computer Games right or wrong?

I have always wondered when your playing a computer game that is based on an historical event,ie a ww2 game or Vietnam game or alike what do people that were involved in those wars think about them?
Is it disrespectful to have a game where you run round shooting german troops and blowing up japanese soldiers,considering how awfull the reallity must have been?
Many of us will have grandparents or family who have been involved in a war on both sides....what would an elderley german veteran think of watching his grandson or daughter run round shooting people in a simulation of something he had seen the reality off?
How do familys of troops who have been lost in say the gulf war feel when they see "operation Desert Storm" on the shelf,waiting to provide hours of entertainment to innocent youths who hopefull will never have to live or understand the reality?

Regards.

I think the shoot-em-up versions of wartime do trivialize the actual events. I find them offensive, and I'm far too young to have been in Vietnam and don't have any relatives who fought there! However, the strategy-based games give one a better understanding of the logistics and maneuvering required to carry out a successful campaign.

I don't think there is anything wrong about them. I don't see it being any differnt than a WW2 movie. Except that you're playing and not just watching it. I don't think it's disrespectful at all. If anything, it gives one more respect for the men and woman that had to live through all that for real. It gives us a chance to get an idea of what it would have been like. Minus the threat of danger to our lives of course.

I think i've learnt a decent amount about WW2 from watching the movies and playing the games. Along with what i've read in history books of course. But it helps being able to see it and be there (virtually speaking).

I have yet to hear about war veterans complain about WW2/Vietnam movies or video games.

thanks JRA,

I have yet to hear about war veterans complain about WW2/Vietnam movies or video games.


ok,does any one no of any vetrans that dont approve?

Computer games right or wrong is your post tital and yet its only war games your talking about. I say this because wile some War games may very well go over the edge into the disrespect department . AKA new game based on the kennedy assanation and its a first person shooter game.
others accutly are and do help teach you the history of or the folles of to a degree alest.
On the other hand I realy dont like first person shooter games my self because in the end once past the NEWER cooler graphics its to easy (alest for me . wile I have never played doom3 Im sure If I was willing to shell out the 50$ it cost in a month or mabby even two ussuming its realy fast I can go through all leavels . Borning But im 40 and wile the graphics have improved tremendsily in the last 30 years and back in the old days i had to have a quarter and go to the mall to play as even pong wasent invented yet . the basic game was still the same so I know well the patterens .
Me I llike a game based on stragity where it takes alest some planing and the out come isent just based on how manny thing you run over blow up or shoot. even though some war games have some stragity so I can enjoy it some. Love risk 11 even if the stragity is fairly simple and the AI players are Idets to easy.
but my faveret game is something that there was Nothing ever like in my day its call simcity and its the ULTAMIT stragity game It takes Much thought and months and yes even years of hard work to creat the perfect city.
and the realy cool thing is perfect is a relitive term in this case .Once I know the patteren to your game it will never change so I can Brezz through leavels or streets or what ever . but with simcity4rushour there is NO paterens only the one you Creat from scrach and even if its a perfect city the next city can also be perfect but have a totaly new patteren .
Lots Of you first shooters would give up playing this game in frustration .I know I belong to a group manny just quit as it was to much work and its much easyer to just point and shoot .
Now thats a cool game it was brought out almost two years agaio now and wile I know everthing about it now even down to how its programed and how to change its programing (aka Modding) I still enjoy playing it .
and am wating two more years to go befor simcity5 comes out hoping its even harder.
anyway the point is a Pc game or even xbox game teaches it can teach todestroy or to build it dependes on the game. Its much easer and on the surfice looks much cooler to destroy though. but It took you a shot or two to blow up said building .It took me having everthing just right and all the sims wanting a bigger building in order for them to finly build the building I want them two and this can take days at times. But when It finlyhapprens and you see the building you wanted being built it feals so much cooler and you feal like your the builder and in all ways you are the builder as the game has no auto Or AI in it.

scimity 4 rushmoor....DUDE? im not talking about a game where you have to build ,buildings and stuff...thats not contreversial at all,unless your going to upset some imaginary town planning guy or imaginary counciler,im talking about the cold hard replication of bloody events throughout history.........i mean, you could have a game now called "SAVE THE PASSENGERS OF THE TITANIC" and i doubt youd upset anyone but if you brought out "911-save the towers" hell youd have a war on your hands,and rightly so......now do you get my point?

anyway thanks for the post,regards!

I think it really depends on the tone of the game. Most of the well-received games have taken a fairly respectful attitude towards the historical events that they're recreating.

When it comes down to the basics, there's nothing inherintly wrong about dramatizing historical events, so long as you remember that real people fought, bled and died during those events.

When it comes down to the basics, there's nothing inherintly wrong about dramatizing historical events, so long as you remember that real people fought, bled and died during those events.

Thanks whisky jack,i agree....well put!

Not quite computer games, but I was an Army brat and we lived in Germany for awhile in the 1950's and 1960's. One of the most popular comic books out there was "Sgt. Fury", who at THAT time was battling Evil Nazis (in the comic book plots) and doing WWII stuff.

The GI's seemed to like it because it reinforced the "we won" mentality. However (a kid's observation) it didn't seem to do much to encourage them to treat the German civilians with anything more than amused contempt.

I don't know what the Germans themselves thought, but it always bothered me. The Germans that I knew were the maids, the horse riding master, the shopkeepers... I had no idea what their politics were, but they were kind to me.

And those comic books REALLY bothered me!

Not quite computer games, but I was an Army brat and we lived in Germany for awhile in the 1950's and 1960's. One of the most popular comic books out there was "Sgt. Fury", who at THAT time was battling Evil Nazis (in the comic book plots) and doing WWII stuff.

we had a similat thing in the uk called "BATTLE" it was a similar thing depicting that NAZIS were total scum,i suppose there were kids growing up thinking that germans were evil?

If you say that FPS games are not affecting the growth and training of the adolescent human brain then I can assure you that the games really are affecting them. The games are designed to break down the ability to distinguish right from wrong, to create a feeling of familiarity with bloody death and to reward the adolescent brain for the best Killing Score each time they play. The games are designed to desencitize (sp), and reinforce feelings of accomplishment in the player.

FPS games are designed to teach children to kill.

Originally posted by Byrd
. One of the most popular comic books out there was "Sgt. Fury", who at THAT time was battling Evil Nazis (in the comic book plots) and doing WWII stuff.

Most of the comic books at the time (Golden age of comics) had WW II themes everything from Superman to Captin America had run ins with the Nazi's in the comic books. One war comics never touched during its time was Vietnam though.

Nickfury was more of a (Silver age comics) WW2 was never much of a theme back then. Fury's story tied in with alot of WW2 stuff though.Nick's all-time arch-enemy, Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker a WWII Nazi and founding father of HYDRA.








[edit on 5-12-2004 by ShadowXIX]

[edit on 6-12-2004 by ShadowXIX]