It’s really hard for me to let June 6th go by without saying anything, but given that it’s been 60 years since the Normandy invasion by the Allies, the so-called turning point of World War II, I feel I should at least throw a few thoughts in between all the retrospectives of major news media outlets. After seeing some of the veterans both on the televised specials on Sunday and at the McCrae Legion here in Guelph somberly pay respects to their fallen brothers lost on that day, it sadly becomes apparent that many of these brave men and women probably won’t be around to see another 10 years.

I’m approaching this important event from a gamer’s perspective though; after reading a few choice websites and selected books I would hardly classify myself as an authority on the subject. But it takes only the average person’s serving of common sense to realize that war is not something that should be acceptable in our day. I’m not about to transform this into a political forum, though, so there’s no need to discuss the current situation in the Middle East – it has been done to death by the news media and webloggers alike.

As a gamer – and especially one that tends to gravitate towards realistic war-themed games – I find it a tough subject to tackle, even more so since the first time I played Battlefield: Vietnam. I’ve seen some attempts to write about the subject, but few have actually managed to put what I feel into words when I play these games. Seeing an endorsement from the American Veterans of Foreign Wars for the anticipated Brothers in Arms makes it even harder. What is the real allure of it all? Should the games really be striving for realism? Perhaps it is all about an underlying thought that you wished you could have been there, to have spilled your blood and that of your fellow man for God and Country, and return home a hero. But not everyone did come home, and as Vietnam and the war in Iraq shows, heroic credibility is not so easily dispatched. In 1939 the call to arms was heeded by all with little question, with promises of adventure and glory waiting on the other side of the ocean. Given what has been learned since, I don’t think many of us would do the same now.

I think the question becomes about the process of creating war-themed games. As a subject, the period of 1939-1945 is certainly full of stories that could be told, and re-told as new technologies and game designs arise, and new developers get their hands on the material. There is obviously a demand as well, because they all keep coming. As a gamer, while playing I find it essential that the game is kept separate from the reality of the situation being simulated, as Clive Thompson noted earlier this year. But as someone that is also genuinely interested in the gravity of these stories, the reason they even occurred in the first place, and the repercussions of these actions, it can easily develop into feelings of guilt, shame, and even disgust with an industry that takes almost morbid creative license with such brutal historical events.

the destiny you sold