Israeli Council Releases Videogames as Propaganda

[Felis Leo]

*Shrugs*

The Six Day War was an amazing military victory for Israel, but wouldn't playing it be a little boring? Whether the graphics and gameplay are amazing, I think it would quickly become a bit tedious even for most strategy gamers. There is a reason it was over in six days, after all.

I mean, once you carry out Yitzhak Rabin's airstrike on the Egyptian airbases and gain total air superiority, it just becomes a game of mainly blowing up undefended Egyptian and Arab tanks with airstrikes. Not that I have anything against blowing up Egyptians who wrote all the things they were going to do to Jewish women and children once they entered into Israel on their tank armor.

If anyone is interested in the actual history of the Six Day War, most books would be far more interesting than playing a game about it. There's my two cents.

 

[SpideyIRL]

Some proportions:
These games got zero publicity on every Israeli news site. Nobody even mentioned them, and to be frank, I myself have never heard of the guys behind them. They do look like extreme right-wingers, though, and that group hardly represents the majority of Israel. The games themselves are poorly made, and sure look like the effort of a mediocre developer (Shockwave? Seriously?). In short, rare are the people who care or even know about them.

Does it count as propaganda if the only people to actually play these games are Escapist readers?

 

[danyy2009]

As a person who lives in Israel, i want to explain that those "settlers",
have nothing to do with the avrage citizen in here. They are a bunch of
way too nationalists right winged people, who settle in west bank against the
law in caravan like houses. They do not represent the avrage citizen of Israel,
and i hate iwhen peple around the world see thier acts and get the wrong impression
about Israel, or the people who live here.

 

[bladeofdarkness]

Why does it have to be a settler movement making the game ?
I wish we had a proper Triple A gaming industry in Israel that could produce higher quality games.

But at least its nice to see the Six day war being presented for once, since most of our visual arts products in recent years tended to be about Lebanon.

 

[danyy2009]

But at least its nice to see the Six day war being presented for once, since most of our visual arts products in recent years tended to be about Lebanon.

What are you talking about? Which games produced by who?

 

[Shirokurou]

With a title like "Israeli Council Releases Videogames as Propaganda" I was expecting a Jew simulator, like in the Coen brothers "Serious Man".

But hey, sure Israel, make that game...

 

[Thaluikhain]

So...videogames have no effect on people's beliefs and choices...except when made in Israel?

 

[dmase]

You have to wonder if this is good that that other generations are starting to accept gaming into our culture or bad that they are trying to push people even farther towards Israel nationalism. I guess it doesn't have to be limited to only people living in Israel so maybe not.

 

[ReiverCorrupter]

Heck, us Americans do that already. Ever played a Tom Clancy or Call of Duty game?

Yeah, Modern Warfare really opened my eyes to the current turmoil in Russia.

 

[Comrade_Beric]

Make a mod for the game where you can play as a soldier on the other side, and I'll consider this not to be propaganda. Until then, this is just an attempt to drum up support among the youth for the settlement policy by basically saying "Israelis fought and died to take that land, it's ours now." You know, the same way that the US feels entitled to anything they ever fought for because they "paid the price in blood" to have it. By that logic, Russia should be able to claim ownership of Germany right now because they "paid the price in blood" but somehow I don't think those same conservatives would be as excited to support that position.

 

[bladeofdarkness]

With a title like "Israeli Council Releases Videogames as Propaganda" I was expecting a Jew simulator, like in the Coen brothers "Serious Man".

But hey, sure Israel, make that game...

But at least its nice to see the Six day war being presented for once, since most of our visual arts products in recent years tended to be about Lebanon.

What are you talking about? Which games produced by who?

not games, but movies. (visual arts)

Bufort, Waltz with bashir, i can't recall a recent Israeli made movie that didn't deal with the 1982 Lebanon war.

I think its kinda like the obsession that some people in the U.S have with Vietnam.

 

[SnowCold]

But at least its nice to see the Six day war being presented for once, since most of our visual arts products in recent years tended to be about Lebanon.

What are you talking about? Which games produced by who?[/quote]

not games, but movies. (visual arts)

Bufort, Waltz with bashir, i can't recall a recent Israeli made movie that didn't deal with the 1982 Lebanon war.

I think its kinda like the obsession that some people in the U.S have with Vietnam.[/quote]

Except even more negative

EDIT: whoopse, ruined the bbc code

 

[bladeofdarkness]

Except even more negative

EDIT: whoopse, ruined the bbc code

well, it was pretty messed up all told.

but at least we had an actual reason for it, as our country was actually attacked from Lebanon.
Vietnam was too far away and too weak to actually attack the U.S itself.

 

[urithe]

Fuck, no comment.

Actually, fuck that. COMMENT:

This is obtrusive shit. Its not funny and its not helpful on any scale. Large scale propaganda with religious undertones(Grandpa Abraham?! Thank god Muslims run such a tight ship on having their patriarchal figures represented publicly.)

well excuse me for having the name Abraham

 

[John Poling II]

Fuck, no comment.

Actually, fuck that. COMMENT:

This is obtrusive shit. Its not funny and its not helpful on any scale. Large scale propaganda with religious undertones(Grandpa Abraham?! Thank god Muslims run such a tight ship on having their patriarchal figures represented publicly.) directed at children in the time of war is not funny, and shouldn't be allowed at all EVER in a freedom loving country(not that Im tempted to call Israel just that, but for now the label fits just fine).

This is going to further misconstrue a deeply two sided story that has gone on for thousands of years. It will further reinforce the concept that a state of Palestine does not, and has never existed. It will result in young minds being open to the concept of murdering/killing(pick your definition Im open to either one) the "bad guys" that they see in videogames in real life. The bad guys they will see in this videogame(especially the ones during the 1967 portion) will be readily identifiable and sometimes only a few dozen miles away from where they live.

This is NOT an iteration of the Tom Clancy genre or Call of Duty games. This is a further bastardization of the concept originally began with the US military with Americas Soldier series taken to a different extreme. I would urge everyone, even those of us who enjoy violent games like GTA, CoD, Duke Nukem(Which I am one of! Gore filters stay on for me kthx) and the like, to boycott games like this. This is on the same level as "High School Shooter" In the sense that in encourages active killing in the real world(Not that High School Shooter implicitly did that, but you see my point hopefully. Thoughtless hate). If you think I am blowing this out of proportion, remember, this game is unarguably propaganda. That means the government is taking our hobby and twisting it into a conversion tool for its own means. To let governments use our medium as a tool of war should be completely rejected by the community. I'd suggest if your reading this, and are still wondering why I am worried/angry about this, check out Extra Credits video on "Gamification". They touch on how gamifying things in the real world can be positive, and extremely negative. If this is Israels way of gamifying a brutal and harsh occupation(not saying the ALL of israel is an occupation. Israeli right to be there is on par with everyone elses. I would be a bigot if I thought otherwise) then Im firmly saying NO. And I hope others are with me.

Boy, that was rambly at points. Thanks for sticking with me.

**poke** There have been multiple religious game titles in the U.S., they are simply poorly made. Heck there was even a book of Revelations MMO 6 years ago, but you can't make money off them here b/c of the games that are available to us. Next, we have, " In God We Trust," on our money and you can't make it into the presidency without bowing your knee at some point to the cross. You are either naive or do not understand that you are simply the pot calling the kettle black.

 

[John Poling II]

Make a mod for the game where you can play as a soldier on the other side, and I'll consider this not to be propaganda. Until then, this is just an attempt to drum up support among the youth for the settlement policy by basically saying "Israelis fought and died to take that land, it's ours now." You know, the same way that the US feels entitled to anything they ever fought for because they "paid the price in blood" to have it. By that logic, Russia should be able to claim ownership of Germany right now because they "paid the price in blood" but somehow I don't think those same conservatives would be as excited to support that position.

Thus every single player war game in America is propaganda. GG, you need to tighten your definition up.

 

[Moisture Man]

Holy shit, what's with referring to a couple of fringe religious towns as if they're the entire country of Israel?

 

[Comrade_Beric]

Thus every single player war game in America is propaganda. GG, you need to tighten your definition up.

Ever think that maybe they are propaganda? [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FridgeBrilliance]