Iraqi based war video game pulled by publisher

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

The game publisher Konami stated today in a Japanese newspaper that they will not be releasing the game Six Days in Fallujah. The game is based on the Second Battle of Fallujah, a vicious battle between American and Iraqi forces.

"After seeing the reaction to the video game in the United States and hearing opinions sent through phone calls and e-mail, we decided several days ago not to sell it," Tokyo based Konami told the newspaper. “We had intended to convey the reality of the battles to players so that they could feel what it was like to be there."

The developer of the game, Atomic Games, received controversial feedback from families of dead soldiers stating the game's concept as "exploitative and distasteful", as paraphrased by the The Wall Street Journal.

That paper also quoted a woman whose son had died in the Iraq war, who said "These people who aren't affected by the war get to sit on their couch and play this 'fun' game."

Video game developer Atomic Games has not yet stated a reaction to Konami's announcement.

Have an opinion on this story? Share it!

Sources

Barbara Ortutay. "Company pulls plug on `Fallujah' video game" — Google News, April 28, 2009
The Wall Street Journal. "Publisher Pulls Plug on Iraq War Video Game" — FOX News, April 28, 2009
Mike Fahey. "The Fate Of Six Days In Fallujah" — Kotaku, April 27, 2009

Share this:

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.