War game complements TV

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Each week, the Browser features some pop-culture places on the World Wide Web offering the coolest in free interactive sounds and action.

War Online

The History Channel has teamed with Kuma Reality Games to merge television with online gaming, transforming a TV series into a free first-person shooter.

Viewers can watch the second season of "Shootout," a program that looks at both sides of famous historical battles, and simultaneously take part in the action on their computers (www.history.com/ minisites/shootout/).

The game, which offers solo and multiplayer campaigns ripped right from the television, requires a PC with at least a 1.4 GHz processor, a broadband Internet connection, 512 megabytes of RAM and Microsoft's Windows 2000 or XP operating system.

The first game set enhances the show, devoted to the events begun on Feb. 20, 1945, when American forces initiated an assault on the Japanese troops entrenched on the island of Iwo Jima during World War II.

Players will find a trio of challenges tied to the famed battle. First, as part of 5th Marine Amphibious Corps, a virtual soldier must save his fallen comrades and single-handedly wipe out infested enemy bunkers using a Stinger, a modified Browning 1919 machine gun.

Next, a solo player armed with a Thompson M1A1 submachine gun and M2-2 flamethrower is part of the 3rd Platoon of Easy Company, working alongside fellow Marines in the initial assault on Mount Suribachi.

Finally, a multiplayer challenge involves members of the 5th Pioneer Battalion handling a sneak attack by the defeated Japanese that would be the final battle of the Iwo Jima campaign.

It takes about 10 minutes to download any of the missions, and as each loads, the player is exposed to some sobering trivia about war. For example: "There were 37 sets of brothers aboard the USS Arizona when it was bombed in Pearl Harbor, and 23 sets of siblings died together on the ship."

All presented in a first-person, in-your-face point of view, the action is controlled via keyboard and mouse. The graphic, blood-soaked missions are very detailed, down to authentic re-creations of uniforms, armaments and environments.

The experience is further enhanced by a history lesson provided in a browser window away from the game that enables players to read details about the battle and the opposing forces, look at a map, and learn about the weapons.

The latest show, featuring the Battle of the Bulge, offers re-creations of the German offensive against American forces in World War II through a multiplayer event fought in snow-covered landscape of Lanzareth. For the Dec. 8 episode, viewers will become part of the Vietnam War's Tet Offensive.

Trivia from NPR

National Public Radio's Saturday comedy quiz show "Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me!" provides on its official site (www.npr.org/ programs/ waitwait/) daily examples of the odd, topical questions presented to panelists, such as Paula Poundstone, Mo Rocca and P.J. O'Rourke.

Visitors get a multiple-choice question, and once they make a selection -- a hint is offered for those who are stumped -- a drop-down box reveals the correct answer along with a link that takes them to the original source for the trivia nugget.

Those intrigued by the format can jump to an archive not only to hear the programs from the entire year, but also to take a modified quiz for the episodes. (Podcasts also are available.) It does not offer the same multiple-choice interactive format found in the daily quiz; instead, visitors click on a link to see the answer after reading a question.

Have a cool site for the online multimedia masses? Write to Joseph Szadkowski at the Browser, The Washington Times, 3600 New York Ave. NE, Washington, DC 20002; call 202/636-3016; or send e-mail (jszadkowski@washingtontimes.com). Joseph also writes a Web-exclusive column for the Washington Times Web site where he reviews educational software and family-friendly video games. Check it out at www.washingtontimes.com/familytimes/romperroom.htm.