Darfur – A Video Game?

I came across this early this morning. Not quite sure how to react to it – would like to hear what you guys think.

mtvU has brought together activism and technology in an effort to bring an end to the Darfur genocide. What has been created is a video game in which the user is a displaced Darfurian who fights for survival by foraging for water amidst threats of Janjaweed militia attacks.

mtvU wants the game to be a “glimpse of what it’s like for the more than 2.5 million who have been internally displaced by the crisis in Sudan”.

I understand that mtvU wants to spread awareness about the atrocities taking place, but I do not know whether this is the right direction to go in.

The suffering that the people of Darfur face day in and day out is not a GAME – it is a REALITY.

In the game, if an IDP runs out of water or gets captured by the militia, he or she can start over, try again. In real life, there is no “starting over”.

The real IDP’s do not have an endless supply of lives – they have one.

To see a female avatar running through a village lined with rocks and dead cattle with the Janjaweed chasing her down seems somewhat distasteful to me. I really did not want to include the link to the game on this blog entry. However, I decided that this was something that all of you needed to see for yourself.