"America's Army" Meets "Night of Bush Capturing"

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The U.S. Department of Defense has its own video game called "America's Army [5]," which serves as a military recruiting tool [6]. Not to be outdone, Islamist websites have been distributing "Night of Bush Capturing," a first-person shooter video game that allows players to assume the role of a terrorist, gun down U.S. troops and — in the game's final level — assassinate President Bush. The ultimate irony, though, is that "Night of Bush Capturing" is a modified version of an earlier video game. As gaming analyst Zach Whalen points out, "It's a straightforward re-skinning of Quest for Saddam [7] that simply exchanges references to Saddam with references to George W. Bush. ... What I think is important and interesting about both games, however, is the way their programmatic relationship reveals an underlying logical similarity between the anti-Saddam and anti-Bush messages."