If you talk to me regularly, you probably know that I'm a big fan of NPR and listen almost every day. You should too, particularly because they've been seriously discussing video games more and more in the past few months. Yesterday's episode Morning Edition had a great series of interviews with people on both sides of the Six Days in Fallujah drama, and, regardless of your position on the whole controversy, it makes for a very interesting listen.
In typical NPR fashion, they actually find people who know what they're talking about (developers, other gamemakers, parents of dead soldiers, etc.) and there are some compelling arguments made by both groups. Additionally, it appears they actually got some hands-on time with the game, or at least got a walkthrough, so at the very least it's worth listening to just to find out a little more information about Six Days. I also found the comments on NPR's site to be interesting as well, both because they're not full of trolls and idiots, and because there are people who aren't terribly familiar with video games actually bringing up very interesting points.
While I personally don't believe that the game should be pulled, these interviews definitely gave me a bit more insight into how difficult and traumatizing the development, and particularly the marketing, of this game can be to people who actually lost loved ones in Fallujah. If anything, no matter whether you believe the game should be published or cancelled, this piece will make you think a bit.
Does this piece make you rethink your positions at all? Where do you stand on the whole thing? Are there some things that shouldn't be made into games simply out of respect for other people, or is this just a well-intentioned but misguided attempt at unnecessary censorship?
Contest:
7:00 AM on 07.29.2009
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I don't think most game writers are up to the standard of producing a Generation Kill/Evan Wright-type game. THAT'S what a real documentary game would be like. Here, they picked an 'action' moment over anything else, because after all it's just a game. I mean who can forget the Vietnam game craze a while back? Did anybody ever think that any of these games, while in production, were ever going to be worthy of the subject matter? No, of course not. They were all based around objective gameplay.
Hell, Suda 51's Michigan: Report From Hell was more of a documentary game than this will ever be...and that was mostly a game that involved you filming up the skirts of reporters.
I'd like to be proved wrong though.
Also, it's funny how it's mostly the surviving family members who speak out against it. You'd think the soldiers who actually went through that hellish battle would have a little more say in the matter. Maybe they'll want this under-covered story to get out in the open? Maybe it could even help them to gradually overcome any post-traumatic stress they still have from it (games have been used successfully with PTSD treatment before).
Nice how they mention Darfur is Dying though, one of the prime examples of a biased and almost propagandic game of the current age. It was not bad enough for the American UN representative to destroy a nearly passed resolution on Darfur by calling it genocide (which everyone in the UN knew would mean the resolution would fail and the situation would just continue for another year or more); they had to put it in an MTV sponsored game too.
At least Six Days in Fallujah appears to go for an objective viewpoint. Now we can only hope for A) its release, B) it won't be like the History Channel games and C) DJ Shadow does the theme song ;)
If it was called 'A Few Days In A Durka-Durka' it would have been released without scrutiny, THEN they could have said 'Then moment before release they could have hinted that is was entirely based on Fallujah. They shot their muck too early and fucked up the spin. GG
Oh, and cocks.
I can't even think what it would take to lift the ban on NPR, but I'd take the fucking Pepsi Challenge with any NPR-listener and the knowing of facts.
So yeah, fuck NPR and go play some fucking games.
Certain people on this site really try my patience.
When asking if this game is offensive, should we also ask if WW2 veterans are offended by Call of Duty? Or if people who will be born in 2500 are offended by Halo?
Uh, yeah, he is.
And while I understand that the families don't want this game released because they lost somebody that went there, I just have to wonder how this is any different than Full Spectrum Warrior, which is sponsored by none other than THE UNITED STATES ARMY. It takes place in Iraq, and is even used to help vets recover from post-traumatic stress disorder. Seriously though, if that game got released, then so should this one. It really is as simple as that. Hell, it even had a sequel.
Fuck me? Nah, fuck you. I didn't say a thing about race. You did. Those who wear a turban or something similar gets a bullet in the head, virtually of course. I care not for your color pigmentation. If saying "towel head" really tries your patience, guess you really weren't patient to begin with.
Don't try to get semantic and act like your comments aren't horrendously bigoted. There's no need for that sort of nonsense here. This is a post regarding intelligent, balanced discourse. Come back when you have an appreciation for either of those qualities.
Bioshock was the last game, to throw my brain into gear, in such an effective way, that I'd be playing back Ryan's views and questions in my head. While Bioshock is pure fantasy, the messages it tries to send are no less powerful, because of their setting.
I think if given a chance, Six Days in Fallujah, could do this same thing, but in a real world setting, in a conflict that is still ongoing. It might seem in poor taste to some, but the world doesn't stop spinning so we can take a breathe. Now is a good time to take a brave step for games as a medium and get this game to shelves.
During the times of past wars, such as the Crimean war, art was used in this same way, to raise awareness and ask the vital questions, of those who would never experience war or would otherwise ignore it and the reasons for it. During the Vietnam war, music was the main vehicle to reach the people in the same way. So, why not a game? A game, can be enjoyed as much as music or a book, while still carrying a message to people.
NPR Radio are pretty good, I just wish when they done these features, that they'd be longer.
I don't see movies being pulled because of an Iraqi war plot...But there isn't another medium that could convey 'being there' like video games can offer. I think if it looks at the subject in a serious and thoughtful manner I can't see why this couldn't be a watershed moment for video games. While the video game about Columbine was detested by many, it dealt with the subject seriously, and wasn't used as a chance to cash in on the blood of others. I would hope that 'Six Days' would treat the subject in a very serious and thoughtful manner. I'll post my thoughts after I check the link.
I can understand the objections of some, who've never played a game and/or have lost someone in this conflict, and no game will ease their pain. However, I think its important for all to look at the big picture and have this subject raised.
Go Atomic, Go!
Go baby, go.
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