It's an interesting idea for a game to put you in the role of a real-life current event hero. I bet a lot of people hearing about that near-tragedy wondered how they would handle life-and-death split second decisions. And then, oh look, there's a game that puts me in his shoes! Obviously the game wasn't a very good simulation, but that curiosity will get people to try it.
@Murph1908: Current events are only current events until they become history though. And what would games do without the Renaissance, or middle ages with knights on horseback, World War 2, The Vietnam War, or just about any war for that matter?
I guess my point is, I don't need it as the gimmick. A game won't get my attention because it has current events. If it is a good game that has current events, that's fine. But including them won't make me say, "I gotta go play that."
Law and Order used the gimmick, and it's when it jumped the shark for me. It was if they were so hyped up about using current events that they forces stories from them.
Making games out of real or potential tragedies may seem cold, but I think it's a pretty good idea. Not for the sake of playing, but for the sake of the message they provide. If something horrible happens, isn't it better to put a spin on it and lighten the issue than it is to dwell on it and make everyone feel even worse than they do? It may not be "appropriate", but it helps more than it hurts. It seems to me that that's more "appropriate" than the usual acceptable moroseness that accompanies such events. I'm not saying these events don't merit proper respect, just that they shouldn't be slandered based on their "poor taste".
I understand that this game is doing well, and it did not really become a tragedy, but it just reminded me of other games like it based on real tragedies.
@Monolith: To be honest, the only people really qualified to answer your question are those who've experienced or been affected by said tragedies. To try and wrangle a similar analogy (albeit poorly) if somebody made a game based around somebody I'd lost, because that was more 'appropriate' than being morose, I'd not be best pleased. Whilst I agree sometimes there's no point in dwelling on a tragedy, it's not entirely without merit or reason. Feeling upset and sadness is as much as part of the human spectrum of emotion as joy, and so I feel there is a point to misery, particularly during tragedies.
I played that game a week or so ago, and there really isn't much of a game there, let alone anything to live up to its developer's namesake. This is just marketing an inferior product by tying it into a current events story. While there's nothing really wrong with this -- I don't object to the decision to recreate the event -- it's just annoying as always to see such lackluster drivel get more plays and generate more ad revenue than the hundreds of better Flash titles out there.
@Kobun:
To be honest, I never even knew Addicting Games even created their own webgames. Because most of their games are ripped off of other artists, normally on Newgrounds, DeviantArt or the artists' homepage and then stolen with ads crammed everywhere. -- I have nothing wrong with distributing artists' work, but when they don't get any ad revenue or credit you wonder why these sites are still running, especially eBaums.
@Kobun: Not to mention it's highly inaccurate. I just ditched the plane almost nose first into the water and got declared an hero. I watched a program on the Hudson landing, which I believe makes me an expert, and it taught me that if I had done that irl, my aircraft would have been almost instantly torn to shreds.
I'd also like to use this post to declare that whilst I am aware the bugs in the new commenting system are being ironed out, this clicking-outside-of-the-text-box-deletes..., is pissing me the hell off!! >_< On the plus side I like the new edit feature. Thank you.
07/10/09
07/10/09
07/10/09
I stopped watching Law and Order when they were all hyped up on "Ripped from the headlines!!!"
07/10/09
07/13/09
I guess my point is, I don't need it as the gimmick. A game won't get my attention because it has current events. If it is a good game that has current events, that's fine. But including them won't make me say, "I gotta go play that."
Law and Order used the gimmick, and it's when it jumped the shark for me. It was if they were so hyped up about using current events that they forces stories from them.
07/10/09
I understand that this game is doing well, and it did not really become a tragedy, but it just reminded me of other games like it based on real tragedies.
07/10/09
07/10/09
07/11/09
07/10/09
07/10/09
07/10/09
07/10/09
To be honest, I never even knew Addicting Games even created their own webgames. Because most of their games are ripped off of other artists, normally on Newgrounds, DeviantArt or the artists' homepage and then stolen with ads crammed everywhere. -- I have nothing wrong with distributing artists' work, but when they don't get any ad revenue or credit you wonder why these sites are still running, especially eBaums.
07/10/09
I watched a program on the Hudson landing, which I believe makes me an expert, and it taught me that if I had done that irl, my aircraft would have been almost instantly torn to shreds.
I'd also like to use this post to declare that whilst I am aware the bugs in the new commenting system are being ironed out, this clicking-outside-of-the-text-box-deletes..., is pissing me the hell off!! >_< On the plus side I like the new edit feature. Thank you.