September 11th, 2001 is a date in history which will always be remembered as the moment when global terrorism came to the doorsteps of ordinary US citizens. The morally repugnant attack shocked the world and demonstrated how unsafe modern society can be. Whatever you’re political affiliation or beliefs about American foreign policy, you cannot forget the innocent people who died on that fateful day. As a student of history, it’s important to look at atrocities and not shy away from the events of the past. This is so we can educate others to avoid future mistakes.
However, this has to be conducted in a respectful manner which puts academic interests first. Unbelievably, a game has been created for virtual reality devices entitled 8:46 which puts you in the footsteps of someone trapped in one of the Twin Towers. According to the project’s creative director, the game is designed:
“As a tribute to the victims of our generation-shaping experience.”
Realistically, 8:46 won’t be a commercial endeavor so the developer isn’t making any money from 9/11. Although, this doesn’t sit right with me as you hear the screams ringing throughout the buildings. Currently, you can download the game for free but it requires a VR device such as the DK2.
Krafft was interviewed by Tech Insider and said:
“In the team, we are all in our twenties,”
“And 9/11, on a global scale, changed as much our social interactions as our geopolitical context.”
“We worked with a lot of references, from an interview with a survivor to plans of the floors or journalistic works … to be precise about the events and the human dynamics in the towers,”
Clearly, this is a controversial release and one which divided opinion among some people. In my view, it is quite disrespectful to those who died in 9/11 and almost trivializes what transpired. Although, other opinions are just as valid, and it could be argued that the game finds a way to discuss 9/11 among modern audiences. Whatever the case, it’s certainly an eye-opening project.
Are you offended by this game or do you think it’s an interesting historical tool? To reiterate, we welcome a lively discussion but please refrain from political arguments as this is a technology site first and foremost.
We have no trouble with games with a world war II setting, where we play, kill and even sometimes play as Nazis killing the Allies. Or games where people get tortured and were slavery is a thing, and no one cares. But when they touch 9/11 people go berserk. For most subjects in the line of human history it is okay to make a video game, but 9/11 always seems to be the exception. Why?
No-one saw much of the atrocities of WWII, it wasn’t all over tv with live killings etc. I am not American but I vividly remember watching this unfold, watching people jumping from windows to certain death rather than getting buried alive or burnt to death.
I do understand your statement but warfare is a lot different from a bunch of innocent people getting killed from the act of terrorism, at least in war the other side gets a chance to defend themselves….
Really? So during the battle of britain or the german’s equivalent the civilians had a chance to defend themselves against the bombing from both sides?
yup the air raid sirens gave them atleast a few minutes in which to seek shelter which is a hell of a lot more than the victims of 9/11 got, wouldn’t you agree ???
Not necessarily my friend. V2 rockets were also fired at London during the blitz, there was no way to shoot them down and were to quick for any warnings to be given, they were so terrifying that the government didnt actually tell the puplic that they existed, and instead sugested that the buildings were being destroyed by gas leaks ?
If you want to go down that route then blame the american government for not warning anybody about a potential attack….
Hell m8, if you wanted to go further down that route you could be asking if the American government was behind the whole thing in order to get various “snooping” charters rushed through the government and straight into law so it could legally spy on everybody, aswell as creating a “reason” to go and invade Oil rich countries and give them their “freedom” all for a few million barrels of oil…….
Can you email me as well? I work for a NY mag and I want to get feedback from individuals. My email is mmoore@bzmedia.com 🙂
It’s just too soon. Ww2 was over 70 years ago and the majority of the world is emotionally removed from it and can view it objectively. I still remember watching the towers fall and enormity of it.
Having said that, man, pairing the game up with an event that is so emotionally real really brought the tension and fear home. Hectic.
Hmmmm some things should not be made…….why would anyone want to experience 9/11 ? Jesus, I am not a squeamish person at all but watching this unfold on live news was fucking heartbreaking.
Can you email me? I work for a NY mag and I want to get feedback from individuals. My email is mmoore@bzmedia.com 🙂
I feel the very same way about the titanic movie.. Why would anyone want to experiance what happened on the titanic..
COH2 that paints the soviets in bad light killing their own people. GTA San andreas teaches us that ghetto people rob, murder, take drugs etc etc. CounterStrike – all terrorists are middle eastern type people. Could continue but I don’t think there is a need to. There should be a free reign on all games, even if someone was to sell that game if nobody approved then they wouldn’t spend the money, am i right?
An interesting escape game consept .. I’d play this .
So everything else is okay to make games about; WW2, Vietnam, Cold War, even games set in the Middle East where there is actually still fighting and Counter Terrorism units, but 9/11 is off limits…why? Dude is clearly trying to educate. Get off your high horse. Yes, it was an awful event where many people needlessly died in pain and fear, but WHAT exactly is the authors problem with it? It’s not trivializing it, nor jesting it. Did you have the same response when movies came out about the event?
were can i downf it from stupid trats
It would be a wonderful idea to make a game about the 9/11 experience.
However, this is a pitifully horrible budget game, and it shows.
If you’re going to do 9/11, do it. But show the utmost respect by getting a huge budget, a real script, and doing the damn thing. Not this.
Remember The Walking Dead 2014? Something like that. Something emotional, point and click, put some depth to it.
You can’t make a war game out of 9/11. Some of these people were your grandparents going in to clean the towers that day. These aren’t soldiers. So there has to be a real, honest to God story here with decision making a huge factor. They’ve got the right idea, but seriously, put together a real script and kickstart this. This is an important game. It probably does need to be made, just with a different slant. Less “game” more interactive movie. And throw in all the history. You could do something really beautiful out of something this ugly in history.
I disagree heavily with this article, I understand that this is a low budget game, BUT This is the only game that we have where people can actually experience what it feels like to be in that situation.
Yes the foreign lady and foreign accents were funny in this game, however hopefully there is a better VR experience game where you can play as multiple roles such as: firefighter, policeman, paramedic, and last but not least a survivor. This should be a historical VR experience just like they made a VR Titanic type of game.
I believe video games like this can teach us a lot and put us in the experience of what it felt like at that time. Hopefully technology will get advance where we really feel like we are in the experience.