Konami blasted for Six Days in Fallujah: too soon, too sick, done in bad taste

April 7, 2009

Announced just yesterday, Six Days in Fallujah for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC is already catching some attention – and not in the good way too. Konami is now being blasted for coming up with a video game retelling one of the more extreme incidents in recent war history. People have detested that it’s not a good idea to release this game – not now, not in the near future. Some even already want it banned completely.

Six Days in Fallujah - Image 1 Announced just yesterday, Six Days in Fallujah for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC is already catching some attention – and not in the good way too. Konami is now being blasted for coming up with a video game retelling one of the more extreme incidents in recent war history. People have detested that it’s not a good idea to release this game – not now, not in the near future. Some even already want it banned completely.

Reported in the Daily Mail, the father of a Royal Marine in the Iraq war aired his rage against the game. With his son being killed in the war, this father has more than one reason to be upset with Konami’s prospect of coming up with such a game:

Considering the enormous loss of life in the Iraq War, glorifying it in a video game demonstrates very poor judgement 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, UK’s anti-war group Stop The War Coalition has its own representative stating:

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 glamorised and glossed over for entertainment.

And then there’s also Birtish army officer Tim Collins OBE, who played a big role in the Iraq war in 2003. He’s likewise frowning upon the game:

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.

Pretty strong words spoken against such a new game that’s barely even announced or revealed in full. But then again, these guys do raise a valid argument. It’d be intersting how Konami (and developer Atomic Games) will respond to these statements.