War Games

Henry Jenkins III

Computer games enter the debates about the U.S military response to Osama and Saddam. But is the country ready to play out this conflict?

Early next year, Kuma Reality Games plans to launch a service that will allow players to re-enact contemporary news events. Kuma's first product—centered on the war in Iraq—will brief players with information derived from real-world news reporting, and then allow them to play out missions based on actual troop deployments. On its Web site, Kuma claims that the new game "presents our soldiers' acts of patriotism and bravery as never before possible.” And then, the kicker: “In a world being torn apart by international conflict, one thing is on everyone’s mind as they finish watching the nightly news: 'Man, this would make a great game.'"

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