My recent blog entry has been removed by Gamespot for "sexually explicit content," and stripped of my moderator status. I am protesting its removal, though not the removal of my moderator status. For those of you that had the opportunity to read the entry, I was hoping to get your feedback about this decision. Was it inappropriate for the 13+ demographic of Gamespot?

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Boz

Six Days in Fallujah is a video game under development by Atomic Games that was to be published by Konami, but recently withdrew under pressure from critics. It is a depiction of six of the most violent days of Operation Phantom Fury, a joint US-Iraqi offensive into the city of Fallujah, which was then under the control of Iraqi insurgents. The title was slated for release in 2010.

Six Days in Fallujah got plenty of (press coverage). Gold Star Families Speak Out, whose members are families of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, criticized the game immediately after blogs wrote about it. "The war is not a game and neither was the Battle of Fallujah," the group said in a statement. "For Konami and Atomic Games to minimize the reality of an ongoing war and at the same time profit off the deaths of people close to us by making it 'entertaining' is despicable." - Businessweek, April 28, 2009

I have not seen Six Days in Fallujah. According to reports, neither have Gold Star Families' members or the reporters that were allowed to view the Konami product lineup for the year. All commentary on Six Days in Fallujah outside of those working directly on developing the title is speculation based on third-hand information provided to the press by the firm and involved parties. Nobody has actually played the game itself, yet many pundits have already condemned Six Days in Fallujah. The reaction initially appears reminiscent of the public response to FOX News reporting on the sex scene in Mass Effect, which was barely a sex scene at all if one took a moment to review the material in context.

However, the argument against Six Days in Fallujah differs from the Mass Effect commentary in one important way: The criticism is against its concept rather than its content. Gold Star Families, for example, takes no issue with video games in general portraying historic battles or scenes of war, though its full statement does arguably allude to that opinion. Rather, the "trivializing" a current event so soon after it has transpired by making it into a game. The wounds to the affected families domestically are too fresh to absorb a re-creation of those events in a medium that appears to some to make light of warfare.

Three film documentaries covering Fallujah conflicts received little fanfare. Of course, movies and television are a mature medium and passive, rather than interactive, forms of entertainment. Historical fiction film Schindler's List, for example, was entertaining and profitable, as well as disturbing, engaging, and informative. Video games are still very much considered games by the masses, rather than education tools, art, or a viable method for retelling historic events. Indeed, this interpretation of the public's general view of video games is echoed in the following quote from the Gold Star Families Press Release:

GSFSO member Joanna Polisena, sister of Army Staff Sergeant Edward Carman, Killed in Action in Iraq on April 17, 2004 added "When our loved one's 'health meter' dropped to '0', they didn't get to 'retry' the mission. When they took a bullet, they didn't just get to pick up a health pack and keep 'playing'...they suffered, they cried, they died. We - their parents, siblings, spouses, children and friends - absolutely find it disgusting and repulsive that those so far detached (and clinging to denial of reality) find it so easy to poke fun at such a thing."

The majority of Americans will never take part in War due to the volunteer structure of the US military. Six Days in Fallujah, according to detailed interviews with the developers, seeks to reproduce the conflict in extreme detail and accuracy, and in no manner appears to, "poke fun." Indeed, the developers use the term, "game-amentary" in their discussions with the Wall Street Journal. According to interviews, the developers were seeking to reproduce the incursion in every detail in as unbiased a fashion as possible, interviewing veterans involved, acquiring cIassified photos and images from the events and region, and even speaking with actual insurgents for the sake of having the most comprehensive picture of everything that transpired from every possible viewpoint.

There is no evidence in the descriptions given by Atomic Games that the events regarding the Fallujah conflict would be trivialized in any way. It is widely believed that US Citizens - and particularly youth - are desensitized to tragic events, war, disasters, homicide, and other news covered in the media. If Atomic Games is recreating real events in a medium that educates and engages the populace in real-world events, it should be a positive. Given available information it is somewhat surprising that with input of veterans in the development of the title, direction that Atomic has indicated it has gone, and attention to detail exhibited, that families affected by the Fallujah conflict are not encouraging the developer to complete and publish what should effectively become a documentary of events in an interactive format. In addition, the fact that it might be published so close to the actual events makes its content more relevant to the audience, and therefore may be of more benefit if released sooner rather than later.

If a video game helps people understand what happened and remembers those that fought for their countries in an effective and respectful format, Atomic Games should be given the benefit of the doubt until evidence is presented to indicate otherwise.

Resources

Gold Star Families Press Release
C|Net, Is it too soon for a realistic Iraq War game?
Businessweek, Konami Pulls Out of Fallujah Video Game
Wall Street Journal, Iraq, the Videogame
Wikipedia citations or links are given for context and concept and should not be referenced as facts.

I have been invited - for a trial period - into the ranks of Gamespot's volunteer moderator staff. I'd say more, but I'm not quite sure what it means, either!

"Well, what possible harm could one insane, mutant tentacle do?"