… If a established organization didn't understand the irony and the message of the game and is claiming it is inciting intolerance, we simply failed." In response to the rebuke, Molleindustria issued a statement of its own: "Faith Fighter was meant to be a game against intolerance that used over the top irony and a cartoonish style to express the instrumental use of religions. In the online game, cartoon representations of Jesus, the Prophet Muhammad, Buddha, God and the Hindu God Ganesh engage in combat as buildings burn behind them. The game would serve no other purpose than to incite intolerance," the OIC said, according to The Associated Press. "The computer game was incendiary in its content and offensive to Muslims and Christians. In April, after the game had been online for about a year, the Saudi-based Organization of the Islamic Conference, which represents most Muslim nations, said the game had no place online. The satirical religious game "Faith Fighter" was reportedly played millions of times by players around the world before it was removed from the Internet. He said a game that was more tactical - about the "decisions being made more than the triggers being pulled" - might have met a different reaction.Īlthough Konami is no longer pursuing the game, Zoss said other publishers have expressed interest in the project. You do it the wrong way and it can give the wrong message." "There are many ways to put you in the role of the soldier. They can put you there as part of it," he said. "There are few other mediums than video games that you could get the kind of experience that you could get in this game," he added.īut John Davison, co-founder of What They Like, an online resource that gives parents insight into the video games their kids want to play, said there was a bit of a "too soon" vibe to the game. Zoss said the company worked with marines who had been stationed in Iraq and thought it was an important story to be told. "The game's premise is a historically accurate re-creation of the battle to re-take Fallujah in the current Iraq war," said Jeremy Zoss, communications manager for Destineer, Atomic's sister company.
But this spring, the Japanese publisher, Konami Corp., announced it had dropped the game amid protests from war veterans, victims' families and others. In April, the company behind "Six Days in Fallujah" was criticized for developing a game that lets players virtually experience a 2004 Iraq battle.ĭeveloped by the Raleigh, N.C.-based Atomic Games, the game was supposed to go on sale in early 2010. 'Six Days in Fallujah' Dropped by Game Publisher Here are eight other games that have been embroiled in controversy. The game would have been the company's first venture from Web games to mainstream games, he said.īut T-Enterprise is not the only video game maker to come under attack by the press and general public. "Ultimately, the mere fact that our company name was in the same sentence as the name Al Qaeda – that was unacceptable," Chishti said. Still, after a slew of e-mail messages from Americans expressing disappointment and outrage at the game, the company decided to stop development. Zarrar Chishti, a spokesman for the company, told that they worked with Begg to mirror "the look and feel of the place" but that he had no connection to Al Qaeda and was not profiting from the project. It was never designed to be 'propaganda' or 'a recruiting tool for terrorism.' Neither was it designed to glamorize terrorism as has been reported."Īfter reports started to fly that an ex-Guantanamo detainee, Moazzam Begg, had been a consultant on the project, earlier this week, conservative pundits like the Weekly Standard's Tom Joscelyn and radio host Rush Limbaugh attacked the game and the company. In a statement on its Web site, T-Enterprise said, "Unfortunately, much of the speculation regarding the game itself made by various publications and websites has been inaccurate and ill informed. Launched by the Glasgow, Scotland-based T-Enterprise, the game was supposed to let players assume the role of a falsely-accused Guantanamo detainee trying to escape from the camp.īut after a storm of media coverage linking the company's name to Al Qaeda, the company announced Tuesday that it would no longer pursue the game. "Rendition: Guantanamo" is the latest game to find itself the center of attention the game's makers would rather do without.
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