). There are more mature games out there than the general public is aware of, but when I hear of a new game being released, I feel like it is equally likely (perhaps less likely) to be mature as it is to be mindless entertainment.

I was immediately uneasy when I heard about Six Days. Even as someone who has immense respect for the medium - I would love to earn a living working in this medium one day - I was aware that this subject matter would have to be tread VERY carefully. It is possible that the game will tell a great story that will make players more aware of the Iraq War without trivializing it - it is also possible that it will be pure entertainment, with little to say about current events.

I feel that we have to be more sympathetic to those who have lost loved ones in the Iraq War. They are suffering unimaginable loss, and have just been informed that the war that took their loved ones away from them is going to be represented in a medium that (even among people who have great respect for video games, such as myself) is seen as in its infancy, often producing pure, sometimes mindless, entertainment.

The burden of proof is on the game developers at this point, I'm afraid. I think that those who have lost loved ones in the most painful way should not be given the burden of learning the ins and outs of every new medium that might represent what has cost them so much, to understand whether it will treat the event in a mature or juvenile way. You're really going to accuse someone who has recently lost their brother of being ignorant for not understanding how video games (which she probably cares little about, unlike her brother) have developed in the past 10 years?

Konami needs to approach the army and veterans's organizations. Convince them (and me) that they will cover Fallujah in a mature and respectful manner, and are not just trying to cash in on this humanitarian disaster. I'm hopeful that we'll see a game that teaches us more about what our soldiers (and by extension, their families) are going through. I don't want to see a game that gives us corporate profits and a fun shooter at the cost of pain to our already mourning families of lost soldiers.

@Emrah

We wouldn't be so harsh on them if they would just STFU and stop being such attention whores. I've never see so many people so eager to get their name and comment into the media just so they can bitch and moan about their problems, honestly I don't care. Leave our fucking medium alone, if Konami wants to make a game about IRAQ then fucking let them, how is this any concern to them!? How is it harming them in some way? Konami isn't banging down their door with a gun to their head and forcing them to play it. Nothing but attention whores plain and simple. I have the utmost respect for our soldiers but absolutely zero respect for their families and friends who feel it is necessary to plaster the news of their loss all over the media in the vain of garnering attention to themselves so they can some how look important to their family and peers. "WAHHH I LOST MY BROTHER IN THE IRAQ WAR KONAMI IS EVIL THEY ARE TRIVIALIZING HIS DEATH!" "HEY MAH DID YOU SEE ME ON THE NEWS I TOLD THEM STUPID VIDJA GAMES A THING OR TO!"
STFU AND MOURN IN PRIVATE LIKE NORMAL PEOPLE!

I completely agree with Dyeah and Johnny5. Was the game announced only 2 days ago? Yes. Do the families of those who died in this war have anything specific to be mad about when we haven't even received any concrete details? Probably not. Will Konami pay respect to the heroes of this war when making this game? Hard to tell, but most likely so, especially given this recent controversy.

Does the number of people who have died in this war pale in comparison to those from WWII and Vietnam? Of course it does. But telling that to the families of the dead is not going to make them feel any better. Face it, we're still there, and it's not like WWII, where there was a clearly defined enemy in a war that everyone thought we should be in.

If you don't have a family member who was killed over there, you simply can't understand how they feel. They're probably overreacting, but let 'em cry. They at least deserve that much. The game will get made either way.

@chronoswing

Go back to GameFAQS message boards. They miss you.

@chronoswing:

What the hell man. Stop being such a whiny bitch, just because they don't share your opinion doesn't mean it's automatically wrong. We shouldn't just let Konami do as they please without raising any questions - the result would be a horrible mess.

At the end of the day, Konami is looking to make money from a game about a current war, which evokes (quite rightly) strong emotions in many people - I'm not saying it shouldn't be done, but they'll need to prove they can handle it with taste.

Here is the thing. Books, movies, music... all have had their touching on the Iraq war. Those mediums haven't seen a drop of controversy out of it. I mean fucks sake, World Trade Center was a summer blockbuster.

The issue is games don't get the same kind of freedom. Make a game about Iraq all you want. Just do the cowards route like Call of Duty 4 and name the place "Kalamalekistania" so that nobody gets offended.

It's not a matter of too soon or even trivializing the whole event. It's the perception that video games are still toys. Iraq War toys are available right now... FUCK I digress. Basically whether this game is good or sucks, they've already done one thing right. They've named the area correctly without pussyfooting around the issue, giving you a gentle elbow to the side, and saying "Look, it may LOOK like Iraq but we named this area Irack so it's alright to do this."

I mean what the fuck. We as gamers expect the industry to grow up and tackle tough subject matter but the only politicially related games we can make is "shoe dodging" flash games?