At the Georgia Tech News Games Project, Ian Bogost discusses Raid Gaza!, an editorial game dealing with Israel's offensive against Hamas in Palestine.
Raid Gaza! is hosted at Newgrounds and has an RTS-like interface in which the player, acting as the Israeli side, builds structures and uses them to create military units which are then launched against the Palestinians.
Of the game, Bogost writes:
The game argues against the justification of Israeli attacks on Gaza, representing them as unprovoked and characterizing Israel's response as overt aggression. The game's goal is to kill as many Palestinians as possible in a three minute session...
The game is headstrong, suffering somewhat from its one-sided treatment of the issue at hand. But as an editorial, it is a fairly effective one both as opinion text and as game... It's release on user-contributed animation and games portal Newgrounds came on 30 December 2008, only three days after the Israeli Defense Forces launched airstrikes...
Raid Gaza! was probably not created by a journalist nor a professional game developer (it was submitted to Newgrounds eponymously). Still, the piece was timely, coherent, and exerted commentary that is appreciable, even if it is not profound...
Comments
Re: New Game Is a Protest of Israeli Invasion of Gaza
Then what would you propose eh?
Re: New Game Is a Protest of Israeli Invasion of Gaza
Israel gets the hell off Palestinian land and moves to Antarctica? Who cares, it will never happen, both sides will fight to the death over this issue; be it their own or the enemies.
Re: New Game Is a Protest of Israeli Invasion of Gaza
Well if you don't care, then why are you devoting so much of your valuable time arguing over it?
Re: New Game Is a Protest of Israeli Invasion of Gaza
By the same philosphy, I should stop getting up and going to work. Death is around the corner, and there is nothing I can do to stop it. Why feed myself, clean myself, cloth myself, etc. etc.
Thankfully I'm not a nihilist, as you appear to be, as I like being full, fresh and pimped out.
Re: New Game Is a Protest of Israeli Invasion of Gaza
I don't think you understand what a nihilist is.
Re: New Game Is a Protest of Israeli Invasion of Gaza
For twenty years, not a day went by when a rocket or mortar didn't land in Israel. How is this a knee-jerk reaction? Its been building up for twenty years, and Israel's finally decided they're not going to stop until they have a REAL cease-fire (the ones offered so far were pretty one sided; Israel was to stop the attacks, but Palestine wouldn't guarantee cessation of hostility.
Its hard to feel bad for a country that elected an extremist terrorist organization for their government.
Re: New Game Is a Protest of Israeli Invasion of Gaza
You are such a scum bag. How would you feel if the rest of the world forcibly took our land away from us here in America and gave it back to the Native Americans? It used to be their land after all, isn't that fair?
How would you feel seeing your own house co-opted by these Native Americans and you have no say in it at all? I'll bet you'd be pissed, and knowing you, I'll bet you'd have your shotgun out and be wanting your land back. It is the exact same thing.
Everyone should make no mistake here, Isreal is the "bad guy" here, the aggressor. I am an American born and raised and not a muslim, this is just my honest opinion on the matter.
Re: New Game Is a Protest of Israeli Invasion of Gaza
You're adorable.
Regardless of the injustice of the treatment of native americans, their public image while it was happening was made to be one of rapacious evil human beings that scalped, kidnapped, burnt, pillaged, murdered, and none of it with any reason what-so-ever.
Now we know this wasn't true at all, with the worst tribes doing maybe two of those things. However, it doesn't change the fact that they were conquered. However, in states where there was/is a large impact by native american culture, they're typically honored now.
So, where does the plight of hamas compare to theirs? I haven't heard of many cases of rape or scalping, but I do know that there are hamas people strapping bombs to themselves and blowing up children, hospitals, diplomats, kidnapping and executing hostages, threatening bioterrorism, and otherwise doing activities that the mere accusation of resulted in the near obliteration of an entire section of the world's culture.
So, comparing hamas to native americans, should we absolutely obliterate their culture, because they're actually doing the things that propoganda spread about the native americans? Me personally I'm all for sticking a fleet of ships within ICBM (non nuclear) range and telling them to stop shooting, or we'll empty every single explosive weapon on those ships right on their heads.
The simple fact is that there are 10 year olds being given assault rifles by hamas, or just having bombs strapped to them. The israeli government? Nope.
Re: New Game Is a Protest of Israeli Invasion of Gaza
I'd be fine with it, but then again I'd probably make out like a bandit being as I'm half native american.
Of course, the reason you don't see me parading about bitching that my people deserve more land is probably because we lost it because we couldn't hold onto it. We lose. Palestine lost land because Britain gave it away because the British had control of it at the time. Then they spent the next 50 years assaulting the Israeli people in every way.
So, how would you feel if I, as a (half) Native American, began to take potshots at people because I felt you should give me my land back? Now, what if I didn't even attack military targets, but instead shot people while they were walking to their cars? Or launched rockets and mortars at houses? Would that be fair or right? Absolutely not.
Israel is not the 'bad guy' here, its the country doing whats best to stop the death of its citizens.
Re: New Game Is a Protest of Israeli Invasion of Gaza
"I'd be fine with it, but then again I'd probably make out like a bandit being as I'm half native american."
Explains your bias towards the Israelis. Doesn't however give any credibility to a baseless position, though.
"Of course, the reason you don't see me parading about bitching that my people deserve more land is probably because we lost it because we couldn't hold onto it. We lose. Palestine lost land because Britain gave it away because the British had control of it at the time. Then they spent the next 50 years assaulting the Israeli people in every way."
Britian conquered the region in World War I, that hardly makes it their property. They conquered Nazi Germany in WW2, I don't believe they gave away one fecking acre of it to the Israelites, or anyone else for that matter. The Allies each took there piece of the pie, and when it all fell apart in the 80's they gave it all back. Too bad the Palestinians aren't valued enough to have been given the same treatment.
"So, how would you feel if I, as a (half) Native American, began to take potshots at people because I felt you should give me my land back? Now, what if I didn't even attack military targets, but instead shot people while they were walking to their cars? Or launched rockets and mortars at houses? Would that be fair or right? Absolutely not."
You'd be arrested and charged under the criminal code of the local justice system. You shooting at other citizens in a confederated nation is not the same as a foreign government attacking your nation. Not even remotely close. Maybe if you were a Mexican shooting at Americans, that may skip on past the bullshit-o-meter, but Aboriginals are citizens of their conquerors (by courtesy, if nothing else).
And "Native" is derogatory, adjust your language. The proper term you're looking for is Aboriginal. At least until they change it again.
Re: New Game Is a Protest of Israeli Invasion of Gaza
You're right, i meant that they went off all of a sudden as if it were a knee-jerk reaction and not that it was a knee-jerk reaction but that's a bad analogy. I'm at work, it can be hard to focus sometimes cause I stop mid-thought, fix something, then come back when the office is quiet and finish a post :)
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Re: New Game Is a Protest of Israeli Invasion of Gaza
Eh, its ok. Good for wasting 5 minutes, but not much more.
Yes, I am a liberal. I also believe in a strong military, less government, and the right to bear arms.
Re: New Game Is a Protest of Israeli Invasion of Gaza
Isn't that true of most political games?
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety" - Benjamin Franklin
Re: New Game Is a Protest of Israeli Invasion of Gaza
The Political Machine (correct title?) will kill a week of your time. Otherwise... you walk out, never to play it again.
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