Karma by Kuma
Downloadable FPS games! Missions based on the headlines! The developers of Kuma Wars claimed “playable re-creations of real war events,” such as the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. In the real world: killed with a bomb; in Kuma War: killed by four US supersoldiers. Or a simulated assault on Iran, starring... four US supersoldiers. The games may not be that weird, but world politics through game developers’ eyes? Full-on nutty.
Murder and marketing
Bullfrog’s Syndicate Wars was a pioneer in annoying the snot out of players with in-game advertising, thanks to a deal with Manga Entertainment that saw them sticking animated Ghost in the Shell billboards throughout its futuristic world, and big Manga vans driving around its locations. As annoying as the constant barrage was, at least you could fight back - blowing the goddamn vans into a million pieces via orbital satellite strikes. Will the advertisers of the future be so generous, we wonder?
