Good Taste Has No Place Here

It's one thing to re-create history. It's another to jeer loudly at the future deaths of American soldiers. KumaWar's U.S. Attacks Iran is doing just that. When I opened my email this morning, I saw the "U.S. Military Strike to Dismantle Iranšs Illegal Nuclear Program" headline proudly scrolled across Thunderbird's preview bar, and the only thing I managed to think was, "Oh no, we're now fighting a three-front war." I opened the body of the email, expecting either copy from a newspaper, or one of my crazy left-wing buddies waxing revolutionary about American imperialism or the president's inability to chew food. But to my surprise, I read this:

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The issues raised by "Attack on Iran" couldn't be more timely or important. Iran's new president and war council have just announced the resumption of uranium processing, and the possibility of U.S. military intervention is all too real. With "U.S. Attacks Iran," ordinary citizens can experience for themselves actions U.S. soldiers may be asked to perform. Players will join a U.S. special ops team attempting to infiltrate and dismantle or destroy Iran's real-world Natanz nuclear weapons complex.[/blockquote]

Welcome to perversion, folks. I'll admit, I was on board with the whole glorification of violence deal that seems to be a favorite in the industry. But just reading U.S. Attacks Iran's press release, I got that feeling in the pit of my stomach; the one where you know you've done something terrible. Shame. And I haven't even played it. The very idea that I might, as an "ordinary citizen," be putting on the digital version of my Army buddy's shoes and getting him killed - for the sake of my own entertainment - made me ashamed of myself, the people at Kuma, and the rest of America.

Is this what we've turned into? Bloodthirsty voyeurs so addicted to violence we're happy to predict and simulate the deaths of soldiers? It's bad enough we do it with wars past. But at the very least, those fighting men are not part of the target demographic. Chances are if you're reading this, you know someone in Iraq or Afghanistan right now. You probably know someone who was killed there. Do you want pictures of your dead friends? Because Kuma is willing to do you one better. You get to experience for yourself what it's like to watch your friend get blown up by a rocket.

If you're that interested, join up. Although I'm sure the guys at Kuma are great designers, ain't nothing like the real thing.