Do you personally know anyone who fought in WWII? And what do they think of this?

[js1973]

There's an online game in the works that plans on recreating the entire second world war. I know one person who fought in that war, but haven't had the opportunity to ask him what he thinks of this.

He was an anti-aircraft gunner, and unwilling participant for the germans at the tender age of 16. He remembers hiding under a pile of rotten vegetables at the end of the war to escape the Russians who weren't taking prisoners.

I've never been in a war, nor have I lost loved ones to one. There are still people alive today who lived through WWII and did lose friends and loved ones to it. What do they make of such a terrible and life altering thing as WWII being made in to a game?

John

Edit: If someone wants to link this for me, I'd be grateful.

http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/previews/0,10869,2716796,00.html

 

[kami]

Do you know how many movies and games have been made based on WW2?
edit: yes i do know some who fought. 6 of my relatives died in service. 4 of them were in the airforce. who said canucks did nothing in the war? they were the most feared seriously, that is a fact.
i forget who this quote comes from but i remember it...(i made up the number 20 cause i don't know the exact number)
"20 countries against us and we get the fvcking canadians" -some enemy general or something
(someone help me out here)

 

[js1973]

Yes. That didn't even come close to answering my question though.

 

[kami]

Well if those didn't cause an uproar among vets, why would this?

 

[js1973]

I'm not suggesting that it would cause an uproar among vets. I'm not suggesting it will do anything. I just don't know how I would feel if I were in their shoes. My curiousity is more analytical than emotional.

Edit: What I'm trying to say is I have no agenda with this topic.

 

[CichliSuite]

Perhaps the extent and detail of the recreation?

 

[kami]

<< Perhaps the extent and detail of the recreation >>


did you see the screenshots? :disgust:
hehe...uhoh, fans of this game will be after me now.

What if the game was called &quot;War Online&quot; instead of WW2 Online...would you have made this post?

 

[js1973]

Kami, I don't think you're quite understanding where I'm trying to go with this. I'm not attacking the game. I just want to discuss what a veteran of this war would make of this.

 

[kami]

i know and i'm not defending the game. I'm just saying...what would you think if it was called War Online instead? Seriously...it just soudns to me like it's a matter of the name.
I think they'd be happy of the younger generation be made aware more of their sacrifices, but still...it's just a game. People are going to look at it as just another game.

 

[js1973]

If it were just called War Online, I don't think it would have made me think about this. If the weapons they use, and the places they battle in were all generic names, I wouldn't have thought of this.

Edit: And I guess that's what intrigues me. For the veterans of this war, the subject and content of this game is personal.

 

[Triumph]

my grandfather fought in WW2.....for the germans!

 

[js1973]

Triumph, what did he do?

 

[Asubit]

while we are at it why not just design school shooting simulators. Columbine: the resurrection.

Seriously, this odd obsession with blood is a strange one. I would be interested in the WWII game for the historical aspects rather than the all out german mojo stealing.

 

[xraymongral]

I believe the reaction amoungst veterans would be varied, reflecting the diversity of such a large group of people. Alot of vets went to see &quot;Saving Privet Ryan&quot;, knowing it was a very real depiction of war.

My advice is always: Go to a VA and talk to some of the guys there. Mught want to try a American Legion or VFW post as well, though the guys at the VA are propably in such a situation, they would appreciate someone to talk to.

Personally, I think that depictations of war in video gamings desensatizes people to the reality of killing. Killing a computer character lacks the deep emotions that one has to go through after killing another human, while glorifieing and rewarding pulling the trigger on another &quot;person&quot;.

The overall effect of real war is a generation terrified by what they saw and experianced. The effect of a war video game is more along the lines of &quot;lets kill some more and get more points&quot;.

I tend to be middle of the road on FPS games and there impact on society, I do question the impact of having such an overabundance of these games being played. I just don't know what to think.

 

[BuddyHolly]

Great question..may want to ask some vietnam vets..they are a little easier to come by..don't even need a game..just ask how they would feel about one being made

 

[Yo Ma Ma]

<< Edit: If someone wants to link this for me, I'd be grateful.

http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/previews/0,10869,2716796,00.html >>

Here's your link http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/previews/0,10869,2716796,00.html. To put a link in just use the http button when you are making the post.

 

[GasX]

He would be 80 and grateful that he can get e-mail on AOL. He likely would not have an opinion.

I had two uncles in the war. One died a POW in Burma the other dropped into Normandy in a parachute. Still marches in the Remembrance Day parade in his Beret. I don't think either of them would have an opinion.

 

[Thump553]

WWII was my parents' generation. My fathter fought in the Pacific. Nearly all of my uncles were in the war, except for a couple of younger ones-who ended up in the Korean &quot;conflict&quot; instead.

I doubt few vets, if any, would be offended by this game. They are all beyond that now. We are talking about people in their 70s &amp; 80s, remember. Frankly, any of the WWII vets I have talked to about the war in the last few years talk about it much differently than when I was younger. Now I think that generation realizes that what they lived through and experienced may (hopefully) be something that will not be paralleled for many, many years to come. Remember that these were the same people who either grew up or came of age in the Great Depression. The transformations to our society during their lifetimes are simply amazing-the whole internet and computer thing of the last decade or so is only a very tiny portion of the change they experienced.

That generation is now, I think, very much aware of their unique historical perspective. This video game will be a trivial thing to them, though.

Unfortunately, my uncle (who was a Normandy, Battle of the Bulge, etc.) passed away before Saving Private Ryan came out. I think that movie would have had a far greater impact than the video game.

 

[CQuinn]

Allow me to disagree.

Personally, I think that depictations of war in video gamings desensatizes people to the reality of killing. Killing a computer character lacks the deep emotions that one has to go through after killing another human, while glorifieing and rewarding pulling the trigger on another &quot;person&quot;.

No, what desensitizes people to killing is the perception that the people being killed
are less human/less worthy than one's own countrymen. There are no &quot;deep emotions&quot; to
go thru, because military training will already have made sure that the only feelings
a soldier has to deal with are the need to complete the mission, and the willingness
to get rid of &quot;The ENEMY&quot; that gets in his way. This was a way of life LONG before
computer games came along.

Thats why all the flak about Columbine is such nonsense too; Dylan and Klebold didn't
kill those students becuase they played DOOM... They attacked the school body because
they had no longer accepted their fellow students as &quot;fellow students&quot;. The game only
shows a symptom of the bigger mental problems those boys had.


The overall effect of real war is a generation terrified by what they saw and experianced. The effect of a war video game is more along the lines of &quot;lets kill some more and get more points&quot;.

Incorrect, If that were true the victors of WWII would have made peace treaties and
worked for the mutual benefit of all nations. Instead the winners (who thought since
they proved themselves, they could keep on winning) got into the 50+ year pissing
match that was the Cold War, and led to such rewards as the wars in East Asia, the
escalation of the Nuclear theat, the long separation of Europe, and the enforcement
of artificial governments that only led to the eventual erosion of the existing societies
that the superceded, not for high democratic ideas, but instead to maintain the power
base of the leading governments.


js1973, I have to wonder at what you mean that they are &quot;recreating the entire second world war&quot;? If they want it in its entirety, won't they also have to include World War I,
the economic boom/bust of the 20s, the depression, the rise of Nazism, Facism, Stalinism,
and the Roosevelt Administration? Not to mention everything else that really led
up to the war?

 

[js1973]

CQuinn,
From the preview on gamespot, I gather they plan to concentrate on the combat aspect of the war, not the political and social events that led up it.

And I tend to think Thump might be right on this, that veterans will just see this as a trivial thing.

My father-in-law served as a marine in Viet Nam, and I find it remarkable that he can speak so matter of factly about being shot down in a helicopter, crash landing in a transport plane, having the camp he was in being bombarded by the U.S. navy (oops), having his flesh rot due to the constant rain, etc. I would guess he'd be unfazed if they made a Viet Nam game. Truth is, I have yet to see anything get him riled.

John

 

[Stark]

<< Personally, I think that depictations of war in video gamings desensatizes people to the reality of killing. Killing a computer character lacks the deep emotions that one has to go through after killing another human, while glorifieing and rewarding pulling the trigger on another &quot;person&quot;. >>



My friends and I used to play Axis and Allies back in high school. The endless dice rolling to determine battle casualties didn't desensitize us to killing, and neither did Warcraft, Age of Empires, or Doom.

Both my grandparents fought in WWII, one fighting the fascists in Italy and the other in the South Pacific. My step-grandfather was on an anti-aircraft gun at Pearl Harbor. I don't think any would have a problem with a WWII game... actually, if it doesn't have to do with golf, they probably wouldn't even notice it.