Video game developers are turning to current events as inspiration for online and cell-phone games. In recent months gamers have been able to throw shoes at President Bush, land a airplane on the Hudson River and rescue a ship captain from Somali pirates. CNN has the story.
A few ambitious game developers such as NewsGaming.com publish challenging, event-inspired online simulations. "September 12" lets players explore the U.S. response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, while "Madrid" takes a similar approach to the March 11, 2004, attacks in Spain.
"Traditionally, videogames have focused on fantasy rather than reality, but we believe that they can be a great tool for better understanding our world," explains the site. "We prefer games that encourage critical thinking, even if the player disagrees with our games' ideas."
