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A Historical Video Game Shocks Spain

Civil War game lets players fight against— or for—the fascists

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 23, 2007 12:24 PM CST

(Newser) – The New York Times reports on a new video game on sale in Spain that bills itself as the first based on the 1936-39 civil war. Players of Shadows of War can take command the Republican army and reverse the course of history, preventing Franco's 40-year dictatorship—or they can command the Nationalists and hasten it. The game has provoked an outcry across the political spectrum.

"It will trivialize the drama of the civil war and dissipate its legacy of horror," said a prominent columnist at ABC, the right-leaning Madrid daily. But the game's designers counter the claims of banalizing the war and its legacy, saying that Shadows of War can introduce young people to history. Reparations to Franco's victims is a key program of PM José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's government.

Right-wing demonstrators participate in a fascist political rally in Madrid, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2007 in remembrance of the killing of Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera in 1936 by leftist forces during the Spanish Civil War. Primo de Rivera founded the Falange, the political movement linked with dictator Gen. Francisco Franco...
Right-wing demonstrators participate in a fascist political rally in Madrid, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2007 in remembrance of the killing of Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera in 1936 by leftist forces during the Spanish...   (Associated Press)
A kid holds a picture of Dictator Francisco Franco during a right-wing political rally in Madrid, Sunday Nov. 18, 2007 in remembrance of the killing of Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera in 1936 by leftist forces during the Spanish Civil War. Primo de Rivera founded the Falange, the political movement...
A kid holds a picture of Dictator Francisco Franco during a right-wing political rally in Madrid, Sunday Nov. 18, 2007 in remembrance of the killing of Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera in 1936 by leftist...   (Associated Press)
A statue of Gen. Francisco Franco is seen in this Oct 11, 2007 file photo in central Santander, Spain. Spanish lawmakers a passed historic legislation in Madrid Wednesday Oct. 31, 2007, condemning Gen. Francisco Franco's coup and the nearly 40-year dictatorship that followed. The vote in Spain's lower house formally...
A statue of Gen. Francisco Franco is seen in this Oct 11, 2007 file photo in central Santander, Spain. Spanish lawmakers a passed historic legislation in Madrid Wednesday Oct. 31, 2007, condemning Gen....   (Associated Press)
A man passes a replica of Pablo Picasso's Guernica in the center of the Basque town of Guernica, Spain, March 29, 2007. (AP Photos/Jasper Juinen)
A man passes a replica of Pablo Picasso's "Guernica" in the center of the Basque town of Guernica, Spain, March 29, 2007. (AP Photos/Jasper Juinen)   (Associated Press)
This composite photo shows the destroyed center of the Basque town of Guernica, top, shortly after German and Italian fighter planes backing the fascist forces of Gen. Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War leveled the historic Basque town with splinter and incendiary bombs. Below is a view of how...
This composite photo shows the destroyed center of the Basque town of Guernica, top, shortly after German and Italian fighter planes backing the fascist forces of Gen. Francisco Franco in the Spanish...   (Associated Press)
A right-wing demonstrator holds an image of Dictator Francisco Franco during a fascist political rally in Madrid, Sunday Nov. 19, 2007 in remembrance of the killing of Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera in 1936 by leftist forces during the Spanish Civil War. Primo de Rivera founded the Falange, the political...
A right-wing demonstrator holds an image of Dictator Francisco Franco during a fascist political rally in Madrid, Sunday Nov. 19, 2007 in remembrance of the killing of Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera in...   (Associated Press)
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