Posted on 12/05/2003 1:13:15 AM PST by kattracks
A ghoulish Internet video game challenging players to shoot down passenger jets before they hit the twin towers is a huge hit - outraging families of Sept. 11 victims."My daughter was on one of the planes," Tom Roger, father of slain American Airlines flight attendant Jean Roger, told the Daily News.
"To think people are making it a game is pretty bizarre. But there are a lot of sick people out there," he said.
The game, New York Defender, was launched on the French Web site Uzinagaz.com a month after terrorist hijackers attacked the World Trade Center.
It has been played more than 1.5 million times since then, but is relatively unknown in the United States, the creators said.
The game starts with a cartoon of the towers under a clear sky, which is suddenly invaded by a few planes.
The player can shoot down the aircraft, but planes keep coming at a faster clip. After a few hit the buildings, the towers collapse in a cloud of dust.
Jonathan Pitcher, the Parisian who runs Uzinagaz, insisted the game's purpose isn't to make sport of the slaughter of 2,752 people.
"After the attacks, we felt there was nothing we could do. But with the game, you could pretend to defend the World Trade Center," he said.
Yet he also said the game represented another philosophy - which would seem to undercut that stated purpose.
"We wanted to show there isn't any way to win against terrorism. Because it doesn't matter how many planes you shoot. There are always new planes," he said.
Patricia Reilly, a Staten Islander whose sister, Lorraine Lee, was killed on the 105th floor of Tower 2, doesn't buy that.
"It's horrible," she said.
"I think it further desensitizes us to the realities of this thing," she said. "I've seen some weird things in the last two years, but this is the first game."
The crass pastime also turned stomachs at a state Assembly press conference to drum up support for a law targeting violent, sexually explicit video games.
"Is that an outrage, or what?" said Assemblyman Robert Straniere (R-S.I.). "What warped mind would want to create such a video?"
The state bill would require bold warning labels on video games that depict illegal acts and limit their sale to adults only. A similar bill has been filed at the city level by Councilwoman Gale Brewer (D-Manhattan).
With David Saltonstall
Originally published on December 5, 2003
The way I see it, we have no choice BUT to win against terrorism...
As far as I know, this game doesn't have sexual themes, so I guess it's not targeted. :-)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.