Israeli Propoganda Games: Why they should be awesome

*Disclaimer* this blog is not about politics per-say and I don't want to go on a rant about the Middle East or pretend to know what I'm talking about over there. What I will do is condemn a really stupid advocacy group for hurting it's cause, bringing even more negative press and hate to Israeli's, and completely misinterpreting what makes video games special as an artistic medium.

I first read the story on Kotaku yesterday about who a ultra-right wing group of Jewish settlers created and released some really crappy FPS's about pieces of Jewish history. When you release games that are minimally functional in an attempt to blatantly indoctrinate youth it is just a pure epic fail for the Israeli people and for your cause. Now if the games had some actual historical educational quotient, or actually played like they would encourage children to want to learn more about their heritage that would be pretty awesome. That, unfortunately, isn't the case.

I will say it would be irresponsible to condemn Israel as a country for these games for the same reason you can't condemn America as a country because of the crazy southern pastor who burnt the Koran (not very nice of him).

Whew! With that said.....

I love the subject matter of these games. There is so much history around Israel and the Jewish people that you just can't make up. The struggle of the Macabee's, a Jewish Sect during the Roman occupation that rebelled against the foreign rule and are actually the origin of the holiday Hanuka. They were known for using giant hammers in battle. That's bad ass, historical, and there could be a lot of great gray area and drama.

Making a well thought out game about the struggles between Palestine and Israel would be what I would like to see the most, but would never happen for obvious reasons. Being able to interact with a actual mature, diverse, complicated issue in an immersive medium and be able to really understand the struggle's of both sides; it is what I dream of (well that and Skyrim). It would be thought provocative, original, and relevant. It would also be near impossible to pull off, no publisher would fund it or pick it up, and it would befall the same fate as 6 Days in Felujah, but that is what I personally would consider a mature game.

Bottom line is that the games are stupid, but I would love for someone to have the balls to do it right.