It has been said that war games trivialize real war, reducing it to spectacle and throwaway entertainment. No different from the mainstream news, really, but it's videogames that are the scapegoat because, well, they're videogames. In preparation for its release, an advisor for Call of Duty 4 pre-emptively denied claims that videogames cheapen war.
“I think it draws some awareness to the issue, and in the case of World War II games, I think it taught history," said Hank Keirsey, a military veteran and advisor for the Call of Duty series. “There are kids who would never have any interest in what their great-grandfathers did before they died, but they’re compelled to get on the phone and say, ‘Dad or granddad or great-granddad, I just played this game. I’ve talked to my mom and she said you were in that fight somewhere. What weapon did you carry? A Thompson?'”
He makes a good point. I myself have been educated in history and gained new worldly interests thanks to games in the past. Of course, with Infinity Ward's latest being brought from the World War II era into a modern age, expect to have such ideals ignored should people bemoan games cheapening the so-called "plight" of men and women who willingly signed up to do the job they're doing -- because a soldier actually fighting is just such an unheard of, insane thing.
I only have one question -- how could a videogame or, indeed, anything, trivialize war as much as war trivializes itself?
Contest:
7:02 PM on 11.05.2007
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Any time a soldier can come back from a hard day of wearing body armor and carrying around a weapon and play a war game, I'd consider that a wholehearted endorsement of the genre.
Actually, you can learn lots of history, depending on the game. I used to spend a lot of time in the Civilopedia and the Age of Empires in game database.
Call of Duty doesn't treat the subject with disrespect, so I don't see why people would get upset.
Did Bioshock cheapen the plight of Splicers?
Did Psychonauts cheapen the plight of super powered secret agents?
Did Halo cheapen the plight of super soldiers with shiny faces?
Hollah.
AMERICA.. FUCK YEAH!
do you mean massive online deathmatches to settle territorial disputes? because that would be pretty cool, except for all the racial slurs and whatnot.
I think I need a bigger shovel.
Still, if we could make video games a worldwide thing ie. not just first-world countries and some others, I think it could be a good replacement for when diplomacy can't solve it. =p
"Hitler on a giant robot spider."
Anyway, I guess you summed that up in your last question there Jim, but I think it's helpful to actually spell it out. Good call.
CoD4 or any other "war game" out there doesn't cheapen what I've done, or what my brothers and sisters are doing out there now. Games != real life, no matter what some crazy soccer moms or sensationalist news reporters think.
When I played the beta, I was actually amazed. The game is remarkably accurate. The scenery is realistic. It looks like actual places my boots stomped across.
If anything, CoD4 is a tribute. And yes, I'm buying the game. Hit me up on live: Pawn45.
And to all of you who did comment here, such as Pawn45 and fantomfreq, I’d like to give you all a shout-out and a sincere note of thanks for your service. I’m certainly not up to it, but I’m glad someone is.