Six Days in Fallujah: The Big Game-Controversy

Video games are basically for fun and entertainment, but some seem to get carried away and go a little too far.

One such recent game is “Six Days in Fallujah” that ended up in controversies, and led to a massive public uproar. On April 27, 2009, Konami suspended its role as its publisher. Although the game is still in development by Atomic games, but Konami will not be publishing it anymore.

Criticism

Not long after the announcement of the game, Six Days in Fallujah got buried with criticism by war veterans from the UK as well as a UK peace group, Stop the War Coalition.

Reg Keys, father of slain Red Caps Lance Corporal Thomas Keys, said:

“Considering the enormous loss of life in the Iraq War, glorifying it in a video game demonstrates very poor judgment and bad taste…

These horrific events should be confined to the annals of history, not trivialized and rendered for thrill-seekers to play out…

It’s entirely possible that Muslim families will buy the game, and for them it may prove particularly harrowing. Even worse, it could end up in the hands of a fanatical young Muslim and incite him to consider some form of retaliation or retribution.”

On asking if he would oppose the release of the game, Tim Collins, a former lieutenant colonel of the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Regiment, shared a similar comment:

“It’s much too soon to start making video games about a war that’s still going on, and an extremely flippant response to one of the most important events in modern history. It’s particularly insensitive given what happened in Fallujah, and I will certainly oppose the release of this game.”

Many people felt that the war of blood carried out by the US and British forces in Fallujah in 2004 have been amongst the worst of the war crimes carried out immorally. If you look at it, to make a game out of a war crime and to capitalize on the death and injury of thousands, might not be acceptable.

Said, a representative from the UK peace group:

“Any massacre should be remembered with shame and horror not glamorized and glossed over for entertainment.”

This multi and single user game runs on platforms – Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Microsoft Windows. Atomic Games said that the game’s environments are 100% destructible and degradable thanks to a completely custom rendering engine. They are still hopeful it will still be released under another publisher. That is yet to be seen.

(Source: GameStop)

(Image Credits: GameStop)