News: When Does It Become OK To Make Games About a War?

[News Bot]

The cancellation of Six Days in Fallujah seems to have stirred up almost as much debate as its original announcement. Given the popularity of World War II games, it seems clear that the main concern about a game focusing on modern war events relates to how recently they happened. Kotaku takes a look at some of the obstacles such a game would need to overcome to achieve broad acceptance. "When approaching a game that realistically depicts a modern combat situation, one criticism that often arises is the subject of fun. Can a realistic military shooter be fun? According to Ian Bogost, that's the wrong question to ask. 'We use the word fun as a placeholder, when we don't even really know what we mean when we look for some sort of enjoyment in a serious experience,' he said. Fun and entertainment aren't mutually exclusive, especially when it comes to entertainment based on real-world military conflicts. As Bogost explains, fun isn't the key word in this situation. 'It may not be possible to make a realistic war game that is fun — war is not fun — but it is possible to create an experience that is informative, appealing, and startling in a positive way.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

[Skateboard T]

If you were to make a game based on a recent real war, wouldn't it be easier to have some similarities and then just adopt the storyline/gameplay.

If trying to make a war game based on a true story, adjust it to be inspired by a true story. It happens in the movies so why can't it translate into the gaming industry!?!

[Ze-Tomb]

Games based of real Recent Wars, the thing with this is that some of the times, it can be bent to bias the war into a COMPLETELY different outcome and then complaints will arise from many many people.

If a game were to be based, loosely or tightly, on a recent war, if anything, you should choose your faction, and what you do form therein WILL change the outcome of the game so that you can't complain that it's biased.

Yes, based on a true stroy would be the easiest thing to get away with, have it loosely based and change a few things for better gameplay.