No modern-day military practice comes under more fire than unmanned aerial vehicle attacks. Bombing by UAV gets called out as cowardly or as a morally indefensible method of waging combat. It’s derisively been called video game warfare, a way of distancing the American public from the acts of violence done in their name. Fittingly, then, there’s now a video game about it.
Molleindustria’s critical protest game Phone Story was designed to achieve two ends: to raise consumer awareness of the conditions under which smartphones like the iPhone are produced, and to help serve as a fundraising tool.
Earlier today, we reported the news that Apple had pulled Molleindustria’s iPhone game Phone Story from the app store. The game depicts four stages of the production of a smartphone, exposing the ugly truths of smartphone development with a frankness that is designed to make users uncomfortable.
Flash game-like thing Every Day The Same Dream, a delightfully depressing drudgery simulator, spawns a fan-made film with a slightly different perspective. If you haven’t already played Molleindustria’s game, do so, then bum yourself out further by watching.
Faith Fighters, a flash-based 2D fighter by Molleindustria, is exactly what its name suggests. You pick a deity (choices include God, Muhammad, Ganesh & Jesus), you get an opponent, you fight to the death, Street Fighter-style. It’s goal, according to Molleindustria, is to “push gamers to reflect on how [their]religions and sacred representations are often instrumentally used to fuel or justify conflicts between nations and people”. OK! Muslim readers upset at the inclusion of a physical representation of the prophet Muhammad (ie a big no-no), there’s a censored version of the game should you (or anyone else not already put off the game) still want to give it a try. I’d recommend it. The art style’s got a very The Behometh (Castle Crashers) feel to it, and for a flash-based fighter it’s pretty great. Faith Fighter [Molleindustria, via Water Cooler Games]
