Video Games About Popular Wars
How do you know when a war is popular? I think one useful gauge is when you have a video game, worth $20 for fun or $100 for the educational version, made about it. So if you are wondering which conflict is the most popular given that gauge—I think the Israeli-Palestinian conflict easily takes the prize.
Image via Wikipedia
The video games about that conflict started taking off with PeaceMaker. It cost a mere $750,000 to make (which is nothing in game terms) but is a run-away best-seller. It was featured at Sundance, profiled on (among other places) NBC, sells for $19.95 and while I could not find out how much money this game made, when it was still in development it was trying to attract sizable investors.
Of course it could not have been doing that poorly for it was swiftly followed by Global Conflicts Palestine. Global Conflicts again was not a large enterprise (at its largest it had seven developers working on it), it costs about $20 for a single version or $100 for an educational version, and was profiled at (among other places) CNN. And, since it was developed using a semi-Indie platform called Unity, Global Conflicts Palestine is incredibly popular with people who want to learn to use Unity.
These two games have started a trend. You can now fight swine flu in Swinefighter, save the economy in Ars Regendi, and try to keep your refugee camp functioning in Darfur is Dying. Some have even wondered if “interpretive journalism” as these games are sometimes called might be the future of journalism.
It might be, I suppose. But the game industry is, first and foremost, an industry. People are in it to make money. And so it might be worth noting that for the most part, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict games are being sold; the other games are being given away for free. (One prominent exception is Global Conflicts Latin America and there are probably others. Games about the Iraq War would probably sell quite well.)
It’s the difference between a best-seller and an OK book. A game based on the latter is simply not going to do well; a game based on the former has a good chance of becoming a run-away best seller in its own right. And thus far it looks like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the best-sellers.
At least as far as gamers are concerned.
Liked it
Haven’t tried this b4, may give it a try.
Thanks and have my liked it.
Nice article with great info on the game.
yeah..i’m not a gamer..but it’s nice to be informed regarding these matters:) nice post^_^
a very enjoyable article!
Well done post. History taught the way kids learn is a good direction.
Hi Inna,
I know nothing about games, so this is a great way to learn how everything starts up.
Good piece, though I’m no gamer!
Thanks,
clay
good info tho I dont know much about games.
Nice read.
not really a video game fan. but this is a great info for all video game addicts.
Interesting, great write.