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While Electronic Arts recently discovered just how sensitive the public can be when it comes to video games that depict modern warfare, a student game developer in Germany has just discovered that even games set during the Cold War can stir up enormous controversy in his country.
Jens Stober, a 23-year-old student at the University of Design, Media and Arts in Karlsruhe, Germany, has created a game called "1378 (km)." The game's numeric title refers to the length of the border that once divided East Germany from West Germany during the Cold War years.
The game asks players to play either as an East German trying to escape the country by crossing the area known as the "death strip" or play as a guard tasked with gunning down all would-be escapees.
Stober says that he created the computer game to teach young, tech-savvy Germans about their country's past.
"Becoming an East German escapee or border guard enables players to identify with these figures," he told Reuters. "It's a novel way of encouraging young people to take an interest in coming to terms with recent German history."
But when Stober unveiled "1378 (km)" last week, the game caused a massive public uproar.
Rainer Wagner, who tried to escape from East Germany as a teenager, told Spiegel Online that it was like a "punch in the face." "It feels like I'm being shot at again, emotionally," said Wagner, who was arrested by border guards during his escape attempt.
Meanwhile, various politicians called the game "macabre and scandalous," as well as "tasteless and stupid."
According to various estimates, some 1,000 people were killed trying to escape East Germany by crossing the "death strip." Stober had planned to release the game last Sunday on the anniversary of German reunification. But officials with Stober's university said the game will now be released in December as a free download.
Despite the controversy and launch date change, university officials have stood behind Stober's game and its ability to work as a teaching tool.
Michael Bielicky, a professor who supervised Stober on the project, told Spiegel Online, "Computer games are the ideal medium to reach the younger generation."
The game lets up to 16 players take on the roles of East Germans trying to escape into West Germany or play as the guards that were ordered to shoot anyone that tried to escape. Those who play guards do not have to shoot escapees — they can also arrest them or even join them in their flight. And those that do shoot the escapees find themselves transported to the future and to a court trial — which is what happened in reality.
"In the game, you ask yourself: 'What would I do?,'" Stober told the German news agency DPA. "You may come to the conclusion that you would not shoot at your fellow countrymen and women."
This is not the first time Stober has worked on a game meant to teach people about real-world border-crossing situations. He was a lead map designer on "Frontiers," a computer game that lets players see what it's like to be a refugee trying to make it across a variety of European borders.
Winda Benedetti writes the Citizen Gamer column for msnbc.com. You can follow her tweets about games and other things right here on Twitter
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