Historical FPS games

[S.T.A.R.S. Armourer]

I disagree with it being tasteless and insensitive, but it's the right of the people to voice their opionon and the right of the game developers to decide to cease production...So be it.

The truth is, someone could have just titled the same game as "Firefight in downtown XYZistan", billed it as fictional, and no one would have a problem with it.

Now, if the lead character was a Jihadist, and your gameplay involved sniping Marines and beheading girls who dare to go to school, I would call THAT tasteless. A game in which US forces fight real bad guys, is in principal, the same no matter what war it might happen to be, to me.

One about 1776 can be no different than one set yesterday, aside from the fact there are no veterans, peace groups, family members, etc who are still alive to protest it.

Either way, like I said above, I don't see it being a company FORCED to stop production, I see it as a company deciding not to do something they knew made people upset. Any griping should be directed to Konami as well as those who piped up. It would have been their right to complete the game if they chose to do so.

[1911A1Bob]

The only FPS I've had a chance to play extensively is MoH for the PC. I enjoyed it, but honestly never gave a thought that a veteran might find it offensive.

[CavWarrior]

Now, if the lead character was a Jihadist, and your gameplay involved sniping Marines and beheading girls who dare to go to school, I would call THAT tasteless. A game in which US forces fight real bad guys, is in principal, the same no matter what war it might happen to be, to me.

Funny you should mention that. The Iraqis had a game, imported from Saudi Arabia, depicting "Freedom Fighters" attacking and killing US soldiers.

Of course people have the right to voice their opinion, and of course the devolopers have the right to pull the game. I think it's cowardice on the devlopers part though to bow to the pressure of a small group of people. Hopefully, someone else will pick up the game and publish it.

[Cyberdude78]

Then there was also that game where you got to assassinate JFK. Having played it out of curiosity once I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I'm a history geek so I appreciated it for that much, but at the same time it didn't feel right to kill the President like that.

[SGT.Wincal]

One about 1776 can be no different than one set yesterday,

I'd play that... it could be a combo FPS and hand-to-hand game!!

[LunarHunter]

I tend to think it also depends on the person watching it. My father, for example, is a veteran of the Korean War. Sadly this was during the Vietnam War when the Korean War became a police action and then the "Forgotten War". Regardless, I know he's killed his share of men but he won't talk about the experience. My dad usually doesn't let things bother him so I know that his experiences upset him. Still, he LOVES FPS's like CoD and MoH.

My Uncle on the other hand was in Vietnam and I would NEVER play one of those games around him because his experiences were so traumatic for him. Nor would my dad. (My uncle actually signed up for a second tour of Vietnam to prevent my dad from going. This was back when you had to sign a release form to let your relatives into a war zone if you were already there to prevent multiple brothers from being killed a the same time and wiping out a bloodline.)

My dad said something interesting to me and hopefully I'll never have to experience it myself. He said that no matter how realistic the graphics get, how awesome the gaming physics become there is one thing that they will never be able to replicate: The smell of death.

[CavWarrior]

One about 1776 can be no different than one set yesterday, aside from the fact there are no veterans, peace groups, family members, etc who are still alive to protest it.

That depends wholly on the individuals experience. The nearer to ones experience it is, the harder it is to grasp. Take movies for example. I can watch WW2 movies with little to no trouble (though some scenes can stir memories), yet I can't watch anything dealing with my own experience in the ME. It's too close. Same with the games.

My dad said something interesting to me and hopefully I'll never have to experience it myself. He said that no matter how realistic the graphics get, how awesome the gaming physics become there is one thing that they will never be able to replicate: The smell of death.

The smells are...unique, I guess you could say. To this day I can't and won't fire up my grill. The smells remind me too much of burning bodies. There are other smells also. Burning rubber and wood, gunpwder, feces and urine, blood....We used to take a pre-mission dump to make sure we wouldn't shit ourselves outside the wire. Even then it happened to everyone at least once. I truly pitied the Fillipinos that staffed the laundry point, especially after a big mission like Najaf or Sadr City. They would wear surgical gloves and masks when sorting our clothing.

[Tron]

Then there was also that game where you got to assassinate JFK. Having played it out of curiosity once I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I'm a history geek so I appreciated it for that much, but at the same time it didn't feel right to kill the President like that.

Yeah, the developers said it's physics were accurate, and that the point was to get as close to Ruby's shots as possible, to see if it was really possible for him to be shot like that....but um...you're still shooting the best president of the 20th century in the head with a high-powered rifle. Pretty fucked up...because it actually happened...just like that. No artistic liberties, or unfamiliar stranger for a target.
I think the JFK Assassination game was different in this way.

[SGT.Wincal]

The smells are...unique, I guess you could say. To this day I can't and won't fire up my grill. The smells remind me too much of burning bodies. There are other smells also. Burning rubber and wood, gunpwder, feces and urine, blood....

::shudder:: Brings back some bad memories.

another intersting thing I have discovered, traffic accidents have a similar smell to them as well... and its almost like you can tell how bad the accident is just by the smell... its weird.

[CavWarrior]

I imagine the carnage is pretty similar. I still vividly remember running up on a bus full of Republican Guard after they thought they could shoot it out with an Abrams. Fucking crispy critters and body parts strewn all over. The smell was Godawful. Of all the things I saw in the sandbox, that's the one that nearly made me physically ill.