Desert Combat on NPR

[Jason McMaster]

On my way to work today, NPR ran a story on the Desert Combat mod for BF1942. Anyone else hear this?

[Aleck]

On my way to work today, NPR ran a story on the Desert Combat mod for BF1942. Anyone else hear this?

Yeah, I heard it this morning.

As I was listening to it, I thought: God, I wish this report had been done by someone who understood games and gaming.

The premise of the report (for those who didn't hear it) was that Desert Combat was essentially a simulator for the war in Iraq, in which players got to fight with the same weapons as the troops in Iraq. They mentioned that it was good for folks to take out their anxieties re: the war through the game, and that it provided an outlet for all the war tension people are feeling. They went so far as to discuss how the "Iraqi" side could use "suicide bombers" in Desert Combat (never mind that, at least as far as I have ever been able to tell, there's no "Iraqi" team as such...?)

According to the developer's page (http://www.desertcombat.com/?page=info):

What is Desert Combat?
Desert Combat is a modern day military modification to the popular war game BattleField1942 from EA. It is focused on conflicts in the middle-east within the last decade between the various nations, From Desert Storm to Somalia. This war game is a total conversion for Battlefield1942 and is based on the same principles of a FPS and arcade style vehicle sim. It will be focused around multiplayer online gameplay and is expected to be free to the public.

I also loved how, in the interview, the developer mentioned that people protest against the war by playing the "Iraqis" and saying things like "you will not steal my oil!" They neglected to mention that vast majority of the maps in rotation on DC servers are BF1942 maps, meaning that you're storming the beaches at Normany with an Abrams, not marching on Baghdad.

(There were also a few pieces of flawed reporting, such as reporting the number of downloads of DC and then assuming that each of these would translate into retail sales if the game were sold at retail. Aside from the fact that a lot of people wouldn't pay for it, the number of downloads sounded like it included all of the downloads of all the various versions of DC, meaning that the number of downloads versus the number of players is drastically different).

While there was a good story to be had here, I thought this NPR piece was wide of the mark. I heard the story mainly as a PR piece for the developers of Desert Combat, right down to the "it may be in stores soon!"

A very disappointing showing from NPR.

asjunk

[Jason McMaster]

Yes, by far the "YOU WILL NOT STEAL MY OIL!!!!!" comment was the best part.

I was also fond of the download report turning into magic sales.

[Peter Olafson]

What show was this broadcast on, please? Does NPR cover games on a regular basis?

Thanks!

Peter

[Jason McMaster]

NPR doesn't cover games very often, in the last year I've heard coverage of Army Ops(ooof) and of todays mention of Desert Combat.

Army Ops - All Things Considered, last year

Desert Combat - Morning Edition, this morning

[Peter Olafson]

Thanks, Jason. I guess if it's topical (i.e. war-related) they'll cover it.

Peter

[Jason McMaster]

Yeah, pretty much. I don't get science friday down here, so I'm not sure if they cover games. the few episodes of it that I've heard have been cool, but not computer tech usually.

[Bub, Andrew]

They covered GTA3 not too long ago too.

[Hump]

While there was a good story to be had here, I thought this NPR piece was wide of the mark

as is far "left" of that mark?....

[Jason McMaster]

I'm sure Rush would have covered it better:

BLOO BLAH BLOOOOO IM FAT GIMME A DAMNED DONUT BLOO BLAH SHOOTING TOWEL HEADS BLOOOO AMERICA!!! AMERIACA!RR!@!!!$$@@$

AMREMRM@#II@~!!!~~~

[Aleck]

BTW, anyone who wants to listen to the NPR segment can get it from here:

http://discover.npr.org/rundowns/segment.jhtml?wfId=1245887

Click on the link for "Shock and Awe" at the top.

asjunk

EDITED to fix the damn link.

[Lando]

Jason, if you're going to attack Rush at least stay current. He's not fat anymore -- some huge diet thing.

Carry on...

[Jason McMaster]

I bet he still likes donuts.

All I know about Rush is the one show I heard on the way back from Cincy a few months ago. I was flipping through channels and he was on so I was like "What the hell" and I listened.

I don't know what's worse, Rush or the people who call in.

[Moore]

Eh? He's still fucking fat. He might see his feet now but willie aint in his view I'm sure.

Is this the 'thin' him? http://www.mskousen.com/images/limbaugh.jpg

He just lost the tits and the party hat.

[Pie4Foo]

I was asked to be interviewed on NPR for mods and Rogue Spear about 18 months ago (someone did a series of Rogue Spear mods about Osama after 9/11), but my schedule threw out the possibility. They aired the interview with only Ubi Soft's PR rep here in the US on ATC.

If it's timely and/or gains national media attention, game coverage pop ups in a lot of media.