MS Flight Simulator 2002 to include WTC

[Psycho Fox]

MS planned to removed them then people found out then they got a ton of letters some going as far as telling MS they would be unamerican to take away the WTC from the NYC map. Thus there will be a switch to turn on and off the WTC. Meaning in the setting you can take it out or leave it in.

MS has distroyed the print ads they were going to release that showed 2 people using the software with the caption "John, you just about crashed into the Empire State Building!" "Hey, that would be cool." Which I think is a good move on MSs part.

Today I ran a flight sim (no it was not MS FS) and flyed with JU-52 close to the towers. Enjoyed the view even though it was not real.

Hopefully other game will keep the towers.

[Jowy Blight]

That's it!

I'm sorry, this may be an unpopular opinion, but I am sick of this
self-censorship that kids' shows, video games and TV in general is imposing on itself
regarding the WTC. What does any fantasy story on television or a scene of the WTC in video games have to do with
real life? If people are that sensitive, they shouldn't be watching
television or playing games at all. Who knows what they might see that will set them off.

I'm sick of missing out on shows and seeing things rearranged, postponed,
censored or cancelled just because OTHER people can't separate reality and
fantasy.

[James]

Originally posted by Jowy Blight
That's it!

I'm sorry, this may be an unpopular opinion, but I am sick of this
self-censorship that kids' shows, video games and TV in general is imposing on itself
regarding the WTC. What does any fantasy story on television or a scene of the WTC in video games have to do with
real life? If people are that sensitive, they shouldn't be watching
television or playing games at all. Who knows what they might see that will set them off.

I'm sick of missing out on shows and seeing things rearranged, postponed,
censored or cancelled just because OTHER people can't separate reality and
fantasy.

I agree. As I just in the Spiderman cancellation thread. The object is to ignore terrorism as best as possible. To the act as little publicity as possible and try to get on with our lives showing that we do not fear such actions. Life should be lead as normal as possible. Terrorism is about fear. These knee jerk media alterations seem to be over sensitive and in affect, make the public feel that they should be fearing something.

For those who argue that the deaths should mean we remodel our fantasy and media because of what has happened, I ask are you willing to remove all other fantasy productions which involve deaths and injury through fire, crashes, murder, accidents, illness, social problems.... everyday people die in horrific and pointless ways. The families grieve and live in pain. Yet there will be many programmes that remind them of their loss and they don't have the luxury of having the media alter these programmes for them.

We should be sensitive to those who are currently grieving over the disaster, but i don't think altering a computer game or film is going to give them much relief from their pain.

[RockItShipper]

What's wrong with having the option, though?

[James]

For me it's less the option, but more the over sensitivity the option represents. The WTC wasn't at fault here. The building was a great landmark. I don't think that having the WTC in the game will affect the mass grief of the unfortunate. This judgement was made not out of consideration of those who have lost close ones, but simply because the company is terrified of being seen as not been sensitive about these issues. For that I refer to my previous post.

[DR. BELCH]

--a disclaimer at the beginning of a movie or video game would be more cost-effective and sensible than having to re-edit and re-splice every little thing in movies/video games, and it would show sensitivity. They did it on Melrose Place after the Oklahoma City Bombing, in which some deranged female character blows up a building full of people--a thirty-second "this was scripted and filmed long before the bombing" speech. Better than rushing and yanking out one's hair to remap parts of Spider-Man and Men In Black II.
I agree with SJJ. Every day I see/hear something that reminds me of some indignity I've suffered in my life. I've got a lot of old grudges, fought a lot of fights, plan to fight more. But I don't have the ear of the media tuned to me and willing to keep me from seeing anything remotely traumatic...and I don't expect to. I don't need them to fight my battles for me. It's better for me to fight my own. That's the problem with the masses--they're weak, they don't know how to suffer to grow strong, and they need things spoonfed to them by mother government. That's not the attitude that made America great...and it disturbs me.

[The Mad Hatter]

I think we may be too quick to assume why the games and movies are being edited. Yes, there may be some companies that are laying down the law on their creative staff... on the other hand, it could be the creative staff themselves that are making these decisions. In some cases, I know it is. Working completely from memory (meaning I don't have time to look up specifics), I remember reading about how a TV show filmed a joke refering to an airplane crashing into a skyscraper the Friday before the attacks. Then the attacks happened... and the joke ceased to be funny to the people who made it, so they took it out of their own volition. The same, I'm sure, is happening in many of these decisions. In fact, for some people moving away from images of the WTC may be part of the healing process. Would you want to work on digitally animating a scene at the WTC for upwards of six months?

Then there's also the point Rockitshipper made earlier... many of these movies are made in the "present" time. Unfortunately, the present time no longer includes the WTC.

These are just some possibilities to shed some perspective on the issue. Are these companies and their creative staffs overreacting to the tragedy? Perhaps, and I'm sure with some time we'll once again be able to gaze at images of the towers without wincing. But without knowing for sure that the creators of these games/shows/movies are removing the WTC because they were forced to, it's too soon to cry censorship.

[Psycho Fox]

Originally posted by SJJ
For me it's less the option, but more the over sensitivity the option represents. The WTC wasn't at fault here. The building was a great landmark. I don't think that having the WTC in the game will affect the mass grief of the unfortunate. This judgement was made not out of consideration of those who have lost close ones, but simply because the company is terrified of being seen as not been sensitive about these issues. For that I refer to my previous post. I agree. Buzzing around the towers in a flight sim is the best to see the towers right now since it will take awhile for the towers to be returned to their former beauty.

[RockItShipper]

TV doesn't have the same budget as movies. Is there overprotectiveness? Yes, but it's more about money. Entertainment is a business, and there's sentiment in Hollywood that shots of the WTC in upcoming comedies will distract- discliamer or no, and that no one really wants to see buildings getting blown up for a while... Even next week's Zoolander is having digital removals of the WTC...

The new issue of Entertainment Weekly is really worth picking up.

The thing is that there's far too much content overall to completely make the WTC disappear.... My parents rented 15 Minutes last week, my littlest sister saw a PPG short about planes crashing in NYC... But on the other hand, I'm disappointed that the NYC Imax movie seems to have been pulled... But it's all about money, really. Some years down the line, we'll probably even see a WTC movie in the vein of Pearl Harbor and Titanic (ick!). but for now, it's possible that Disney's planned rerelease of Pearl Harbor this fall will be put on hold.

And there'll be even more reasons to edit anime for US tv....

[Maxie Zeus]

Today's New York Times has a (scathing) review of the new Mariah Carrey film "Glitter." In passing, the reviewer mentions:

Throughout a screening in a Times Square theater the other night, the audience erupted repeatedly into laughter at scenes intended to carry emotional weight, and the only sight that roused the onlookers to applause was the World Trade Center, visible in one of the many fleeting, swirling overheard views of New York City

Wow. A Times Square audience applauding the sight of the WTC.:cool:

If this is any indication, it may be that Hollywood's treatment of the WTC buildings in films is 180-degrees wrong. (Like that would be the first time Hollywood has made a major blunder. :rolleyes: )

[BourgeoisBuffoon]

Well....I guess we should get used to seeing the WTC in this context. This whole thing is fine by me; and I suppose it's time to stop postponing all these bad stuff again...besides, at least in this game the WTC will stand proudly until they are rebuilt in real life.

[Psycho Fox]

Originally posted by BourgeoisBuffoon
Well....I guess we should get used to seeing the WTC in this context. This whole thing is fine by me; and I suppose it's time to stop postponing all these bad stuff again...besides, at least in this game the WTC will stand proudly until they are rebuilt in real life. That point was brought up in a flight sim forum. The fact that some people never really got to see the WTC and flying around it in a virutal world is as good a view as your gona get right now.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

IIRC, in most of these flight sims, when you crash your plane into a building, the building is usually intact while your plane goes kablam.

[TuffyCatt]

Originally posted by Maxie Zeus

Wow. A Times Square audience applauding the sight of the WTC.:cool:

If this is any indication, it may be that Hollywood's treatment of the WTC buildings in films is 180-degrees wrong. (Like that would be the first time Hollywood has made a major blunder. :rolleyes: ) [/B]

I actually find myself looking everywhere in old magazines and movies for the WTC towers...I want to see them. I never paid attention to them before and I never saw them for real and I feel like I really missed out on something. So I wish that everyone would just leave the WTC towers in everything, so I could a few last looks at them. I do understand, though, that seeing them may upset some people...

[Psycho Fox]

Originally posted by Leaping Larry Jojo
IIRC, in most of these flight sims, when you crash your plane into a building, the building is usually intact while your plane goes kablam. True crashing into a building in a flight sim is like flying into a mountain. Of course buildings in air combat sims blow up good but I never seen one with a NY map and don't think I ever will.

Originally posted by TuffyCattI actually find myself looking everywhere in old magazines and movies for the WTC towers...I want to see them. I never paid attention to them before and I never saw them for real and I feel like I really missed out on something. So I wish that everyone would just leave the WTC towers in everything, so I could a few last looks at them. I do understand, though, that seeing them may upset some people... Same here which is why I buzzed around them in a flight sim.