Moral question regarding certain games

[Banana]

I'm asking this question after talking to several friends whilst playing the World War 2 game, Call of Duty 2. Since yesterday was the anniversary of D-Day, it makes the question a little more pertinent.

"Is it morally acceptable to play games that are based off the suffering of others?"

In this case, the suffering being warfare during World War 2. A friend answered that this game and others like it do desensitize us to the horrors that soldiers, from all sides, went through and we are indeed profiting off of their painful experiences. However, someone else stated that by not playing these games, alot of these topics wouldn't be discussed and we would just as likely be ignoring the sacrifices they've made.

Personally, I feel that watching a movie like "Saving Private Ryan" are very different than playing a game. A movie shows war and their reactions to it but games allow us to form our own reactions without actually experiencing the situation.

[Faithless]

The problem solver for that is Virtual Jenna.

[Atealtha]

Hollywood movies also change the story to increase sales and impress the audience.

You can not say that WW2 games such as Call of Duty are making money from suffering. If that is true, then in the most literal sense WW2 should still be going on for them to stay in business. They are offering entertainment, it just so happens that the content includes suffering, pain, blood, etc. Saying things like that make them seem worse than they really are, like how downloading music is "stealing" and not copying.

[VV o n g B a]

timely question. hizbullah has just put out a game centered around assassinating sharon. hope they didn't stress themselves overly much w/ those highly detailed 5 polygon characters and incredible realtime shadows.

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Game made by Hizbullah called "Special Force"

"Special Force" - Hizbullah Computer Game: The Goal Is to Kill Israeli PM Sharon

Game placing players in different stages of Hizbullah operations against Israeli soldiers in Lebanon


http://www.specialforce.net/english/indexeng.htm (English)

http://www.specialforce.net/ (Arabic)


Hizbullah rolls out new computer game
Special Force lets players use Sharon for target practice

Badih Chayban
Daily Star staff

Hizbullah has launched a computer game allowing players to simulate its fighters during military operations on Israeli soldiers prior to the liberation of the South.
Special Force, which took “two long years” of development by the Hizbullah Central Internet Bureau, hit the market on Feb. 16. The game consists of different stages all inspired by actual Hizbullah operations in the South.
Players face the same conditions as Hizbullah fighters, including geographic locations, mines, the number of Israeli troops and even the weather conditions. Special Force also offers a training simulation, where players can practice their shooting skills on targets such as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and other Israeli political and military figures.
On the cover of the game’s box, a message to users says “the designers of Special Force are very proud to provide you with this special product, which embodies objectively the defeat of the Israeli enemy and the heroic actions taken by heroes of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon.” It adds: “Be a partner in the victory. Fight, resist and destroy your enemy in the game of force and victory.”
Mahmoud Rayya, an official from the Hizbullah bureau, told The Daily Star in a telephone interview that Special Force was designed to compete against foreign computer games that show Arabs as enemies and Americans as the heroes that defeat them.
Rayya said that the decision to produce the game was made by top Hizbullah officials, who believe that resistance against the Israelis wasn’t limited to actual military actions.
“This game is resisting the Israeli occupation through the media,” he added.
Rayya said that the game would introduce the resistance to young people.
“In a way, Special Force offers a mental and personal training for those who play it, allowing them to feel that they are in the shoes of the resistance fighters,” Rayya said.
He said that game has been a “success,” since it was launched two weeks ago, adding that it had already sold thousands of copies in Lebanon. The game is currently selling in Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Bahrain, and United Arab Emirates, Rayya said, adding that the distributors were aiming to reach more countries soon.

[AltimaGTR]

I agree that people are profiting off the suffering of others with these war shooters (historic or otherwise). Unfortunately, I'm having too much fun playing them, so please don't make me feel guilty about it :).

[Irezumi Kiss]

Weird. I remember stuff like this being said way back when I was a kid playing Missile Command and Battlezone at the arcades. Old school heads will know what I mean. They used to say that some games were actually "training" us to fight in an upcoming tech-specific war.

[sinisterpanda]

schaudenfreude! I love it!