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Guantanamo game announced
Author: Joe MartinPublished: 27th May 2009
Moazzam Begg is a former inmate of the Guantanamo Bay facility and is helping to make the game.
Moazzam Begg is a British Muslim who was suspected of being an Al Qaeda terrorist in Pakistan and who claims he was tortured during his time at the facility. Moazzam, who was released in 2005 and who has written a book about his time at Guantanamo, has been helping developer T-Enterprise design the layout of the facility that will be featured in the game Rendition: Guantanamo.
The game, which was announced back in March, will focus on a near-future version of the Guantanamo Facility where mercenaries are now running the show and are experimenting on the inmates for their own ends. While it may sound a tad outlandish, it may be that the developer has adjusted the setting to avoid getting into hot water with political groups.
"There are certain rules we can’t break after meeting politicians so we are not making the game too extreme," said T-Enterprise executive Zarrar Chishti. "We have had a lot of hate mail about this, mainly from America."
"But no US or British soldiers get killed in [the game]. The only ones being killed are mercenaries. We have set it in January 2010 because that’s when we think the camp will be closed. We are making a statement. We did not want Guantanamo to be forgotten."
Begg, who was at Guantanamo for more than three years, has admitted he has a financial stake in the project but says his primary concern is ensuring a fair representation of the prisoners.
"I was put in solitary confinement with no access to the outside world and no explanation as to why I was being detained," Begg said. "My wife gave birth to my son six months after I was arrested and I saw him for the first time when he was three years old. It would be wrong to say I’m not angry but I’m willing to forgive 1000 times over."
"The only thing I am concerned about it making sure the game does not misrepresent the prisoners. This will not demean the reality of Guantanamo but it could bring those issues to people who would not usually think about it."
This isn't the first time that games have been used to explore the issues surrounding such topics - an old Half-Life 1 mod called Escape from Woomera tried to do something similar about the Woomera Immigration Camp in Australia.
You can check out a trailer for Rendition: Guantanamo for more information, and let us know your thoughts on the game in the forums.
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I predict this will be the last we hear of the game and possibly the company.
We should never cut corners with our Constitutional rights merely for some illusory chance at security. It doesn't work that way, if we are going to be a citizenry with character then you need to preserve the rights that make you a target in the first place.
Yours in Civil Liberties Plasma,
Star¤Dagger
Portal.
LOLd
Hopefully this is the spiritual sequel to their awesome game, Polar Palin (http://www.t-enterprise.co.uk/flashgame/playgame.aspx?id=polarpalin).
Hold'em and Kick'em
5Pts
Waterboard'em
10Pts
Photagraph'em naked
15Pts
Deny everything
20Pts
Say you want to open it, and THEN deny any coverage
50Pts
Seriously, this seems like a cool idea for a game. (The plot, I mean.) A game covering the realities of torture and prisoners? Not many games cover real issues. The Path was another indie game to hit hard on moral grays. Definitely the gaming world could use more.
It doesn't like he's trying to use the controversy for a cash cow like Rockstar has been known to do. Granted the game is all hype at the moment, but I wouldn't count them out yet. Indie developers have come a long way lately. Sure it might be a Duke Nukem Forever (DNF: Did Not Finish), or a Spore/Fable (Just doesn't do what it says it will.), or a Bionic Commando (Just plain suck.) But the same is true for EVERY game.
I say give them a chance. It's not in bad taste for using the setting, it'll be in bad taste depending how the pull the setting OFF. Considering they already removed nationality from it by using mercenaries instead of soldiers, it shows they are trying to make a STATEMENT more then a shock-value game.
My only worry is how much of a message can you get across if you meeting with politicians that supported the development of such a place in the first place? I just hope their message doesn't get lost in translation or otherwise completely censored.
(Which reminds me, what happened to the game... think it was called Six Days in Fallujah or something similar. It would make a good companion piece to this title.)
$0.02
jokes aside, it seems like many games/devs enjoy controversial settings for their games. PR boost?
T-Enterprise just sounds like one of those dodgy businesses on the Dragons Den. You know the kind, a couple of blokes come in, early 30's, wearing sharp suits and sharper facial hair. Value the business at £8million, when all they really have is a website and a room above a chippy. Then get told to sod off because the dragons know they are taking the piss cos there isn't a business to invest in.