Game makers and industry analysts said this week that war against Iraq, whether people support it or not, should do little to diminish consumer appetites for the games.

They pointed to the last week of February, when tensions between a U.S.-led coalition and Iraq escalated and three of the 10 best-selling PC game products were either war games or add-on packages for war games, according to the NPD Group, a firm that tracks the industry.

Moreover, three of the top 20 console titles for the full month were military-themed.

NPD Group analyst Richard Ow said game publishers delayed or revamped many games after Sept. 11, 2001, to remove any parts or references that might offend people, such as images of New York's World Trade Center twin towers. But, gradually, they returned to the themes that have made war games so popular.

"Over time, (as) the consumers and the comfort level returned somewhat close to normal, now you're seeing those games come back into light," Ow said. "Now they're sort of being released with somewhat of a fervor."

Of the more than a half-dozen war games set to be released in a few weeks, many put players in historical situations such as World War One, the Vietnam War or U.S. incursion in Somalia.

While war themes are common, there are very few games based on the 1991 Gulf War, the most notable of them being "Conflict: Desert Storm," released last year by Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.

A spokesman for Take-Two said it was not seeing any impact on its business from the run-up to the war, and that it had no plans to delay the coming Vietnam-era title "Vietcong."

MANY SIDES, MANY GAMES

On the Internet, it's easy to find simple programs like "UN Weapons Inspector" and "War Against Irak" (sic) that let the user commit various acts -- unspeakable or otherwise -- against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his regime.

There is another side, though, one that is often missing -- the perspective of the people generally portrayed as the enemy in such games.

"Special Force" is one example: Players use guns and other munitions to kill enemies and make the world safe for like-minded people, but the enemies are what the game calls "Zionists" and the theme is jihad.

Designed by Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah, its Web site at http://www.specialforce.net/english/indexeng.htm claims it will "render you a partner of the resistance."

The United States considers Hizbollah a "terrorist" group and blames it for the 1983 suicide bombings on its Marines barracks and Beirut embassy as well as kidnapping Westerners in Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

The game's Web site says it was designed in response to the predominance of western pro-American games.

"The problem behind these electronic games ... is that most of them are foreign make, especially American," the site's said. "In addition, some enfolds humiliation to many of our Islamic and Arab countries; where battles are running in these Arab countries, the dead are Arab soldiers, whereas the hero who kills them is -- the player himself -- an American."

LINKS TO U.S. MILITARY

The video game industry has plenty of direct links with the U.S. military. Last year, the Interactive Digital Software Association, a trade group for the U.S. industry, organized a drive to equip each of the 72 submarines in the U.S. Navy fleet with a video game console and 20 games each.

Games are also used for military training. Navy pilots in flight school often use a modified version of a commercial flight simulator game to hone their skills.

"One guy on the course used this program a lot and at the end they looked back and said, 'Holy cow, your grades are amazing.' They said 'How did you do it?' He said, 'I have this video game at home'," Lt. j.g. Steve Dean, a Navy pilot aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, told Reuters.

Taking the link a step further, the U.S. Army became a publisher last year with "America's Army: Operations," a free game intended to let players see what life is like in the military. Nearly 1.5 million people have registered to play.

"These games are recognized because trends show that events in media and entertainment tie back to consumers and video gamers," NPD's Ow said. "I don't think war's any different."

(Agencies via Xinhua March 26, 2003)