Holy Crap! Penny Arcade actually caused me to think!

The link! won't work until they post again, Friday - I linked ahead to where this post will be in their archives.

"I had a chance to listen to the tape of Gabe's interview with his granddad, and it's already harrowing. They touch on the new Vietnam games very briefly, and without going into much detail he wasn't crazy about the idea. My stepdad was in Vietnam, as I would imagine many dads were - step or otherwise. If he'll talk to me, and I wouldn't blame him if he didn't, but if he did, I'll ask him what it's like to have someone make a toy out of your best friend dying in a jungle."

And I just finished Allied Assault: Spearhead, too.

At first, I was a little... flustered. A game?! It was never my intention to belittle the sacrifices of men in WWII by playing a game about it. Does it do that? Of course, it's always in the eye of the beholder... but, do most - or even a large minority of vets - disapprove of games based on their wars?

After a bit of thought, I think if vets don't disapprove of movies, they have nothing to gripe about when it comes to games. It's just a new medium, and one they may or may not be comfortable with. I mean, what's the difference between John Wayne storming the beaches of Normandy and me playing a game? It's all in the name of entertainment. Does Saving Private Ryan have a lock on "reverance"? I dunno. Maybe Return to Castle Wolfenstein adds quite a bit of sci-fi to the genre, but Medal of Honor: Allied Assault does more than just entertain me for a couple hours. It instructs me.

And, to be honest, it instills reverence in me. It does. I feel more indebted to the vets. I feel like they accomplished the impossible. I am awestruck.