Online Game Helps Iraqi Girl Forget About War & Death

Online Game Helps Iraqi Girl Forget About War & Death

March 17, 2008
CNN offers a touching profile of Wurud, a 14-year-old trying to cope with the stress of living in war-torn Iraq:
When a bomb blows or something explodes, you know, I just keep on sitting here. I don't move. It's a big jail. [In dreams] I always see myself running, dying.

Zwinky, an online game, helps Wurud escape from the stress, at least temporarily:
She bounces over to her computer. "And look -- this is Zwinky World," she says, referring to an online virtual reality world similar to Second Life. "And that's me," she says, pointing to her gothic avatar...

In Zwinky World, Wurud says she can escape the war all around her. She likes to shop at the virtual mall for T-shirts, dresses, shoes -- "Everything," she says. "That's so fun!"

GP: Before anyone decides to download Zwinky, we note that the game has generated some concerns among PC security types. From its Wikipedia entry:
A review from McAfee SiteAdvisor of the Zwinky website states, "In our tests, this site promoted downloads that some people consider adware, spyware or other potentially unwanted programs." There are also many user review complaints about the spyware that the Zwinky website supports.
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Comments

Submitted by broken scope - March 17, 2008 at 6:32 pm -0500
A avatar based chat program help a kid deal with a war torn country.


Yay escapism.
Submitted by TheBird - March 17, 2008 at 7:22 am -0500
looks like those things are good for something
Submitted by Cheater87 - March 17, 2008 at 7:23 am -0500
I'm glad she has an escape from reality in Iraq. Hope she can get rid of the malware.
Submitted by Dog of the Military - March 17, 2008 at 8:39 am -0500
So wait, a 14 year old girl can escape the problems in Iraq by playing video games and the media praises it, and yet if we do it by playing Goldeneye or Doom, we are potentially serial killers? HYPOCRISY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@TheBird and Cheater87: At least we can say we have a small victory since this is part of what video games are about. But in this case it would just be selfish, so at least she has a way to avoid reality, however she shouldn't fully drown herself into it since it is a dangerous place, but also at 14, should should actually be aware of what's going on in her country.

IMO, of course. :)
Submitted by Blase - March 17, 2008 at 8:46 am -0500
I am sure there is a hidden murder simulator in there and the poor kid is just getting brainwashed. And there's the malware. Gasp!
Submitted by Bianca - March 17, 2008 at 9:13 am -0500
@ Dog of the Military

Now you get it. The keyword is "G-I-R-L", girl.

[sarcasm] As we all know, it's only guys who play the shooters, hence don't get praised. [/sarcasm]
Submitted by King of Fiji - March 17, 2008 at 11:23 am -0500
I think when your in Iraq the least of your problems is spyware and adware. XD
Submitted by jadedcritic - March 17, 2008 at 11:26 am -0500
I heard something similar once on NPR. I forget what part of the world it was. Think it was either Iraq or Gaza, might have been border Israel. Beirut maybe? They were talking to an author who'd been interviewing kids and had come across one story of a kid who'd been playing WoW during a major attack. When it happened, he'd told his guild/raid that there were real bombs going off where he lived and they'd responded with some degree of sympathy and understanding. He took some consolation from that, the basic attitude being, "well, at least there's some people over there that know what's happening".

Don't mistake me, life is short, you have to find comfort where you can, and I'm glad he found some solace in that; Now that I've said that, I will also say that if there were bombs going off nearby, I damn sure wouldn't be playing WoW. (ug - what a world.)
Submitted by GRIZZAM 512 - March 17, 2008 at 3:29 pm -0500
What the fuck is Zwinky?
Submitted by Jack Thompson is a douchbag - March 17, 2008 at 3:37 pm -0500
Yay videogames help you. In your fucking face JACK THOMPSON!
Submitted by Aliasalpha - March 17, 2008 at 7:10 pm -0500
@Bianca

By your comments I assume that you're a girl who plays shooters. Would you mind going on a killing spree to remove this base sexual discrimination that seems to be tainting this issue?

C'mon, you can do anything a man can do, girl power!
Submitted by vasudean - March 18, 2008 at 3:34 am -0500
Yay, it goes to show that games don't fuel violent outbursts, it creates an outlet for stress when you're incapable of outletting it in other places.
Submitted by Ebonheart - March 18, 2008 at 12:09 pm -0500
"wuss-on-wuss violence"

I needed to clean my computer at work after that line.
Submitted by Ebonheart - March 18, 2008 at 4:11 pm -0500
Hmm, how my "wuss on wuss" post made it into this article is beyond me. Now for what I meant to say on this article,

@Dog of the Military

Well your not a 14 y/o girl living in wartorn Iraq.
Submitted by chuck - March 18, 2008 at 6:14 pm -0500
Escapism indeed. Look, I'm not going to disparage escapism here -- I sure as hell would want to escape that world too -- but I'm also not going to hold it up as "the magical healing power of video games". Especially when it's not even a game, it's just an avatar icon. Fluff all around.
Submitted by StealthKnight - March 18, 2008 at 11:35 pm -0500
Those are some interesting stories of escapism. I hope she lives to her fullest.
Submitted by relax guy - March 19, 2008 at 4:37 pm -0500
@ jadedcritic

people do eventually just try to get on with their lives regardless of what is going on around them. i think because shitting yourself in the corner gets boring.
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