Poll: Based on a true story. (Can it be done in a game?)

[Specter Von Baren]

I'm going to take a page from Extra Credits but until games get their own "Oscars" we won't be seeing much in the way of games like what you're describing. Right now games, while having good examples of beauty and depth, are for the most part about the profit. Movies are the same way but they have awards given to certain actors or movie makers based on how well they did. Until we have some sort of event or honor that can give individuals renown which can lead to benefits for them, then making a game for "high-minded" reasons is going to be very rare.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, gaming needs something that will make being emotional or beautiful or meaningful, profitable. Because right now we have a track record of those kinds of games, while potentially being well liked and respected, doing poorly financially.

 

[Battenberg]

Of course it could be done respectfully, it would never be accepted as such though currently. Realistically who would support "9/11: The Game"? Plus in order to be repectful I would imagine the gameplay would have to take a huge hit and probably not be very interesting.

 

[Muspelheim]

It will require a large amount of tact. And a very good helping of courage, too.

They are both rather lacking in the producer room. I think the most likely place for a game like that to crop up is in the indie market. The AAA-part of the industry are too dependant on each and every penny to take any risks.

As for ideas, I'd be interested a modern "War on Terror"-era shooter seen from the other perspective, some day. If all else fails, at least the protagonist can take on the underdog role with a straight face.

 

[Dinosorcerer]

What I think it needs is to be something that's not about winning or losing or overcoming a challenge. That just trivializes the subject matter. Essentially it mustn't be fun to play. It should be as harrowing for the player as it is for the characters in the game.

Then why make the damn game, who'll play it? Masochists? Games will always be inept simply by the nature of their medium at making a story like that. It's why you never see a WWII game about a Holocaust victim. It's why you're never hit with an I.E.D. in a modern warfare shooter. It isn't fun because you aren't in control. the nature of tragedies like these being so awful is that the people caught up in it are powerless. to make games like that you'd have to take industry away from the player (never a good idea) or make the player an unstoppable badass who can power through it. The first option takes away the advantages of the medium, the second just cheapens the experience for everyone who went through it. its why there's an option in the poll for "maybe in the future". what they mean by that is "when the group of people who experienced it either are dead or are too small a group for it to matter much".

 

[gamernerdtg2]

Bah.
If you don't like the person's story, you won't play the game. Movies that are based on true stories are just as formulaic as most video game genres.

Sports games are based off of real characters, and so would a WWE wrestling game. For now, that's the closest thing that we have.

 

[skywolfblue]

while remaining respectful?

No.

Developers lack tact, and the majority of gamers lack respect.

 

[Techno Squidgy]

What type of game would work around 9/11 though?

Flight simulator, but with a twist.

Like killstreaks?

OT:
Games could potentially be used to tell stories about these kind of tragedies, but it would take a very talented developer to pull it off. Though the controversy surrounding this game would be unbelievable, at least if it were to be released within the next few years. Video Games need more time to be taken seriously, and probably a new label.

 

[mitchell271]

Could they? Very easily, especially when concerning genocide. Making you fully understand what it was like going through that kind of hell through gameplay, where you experience it, could be much more impactful than watching it happen on a screen.

Has it happened or will it happen in the near future? BWAHAHAHAHA
This is the games industry, one of the most childish and entitled industries around. It'd have to mature much more than it ever has, even more than it has of late. Don't get me wrong, games like Telltale's Walking Dead or Spec Ops: The Line are great steps forward, but they're very tiny in comparison to the industry as a whole.

 

[Smooth Operator]

They could yes and some day they will, however right now neither developers nor the audience is capable of handling it.
And let's not even start with the spazzy observers who would want nothing more then to burn this heretic medium at the stake.

 

[Lieju]

What type of game would work around 9/11 though?

Escape from the collapsing WTC. It could have different stages based on how big your chances of survival are. At some point you just die.

At it's best it could put you in the situation, and show you what it was really like for the survivors and victims better than a movie or documentary could.

We need to get rid of this idea (and public perception) that games need to be 'fun'.
No one looks at a historical movie about a holocaust or a documentary on 9/11 and expects it to be mindless fun aimed at kids.

This might be less of a 'game', and more of a simulation, but I can see virtual recreations of historical places and events working well.

 

[Edl01]

In a question of if games can portray real life the answer "depends" is the exact same as the answer "yes" as the question isn't asking about all games. Therefore it is really 85% of people who agree.

 

[Guffe]

Pokemon has done this already for several games/generations!

On Topic:

I think it can be done.
I mean pick the CoD/Battlefield franchise, in stead of making a fictional thing.
You ask in someone who's served for a good deal of time, he tells his story and you make that into a game.
That's based on real life.

Of course as you said, we're going to see his version of the story, but I don't think you can make a game without offending someone, in any way!

 

[AntiChrist]

the best genre honestly to pull off something like the holocaust would be an adventure game something along the lines of the walking dead. but man you would have to do serious research, interview survivors, work with different groups, etc its a huge undertaking to say the least to give it the respect it needs. not to mention not calling it a "game" for all the negative connotations

You are correct of course, that the price to pay when dealing with a topic like the Holocaust is a huge amount of hard work on the part of the individuals involved in such an undertaking. However, that is equally true of authors and film makers, and these have on numerous occasions shown themselves capable of handling difficult subjects with great care. I'm certain, that a team of game developers could do the same.

What worries me - and in the end, also saddens me - isn't so much the inevitable outcries from the rest of the World, but the backlash from within the gaming community. If the reactions toward recent "non-games" are anything to go by, such a game would viciously be turned away by many "real" gamers. Fox News and preachy politicians crying out for blood I can somewhat live with - actual gamers saying: "This isn't what games are meant to do" or "It's not a real game" breaks my heart.