NY Times: Nintendo Will Not Develop Game About The Holocaust (Update)
Last month, when a 21-year-old British video game developer named Luc Bernard posted a description on his blog of a Holocaust-themed game he is writing that describes how the Nazis tortured children, the reaction was swift and visceral.“Disgusting concept. Some people have no shame,” wrote one video game blog reader. Another called it “pretty creepy.”
The game, called Imagination Is the Only Escape, apparently will not be distributed within the United States. It casts players in the role of a young boy in eastern France during the German occupation who seeks escape from real-life horror through a fantasy world.
Darkly illustrated and full of gruesome historical facts, it is a far cry from the normal fare written for the Nintendo DS, which tends toward games featuring cute ponies and the like (DS stands for double screen).
So don’t expect the Holocaust game to be popping up on the shelves of Toys “R” Us anytime soon. “At this time, there are no plans for this game to be released for any Nintendo platforms in North America,” the company said in a statement.
Update: Kotaku contacted the creator of the game, check out what he had to say after the jump:
Well from what I was told, Nintendo Europe is also scared of it, but again I don’t think they are trying to block the game, I think they are just scared that it has bad taste
that is why however I would like to say, that I don’t think the game will be banned, once I have time to talk to Nintendo myself and show them the game they will change their mind.
ALten8 talks to them for me, however I will try and find a way to talk to Nintendo USA myself. I mean I doubt they would want to ban a educational game that is non violent, where to profits are going to help stop another genocide, this isn’t just about the war this game, it’s to try and teach children something so they don’t end up racist.
I seriously don’t think Nintendo will ban the game once I get to show it to them, I think also the reason they were shocked is because alten8 deals with Nintendo Europe and well they haven’t even talked to Nintendo Europe yet about it since well they are scared that it pisses them off. I am currently developing the game no matter what people say, and I will let alot of people test the game before I even consider it finished, it needs to be PERFECT or I won’t release it.
on another note Eternity’s Child will be finished this month :) so soon up for release