UPDATE: Read the TWT interview with Vets for Freedom.
Lesson on how not to make a video game …
SEE RELATED:
It really started on March 20, 2009 with an e-mail from developer T-Enterprise posted on the site GamePolitics.
“This week we are happy to present the teaser trailer for our 3D console game Rendition: Guantanamo. The release date for the game will be October 2009. The game is being programmed for XBox 360 and Game for Windows format. Without giving too much away at this stage - the game is set in the year 2020. The detention facility Guantanamo Bay has been sold to Mercenaries who now charge Scientists to conduct their un-ethical experiments on living human beings. You play someone who was “renditioned” to Guantanamo by the Mercenaries and is now being subjected to these experiments. No one knows you are here and no one cares. Until now! Someone has managed to slip you a message. You have a son…”
First and foremost Mr. Video Game Developer, avoid really controversial subject matter.
Here’s where it ended. I think?
Official Statement Regarding Rendition: Guantanamo – 3 June, 2009
In recent days, much has been made of the involvement of T-Enterprise in relation to an X-Box 360 game entitled Rendition: Guantanamo. As a reputable and highly regarded firm amongst professionals and clients alike, we would like to take this opportunity to clarify a few issues that have emerged in the wake of press coverage in the United States.
Unfortunately, much of the speculation regarding the game itself made by various publications and websites has been inaccurate and ill informed. Based on a simple teaser trailer that actually revealed little of the game, many conclusions were reached that have absolutely no foundation whatsoever. It was never designed to be “propaganda” or “a recruiting tool for terrorism”. Neither was it designed to glamorise terrorism as has been reported.
First and foremost, the main character was NOT Moazzam Begg. Instead, his name was Adam. He happened to be involved in a case of mistaken identity and so was never a terrorist. T-Enterprise is against all forms of terrorism and would never seek to advocate otherwise. Furthermore, Guantanamo was to be a mercenary run institution and so there would have been NO American military personnel killed within the game. Again, we support the British and American troops that fight the war against terrorism to make the world a safer place and would not make a game that said otherwise.
Having clarified our position on terrorism, I would now like to refute all suggestions that the game was in any way linked to Al Qaeda. T-Enterprise has never had and would never have a link to Al Qaeda in any way, shape or form. Furthermore, we would certainly not facilitate a means of funding for any group that undertook terrorist activities. The game was simply designed to be an action video game that adults could enjoy.
However, as a direct result of the extreme reaction that the game and its popular misconceptions have provoked, T-Enterprise has decided to pull out of the project and will not be completing Rendition: Guantanamo.
Should you have any questions regarding this statement then please contact our press office for clarification.
Zarrar Chishti
Director, T-Enterprise
Final nail in the coffin?
So just as the video game companies are in the midst of their annual showcase event, E3, they get dive bombed with a developer placing another unwelcome spotlight on an industry that still gets hit for its immature decision-making that leads to games like Rendition: Guantanamo.
Gamers will also remember that Konami recently pulled the plug on Six Days in Fallujah, a third person shooter that puts the player in control of a US Marine fire-team in the Iraqi War.
Look like World War II is still the only consistent and safe bet for realistic war video games. Anybody for a round of Call of Duty?
