A new computer game is on the market this holiday season, but you won’t be able to find it in stores. The game, “JFK Reloaded,” only is available if downloaded via the Internet. Why has the game bypassed conventional methods of product sales?
Well, it wasn’t exactly a choice. The sole purpose of the game is to successfully recreate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Bonus points are awarded for direct hits to Kennedy’s head, while negative points are given for accidentally picking off former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. It’s clear why the game won’t be sold in any big-chain electronics stores, but perhaps what’s worse is that the company is using a $100,000 reward for whichever would-be assassin most accurately recreates Lee Harvey Oswald’s infamous shot as a way to draw gamers to its Web site.
| The issue New video game awards players for accurately recreating the JFK assassination. |
The game represents a trend, or worse, the established fixture in American society of violence in media. This may be the most extreme example to date.
Of course, it is not so disturbing that this game exists. After all, it only takes one maniac to develop the hauntingly realistic images in the game. What is disturbing, however, is that we have bred such an acceptance of violence in a country in which there appears to be a market for such a game.
“JFK Reloaded” is not alone, either. In fact, it is in very successful company. Take “Halo” and “Doom,” for example. They’re both highly-celebrated, main-stream games.
But, what happens when these gamers, who exist in masses in every high school and university across the country, get bored?
What’s next? A video game about the Washington D.C. snipers? Role-playing the Laci Peterson murder?
The truth is, 99.9 percent of violent video game fans won’t take their fantasyland abilities to the streets, but it only takes one for there to be disaster.
