[Eivind]

What? Yes, you got it right. The Scotland-based developer Traffic has made a game that is "set to bring his tragic assassination by Lee Harvey Oswald to life for a whole new generation" and "enables players to examine the challenges that faced Oswald".

Due to lazyness, I'll just cut and paste the whole press release:

On the eve of the 41st anniversary of John F Kennedy's murder, a dramatic new 'docu-game' is set to bring his tragic assassination by Lee Harvey Oswald to life for a whole new generation.

JFKReloaded.com recreates the last few moments of the President's life and challenges participants to help disprove any conspiracy theory by recreating the three shots that Lee Harvey Oswald made from the infamous sixth floor of the Dallas book depository.

The 'docu-game' accurately recreates the surroundings and events of 22nd November 1963 in downtown Dallas, using information from the Warren Commission report, and has taken a ten-man team seven months to research and six months to program. Painstakingly detailed, the reconstruction enables players to examine the challenges that faced Oswald.

Crucially, it shows how so many conspiracy theories have emerged surrounding the incident, given the difficulty of the task.

"This new form of interactive entertainment brings history to life and will stimulate a younger generation of players to take an interest in this fascinating episode of American history," commented Kirk Ewing, managing director of Traffic and the creator of JFKReloaded.com. "We've created the game in the belief that Oswald was the only person that fired the shots on that day, although this recreation proves how immensely difficult his task was."

Although they are based in Glasgow, Scotland, Traffic is aware of the passion in the US surrounding the death of one of America's greatest heroes and is determined to promote the title respectfully whilst encouraging as many people to play the game as possible.

Downloaded from the www.jfkreloaded.com Internet site for $9.99 (approx ÂŁ6), players are invited to participate in a global recreation of the assassination in order to disprove the conspiracy theorists once and for all. Traffic has offered an incentive of up to $100,000 for the first person to most accurately recreate the three shots made by Lee Harvey Oswald.

What's next? The kill Jesus Christ game, released just in time for the holiday season?

[Wormsie]

I believe there was a game called "Diana's Tunnel Race"... Never played it, though.

[SamandMax]

I can't wait until 'Abraham Lincoln's Theatre Shootout'.

[Zygomaticus]

I don't know much about XIII because I haven't played it, but I hear it also has some elements of Presidential killing. Very similar to the JFK killing, I believe. Or I may be wrong.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

You are not wrong. XIII is based in part on the JFK conspiracy theory.

[Zygomaticus]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

You are not wrong. XIII is based in part on the JFK conspiracy theory.

But I guess it doesn't involve actively working to kill JFK unlike the above mentioned game. It's more aftermath-like.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Very loosely based. The game merely starts off with an assassination but goes somewhere else from there.

[The Seed]

I saw this on the news.

They had one of the developer guys on, trying to justify the game. He basically went on about how it's a well intended interactive history thingimy and blah blah blah , I forget. It was really quite shameful.

Still, at least we have such sweet souls as Rockstar to be proud of.

[mag]

Originally Posted by The Seed

I saw this on the news.

They had one of the developer guys on, trying to justify the game. He basically went on about how it's a well intended interactive history thingimy and blah blah blah , I forget. It was really quite shameful.

Still, at least we have such sweet souls as Rockstar to be proud of.

What's wrong with it? Historians have been trying to recreate the Kennedy assassination for decades. The only thing different about this is that it's a computer simulation instead of a real world simulation.

mag

[fov]

Originally Posted by mag

What's wrong with it? Historians have been trying to recreate the Kennedy assassination for decades. The only thing different about this is that it's a computer simulation instead of a real world simulation.

Um, the fact that the goal of the game is to shoot the president, I think. Recreating a shooting for historical purposes is one thing. Giving players the task of assassinating the president is quite another.

I saw a special on the Kennedy assassination last week and they showed 3D computer modeling of the whole thing to try to determine where the shooter(s) were standing, etc. That was pretty cool because it allowed them to recreate stuff that up until now has not been visible in the video recordings. But it was not identifying the viewer as the shooter.

-emily

[mag]

Originally Posted by fov

Um, the fact that the goal of the game is to shoot the president, I think. Recreating a shooting for historical purposes is one thing. Giving players the task of assassinating the president is quite another.

I saw a special on the Kennedy assassination last week and they showed 3D computer modeling of the whole thing to try to determine where the shooter(s) were standing, etc. That was pretty cool because it allowed them to recreate stuff that up until now has not been visible in the video recordings. But it was not identifying the viewer as the shooter.

-emily

I can't help noting the irony of the same group of people who slaughter hundreds of people on the streets of San Andreas looking down their noses at a game where the object is to kill one person.

Really, what difference does it make that the player is in the role of the shooter? Are you afraid that people who play the game will feel a sudden urge to run out and assassinate somebody?

Obviously you're flirting with the boundaries of good taste when you have a game where the object is to kill the president (lucky for the developers they're in Scotland). But, as you say, it's all about context. If it's just a game to pop Kennedy's head off for kicks, then yeah, that's over the edge. But that's not what this is. This is a simulation that was clearly made for historical purposes. The developers even state that this is a "docu-game" designed to "disprove any conspiracy theory by recreating the three shots that Lee Harvey Oswald made from the infamous sixth floor of the Dallas book depository." In that sense, it's actually quite a clever form of education. It's a situation where you can tell something to somebody until you're blue in the face, but it will never be as powerful as having them actually do it themselves. This kind of simulation probably does more to disprove Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories than a million history books.

I can understand why people would be uncomfortable about assuming the role of a notorious assassin. And I can understand why people like the Kennedies would be offended by it. But what I can't see is what it does that's unethical.

mag

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by mag

If it's just a game to pop Kennedy's head off for kicks, then yeah, that's over the edge. But that's not what this is. This is a simulation that was clearly made for historical purposes. The developers even state that this is a "docu-game" designed to "disprove any conspiracy theory by recreating the three shots that Lee Harvey Oswald made from the infamous sixth floor of the Dallas book depository." In that sense, it's actually quite a clever form of education. It's a situation where you can tell something to somebody until you're blue in the face, but it will never be as powerful as having them actually do it themselves. This kind of simulation probably does more to disprove Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories than a million history books.

I can understand why people would be uncomfortable about assuming the role of a notorious assassin. And I can understand why people like the Kennedies would be offended by it. But what I can't see is what it does that's unethical.

With due respect, mag, that's a steaming crock of bullsh!t on the developer's part. The truth is "...This is a simulation that was clearly made for historical purposes" monetary profit, augmented by its potential sensationalistic controversy. If, say, Traffic took some of the profits they'd make from this game and donate it to charity the negative impact would be somewhat lessened, at least. And imagine yourself in the Kennedy family's position, how would you like it if your own father's murder, already a worldwide humiliation, were made into a game without your consent by a bunch of insensitive people to make money off of, all while they run around claiming that it's simply for purposes of 'historical accuracy'? Ethically, J.F. Kennedy's fame may be public property, but that should stop once his family's personal suffering begins.

[TheDerman]

With "due respect" Trep, do you KNOW what you claim, to be the absolute truth? You seem to be speaking quite confidently about these guys' motives.

Have you looked at the web site for this "game"? Has anyone? Does anyone know anything about it except that some guy called it "despicable", and whatever else CNN/rest-of-news-media has said?

i personaly, dont think this game is anything special. i never got why people get soo offended with such crap. it's just a game, even it's supposed to be educational. i undersatnd that their assanating a president, but i see no diffrence in this game then what i see in GTA, one just happens to be fictional.

[fov]

Originally Posted by mag

I can't help noting the irony of the same group of people who slaughter hundreds of people on the streets of San Andreas looking down their noses at a game where the object is to kill one person.

Well, no, I'm not in that group of people. I don't play shooters. But the reason I find this particular game to be in poor taste is because it's taking a well known figure -- an authority figure -- and making it okay for the average person to pull the trigger and kill him. Shooting lots of faceless people in a game is bad enough. Shooting people whose faces we know -- whose faces stand for something important in this country -- that, IMHO, is even worse.

-emily

[Jake]

I would be fine with love a game that had me mowing down a good two dozen easily identifiable presidents with my stolen "Gang Burrito" van, but taking the role of Lee Harvey Oswald and shooting Kennedy in the head is not in fact appealing.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by TheDerman

With "due respect" Trep, do you KNOW what you claim, to be the absolute truth? You seem to be speaking quite confidently about these guys' motives.

Have you looked at the web site for this "game"? Has anyone? Does anyone know anything about it except that some guy called it "despicable", and whatever else CNN/rest-of-news-media has said?

I have looked at it:

World's first interactive recreation of the John F. Kennedy assassination.

Pay just $9.99 to unlock control of LEE HARVEY OSWALD, perform the assassination, watch action replays from any angle, and explore a shot-by-shot analysis.

Match OSWALD's shots and win up to $100,000.

I looked everywhere, but couldn't find a single disclaimer. Nothing that addresses the Kennedy family, or whatever. Maybe you can find something.

[mag]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

With due respect, mag, that's a steaming crock of bullsh!t on the developer's part. The truth is "...This is a simulation that was clearly made for historical purposes" monetary profit, augmented by its potential sensationalistic controversy. If, say, Traffic took some of the profits they'd make from this game and donate it to charity the negative impact would be somewhat lessened, at least.

Like Derman said, I don't think there's any way you could possibly know that. And if you actually look at their website it seems quite obvious, at least to me, that this was meant to be a historical simulation. They actually seem to have gone to great pains to make it as accurate possible. You wouldn't do that if all you were after was shock value.

I'm sure they will make some money off all this controversy, but just because somebody makes a profit doesn't make them bad. I doubt money was the sole reason they were doing this. It's a pretty simple simulation, and I heard on the news that they're only charging $10 for it. So I doubt they're going to be making huge profits. What I think is more likely is that, like a number of other simulation programs, they developed it for their own purposes (in this case to recreate the Kennedy assassination), and once they started they realized they could make some money off of it. I don't see anything wrong with that.

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

And imagine yourself in the Kennedy family's position, how would you like it if your own father's murder, already a worldwide humiliation, were made into a game without your consent by a bunch of insensitive people to make money off of, all while they run around claiming that it's simply for purposes of 'historical accuracy'? Ethically, J.F. Kennedy's fame may be public property, but that should stop once his family's personal suffering begins.

Right. Nobody [URL=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000DC14U//ref=nosim/adventuregame-20[/url] [URL=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0786712422//ref=nosim/adventuregame-20[/url] try to [URL=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000059R9P//ref=nosim/adventuregame-20[/url] money off Kennedy's assassination.

Originally Posted by fov

But the reason I find this particular game to be in poor taste is because it's taking a well known figure -- an authority figure -- and making it okay for the average person to pull the trigger and kill him. Shooting lots of faceless people in a game is bad enough. Shooting people whose faces we know -- whose faces stand for something important in this country -- that, IMHO, is even worse.

So in other words, killing is okay as long as it's not somebody you know.

mag

[Intrepid Homoludens]

So you're all for it, then? Are you?

Originally Posted by mag

So in other words, killing is okay as long as it's not somebody you know.

mag

Originally Posted by fov

Shooting lots of faceless people in a game is bad enough. Shooting people whose faces we know -- whose faces stand for something important in this country -- that, IMHO, is even worse.

-emily

i think she justified what she meant in her post.