Outrage Over Konami’s New Game ‘Six Days in Fallujah’
April 7, 2009 by srfto
I think we all knew this was coming when Konami announced their upcoming new FPS titled “Six Days in Fallujah” will be based on the current on-going war in Iraq. Already, there have been complaints since the game was first mentioned on April 6. You can check out the announcement here.
The U.K.’s Daily Mail reports complaints about Six Days in Fallujah by the father of a Royal Marine who died in the Iraq War. Reg Keys, whose son Thomas was killed in 2003, 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 trivialised 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…
I will be calling for this game to be banned, if not worldwide then certainly in the UK.
Meanwhile, former colonel Tim Collins OBE, a decorated Iraq War veteran, was equally aghast:
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.
Tech Radar offers withering comments from Tansy Hoskins of Stop The War Coalition, a U.K. peace group:
The massacre carried out by American and British forces in Fallujah in 2004 is amongst the worst of the war crimes carried out in an illegal and immoral war. It is estimated that up to 1,000 civilians died in the bombardment and house to house raids…
The American led assault on Fallujah pretended there were no civilians left in the city [but] over 50,000 people remained in their homes and took the brunt of the violence and chemical weapons…
To make a game out of a war crime and to capitalise on the death and injury of thousands is sick… The massacre in Fallujah should be remembered with shame and horror not glamorized and glossed over for entertainment.
As of now, Konami and Atomic Games will still be going forward with the game, but if any more complaints arise, Konami will be facing some serious protesting soon. Such a big gamble on Konami’s part don’t you think?
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Is Hideo behind this game? It should be a seller despite its controversial theme.
The comment about inciting Muslim retaliation is pathetic. Thousands if not millions of Muslim gamers enjoy playing COD 3 and 4 and most if not all found it to be a good game…
To presume sensitivity is to create tention when there is no need for it!
Atomic Games is the developer; Konami is just publishing it. Neither Kojima nor his studio seem to have any involvement.
those are stupid arguments. Far many have died in every other war and no one complains about the videos games based off of them. Though it might be a little soon since the war is not over, its just a video game. Lastly, Tansy Hoskins is an idiot. If this was really such a massacre the liberal media wouldve been all over it. Go Konami!
Liberal media? WOW!!!
You’d think liberal media would be cool with this game, and by liberal i mean “light up another spliff.”
So… Games that are focused on World War Two and have a section depicting the Allied invasion of Normandy should be banned internationally too, right? I mean, about 5000 men were slain on that day, and it is depicted in all sorts of media. I think Reg’s point is totally valid! /sarcasm
your right, and there were even more who died on DDAy, and why does history have to be censored
I wonder how this will affect EA’s new Medal of Honor game, which is based on Operation Anaconda in Afganistan. Will there be as much outrage for a battle that went the other way?
If they do this game right and have no bull shit gov. involvement, then maybe this game wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Teach some people wtf is going on out there. I had no idea that this instance has ever happened in till now.
There will always be people who are against such things. Even though I do believe they are being overly sensitive, I can understand their point of view. However, this particular project is being done by the grunts who were there as a part of their way of telling their tale.
To me, a video game is the same as a movie or biography. If Stephen Ambrose (RIP) was part of the project, would it curry more favor or is it the fact that it’s a video game that brings people up in arms? What’s the down time between when you can make a game or anything about historical events and not?
Anyways, if I can, I will be supporting this project until it’s completion. War sucks and no one knows it more than the man in the field. The goal of this game isn’t glorifying anything but demonizing the hell that you have to go through in that situation. I wish Konami and co. the best of luck on the project and hope people will give it a fair shake before casting stones.
yeah… cuz WW2 had fewer casualties than this war, it’s entirel…. no, that doesn’t sound right…
This is just good press. This game’s controversy could easily be it’s success.
i wonder if there would be the same outcry if it was a movie?
Can’t wait to see the 9/11 game! I already love Microsoft Flight Simulator!
These arguments debase all of human reason with their inconsistent moral zealotry. They’re sanctimonious, self-gratifying, and they are in no place to comment on the entertainment that we purchase. I’ll bet you lunch that each of them goes home and gets their jollies watching theatrical massacres acted out on the T.V., or worse, watching the six o’clock news.
Worthless
Self important
Hypocrites
Anyway, I’ll be buying the game; I hope it hurts them fiercely.
If you’re going to say that your right to entertainment trumps the perceptions and arguments of people who have lost loved ones in the war, at least be respectful and articulate about it.
Maybe the game is important. Someone make that case reasonably, please, before any more of these coddled children embarrass themselves in front of all of us.
WHAT THE FUCK YRE YOU COMPLAINING ABOUT…
Every American has the right to carry a weapon… –> and now you’re bitching about a video game???
Every American has the right to own a gun provided they meet the legal requirements. Carrying it, however, requires training and a permit.
Hey, this is America. Don’t want to play then don’t freaking buy it! The freaking game ain’t even out yet, already judging it. I feel bad for the lady’s lost, but it’s ignorant people like that makes our great country look backwards.
So what would be the difference from Call Of Duty 4?
Konami change the title to “A war against terrorists” that will make it all better. Honestly then you should ban all the other media (Movies, books) relating to the war because it’s still on going. What a load of rubbish.
“this Should be preserved in the annuls of history?” Where is that may I ask you? a book? those come in fiction too. A movie? those also come in fiction and several have “capitalized” on the war still happening. Video games are the same way, they can have historical relevance and enlighten people as well as entertain. If a game is going to make you feel horrible because you lost someone, Don’t buy it. don’t even consider buying because you’ll drive yourself crazy if that’s all you think about. as stated earlier by Jplack, this can enlighten the masses that otherwise would not know this event happened. I applaud Konami for attempting to bring some light to an otherwise Ignorant society as ours has become. now…if you still want to Ignore all the majorly obvious things wrong in the world in order to scrutinize a game that isn’t even finished yet, feel free. It’s one of your many freedoms you still have in this country of ours. Here’s to hoping it stays that way. =)
If “Six days in Fallujah” was a movie instead of a videogame, both the Daily Mail, Tech Radar and Mr. Collins would be all hyping about it. The usual double-standards, nothing new to see here.
How is it anyone’s right to tell me what types of video games I can or can’t play? These are the same people that were burning Tropic Of Cancer. Just because something makes you a little squeamish doesn’t mean it’s bad. If there really is something wrong with displaying modern questionable conflicts in a more tactile and engrossing way than old media could ever imagine, then the game will fail and the companies will learn their lesson, with or without anyone’s help. I would never buy a game about, say, child molestation, but that doesn’t mean the game shouldn’t be made and it’s creators shouldn’t be able to sell it.
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
I bet this game is based on controversy. I think Konami has seen rockstar’s success with Grand Theft Auto for its controversy, and hype that comes from it. It is purely a stab at contro-dollars if you ask me. I think it WILL sell well, even if it sucks for the most part, (look at GTA) and unless it is less playable than a barbie horseback riding adventure, it will be talked about all over the news and snag interest and defense from gamers across the globe.
Up next: Concentration Camp Commander!
Oh shit – I just compared the US invasion and oppression of Iraq to Hitler. I guess we aren’t that evil – we only did it for the oil and increased military spending. hmmm…
sodade Goodwined the thread. Why is anyone still talking?
You people are retarded. If you think that this game is depicting massacres and brute violence then get a f***ing grip. These are real people that fought a real war, while you P***ys were in your houses protesting a war you know nothing about. I did fight in this war and if you have a problem then F**k you get drunk and go jump off a bridge and let our gene pool advance. get your facts straight before you make lude comments about the military. If you wont stand behind them then feel free to stand in front.
gamernook are asses, using girl gamers to sell and promote.
Those sort of girl gamers are the ones I hate:/
Why not just make a video game like simcity where you can manage your own concentration camp, build gas chambers and try to kill as many people as possible? I’m sure that would be a best seller.
If this game gets more people interested in learning more about Iraq (and the politics that led us up to this point), it would be a VERY good thing. Konami has a huge responsibility on their hands, however.
Enormous loss of life? Its IRAQ, not Normandy.
Jesus Christ…
To me the greatest game in this “genre” is Delta Force: Task Force Dagger. I couldn’t believe that I was playing a video game based on things I was watching on the news just a year earlier.
Games are a means of freedom of expression. I won’t go so far as to say they should be considered art, but they certainly should not be stripped of all creativity.
That being said, I do agree with Tim Collins on this issue. WWII was a MUCH more devastating war to most of the world and yet there are hundreds of games doing the so-called “glorifying” of it.
The game at least offers a change of pace, but it comes too early. Then again, it’s hard to judge when it won’t be too early for the US, as this is the first war we’ve entered since the dawn of video games. (maybe some older folk wanna take a look at that, hmmm!!!??)
My opinion: release it and teach people that games are games and should in no way influence opinions on their real-word counterparts.
As long as there is new media, there will be hypocrites. Television, Radio, and even Books.
This reminds me faintly of a game named “Super Columbine Massicre RPG” — the so called ‘reviewers’ and critics said it was as low as humanity could get. That no human would want to play as the killers of that school.
Not ONE of those reviewers that complained about it played the game. The game was made for people to better understand the psychology of the two men, and what they went through. Sent chills down my spine when they killed themselves, for it showed real images of the sadness of the student body.
My point is that normally, video games are not solely for entertainment purposes. They are for understanding and to tell their story. I will play this game to discover the real story. The one never told by the press.
The truth.
I totally agree up until your last point. While I’m certain there will be some degree of historical accuracy to the game (as much as the developers can reasonably include), I would hardly look to it as your sole means of ascertaining the truth behind what actually happened.
It is not more controversial than other war games. Fact1: People die in wars. Fact2: You can’t keep shielding yourself from fact1. Fact3: this is a game and nobody can really die while playing it. The only possible problem with this sort of game is making it biased to one side of the war. Be objective, and I believe this will be a magnificent game (except for the typical extra drama in Konami games).
and people wonder why republicans have a reputation as heartless?
Just look at these comments! So you think that just because something happened in real life, it makes it okay to have fun ENJOYING it.
Okay if that is true it would be true if it is someone you care for, or don’t care for.
Todays first word-hypocricy!
Which one of you will play a game that you get to see your sister killed by a muslim? OPs was that your mom too? Which one of you would ENJOY watching Jesus get killed? Which of you would ENJOY flying a plane into the twin towers? Sega had to cancel a game because American would be offended by planes flying into builings because WE DID COMPLAIN ABOUT IT. Now it is okay because it’s just Muslims. Now it is ‘STUPID’ to complain, because it is JUST Muslims. Yeah that’s what I thought HYPOCRITES.
Todays second word-sadistic
The word sadistic is enjoying someone else’s suffering. Just like Satan does, hench the word sadistic. Which one of you will enjoy watching your relative die of cancer, come on it’s real right? We can just make a medical game out of it you get extra blood and screams if you break the niddle off in them!
Todays third word-reptilian..ops..republica n
And no I’m not a Muslim. I’m just not a far right wing republican douche bag like you are. Which one of you so called christains would say any of this crap to Jesus? You know who is proud of these things: The evil one, the god this world, The one called satan, and devil, lucifer, beilzabube, the firey colored dragon, the serpent, the one that likes to crawl around on his belly. Yeah that is the one that approves of your attitude, that is the one that made the world a mess. Last time I checked god said woe if he returns and finds you beating your fellow slaves. And to all you lapdogs, that are selling out to him, AND HIS WAYS. I would hope one day you would walk in the way of Jesus.
Ahahah, good funny post, this one. Thanks for the laugh, cornbrain.
By the way, “sadism” is named after the Marquis de Sade, a French writer. You should look him up.
Ohhh it’s so terrible what we did to those poor people that had fair warning to get the f*** out of dodge before a war was fought there. Hmm i think that if I was told that ww3 was going to be fought in my backyard I would have left.
Secondly these Poor people that you have so many warm feelings for were killing each other long before we got there, and we just helped them speed up the process. Before you go start pointing fingers and telling everyone what your thoughts are on a video game remember this you are exercising your right for free speech, and so are they in a different form.
So while your whining and crying for all those people that died i will be reliving my memories from Afghanistan wondering how I could have gotten one or two more. We are fighting a war and there is always collateral damage or did you forget to do your homework? It happends and it’s real life, its already hapend and you can’t change what is already done.
corndog: you make my brain hurt. It saddens me whenever I see that there are people like you in the world.
maybe they should just change the name and don’t say the country the game is taking place in…..it worked for COD4.
Does this mean we can ban the Axis and Allies board game as well? After all, you can play as the Germans, and they killed a few more innocents in WWI & II then the 1000 people in Fallujah who were stupid enough to stay in their homes after being told “Were gonna blow the shit out of your city, get out now”…
Fuck the UK! Ban this, ban that. Those idiot fucks in the UK don’t understand what freedom is.
Honestly, it’s a video game. Why do people seem to think that every form of entertainment has to conform to a flawed blanket of sensitivity just to try and please everyone? Whether or not Kojima has anything to do with this is irrelevant. The fact that these people who are looking for the game to be banned should pull their heads out of their butts and realize that this is a video game. The Call of Duty series was based on an entire World War and it’s one of the most popular games to ever hit the market. Conflict: Desert Storm is another game of similar instance. So the only difference with this is that there is still conflict in Fallujah. Anyone opposing this should just Alt+F4 on their life for real.
Personnaly I don’t think it being a good idea producing a game of an still lasting conflict.
I wonder if any of those remarks were from people who have actually served? Oh that’s right, our opinion doesn’t matter. I can’t speak for the “muslims” dying to kill americans on their video games(Modern Warfare) but if any of these people knew anyone in the military, they would know we play video games over there like the “thrill seekers” over here. And yes the COD series is one of many. Call it “glorifying war crimes” but until you’ve had any experience in this war, aside from your tv’s and computer, shut your mouth.
The man quoted by the UK newspaper saying that a video game would glorify the war, obviously hasn’t played many decent video games. If the rumours are true and Hideo Kojima (The Director of Metal gear Solid series) is directing/designing the game. I have the upmost confidence that he will not “glorify” anything about the war, but actually condem it or raise ethical and philosophical questions about the context of war and humanity itself.
Sorry to rant and rave about this topic, but it gets my goat when some old man who has probably never played a video game in his life, initially believes that video games are all about mindless violence and quick entertainment. The old people whi think like this were born several generations to late to understand the potential impact video games can have on individuals.
Well said my friend. Kojima is my hero… his ideals set into Metal Gear Solid are amazing. Especially since he gives a tranquilizer in every Metal Gear ever made (NES, I’m winking at you!). For instance, in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, you are haunted by every soldier you have killed during a certain scene.
Kojima, guaranteed, will implement something to make humanity think twice about this war… and will not glorify anything but sad humane emotions.
hahahaha if it wasn’t for the “glory of war”, who the f**k would join up?
The reactions of the people in the article don’t surprise me. But you know what? The thing that gets me is that everyone *assumes* that because it’s a video game, it’s going to “glorify” the war. The developers have stated that they want to make it as historically accurate as they possibly can, so isn’t it also possible that the game may present things as the horrific, brutal, and terrifying events that they were?
Why haven’t people protested about books or television documentaries or what have you, about the Iraq war? Isn’t it too soon for that? As you and I both know, games can be every bit as effective a narrative and storytelling device as a book or movie, sometimes moreso. Assuming that the action of making a video game about it will somehow automatically trivialize the events and the lives of those who participated in them is an incredibly ignorant assumption to make.