9/11: The German Video Game
It’s not tasteless, it’s art.
If running over prostitutes in Vice City wasn’t enough mayhem for you, soon there’s going to be a video game that will let you relive 9/11. You’ll even be able to be a hero. Set for a 2006 release, Survivor, by German-based Replay Studios, lets you try to make it out alive from a variety of catastrophes: the Titanic, Hiroshima (we’re not sure how you get out of that one), and this year’s fire in a Paraguayan supermarket. Gamers also play firefighter in the World Trade Center, helped along by what Replay promises are “cinematic special visual effects.” You’ll “have to save many victims,” e-mails co-producer Claus Wohlgemuth. But if you think this is in poor taste, you need to realize, these are artists you’re dealing with. “Disasters have always been a source of inspiration for great dramas, novels, paintings, and films,” he adds.
—Brian Kennedy