Rendition: Guantanamo
Encyclopedia
Rendition: Guantanamo was a video game being developed by T-Enterprise, a software company in Scotland
. It had been scheduled for release in the Fall of 2009.
The promotional material used the slogan, "It's time to fight back."
Company director Zarrar Chishti, quoted in Scotland's Sunday Mail
: "It's been in production for a year and two months. The player start the game with the orange boiler suit, cuffs and ear muffs.
There are certain rules we can't break after meeting politicians so we are not making the game too extreme.
We have had a lot of hate mail about this, mainly from America, saying things like, 'Don't dare put out a game that shows them killing our soldiers'.
But no US or British soldiers get killed in it. The only ones being killed are mercenaries. We have set it in January 2010 because that's when we think the camp will be closed.
We are making a statement. We did not want Guantanamo to be forgotten."
, an actual detainee of Guantanamo, but was instead going to be a man named Adam. He also states no American
or British soldiers would be killed, but instead the institution would be run by mercenaries
.
Chishti states "T-Enterprise is against all forms of terrorism
and would never seek to advocate otherwise. Furthermore, Guantanamo was to be a mercenary run institution and so there would have been NO American military
personnel killed within the game. Again, we support the British and American troops that fight the war against terrorism to make the world a safer place and would not make a game that said otherwise."
The game company was also claimed to be working with Al-Qaeda
, which Chishti repudiates saying, "Having clarified our position on terrorism, I would now like to refute all suggestions that the game was in any way linked to Al Qaeda. T-Enterprise has never had and would never have a link to Al Qaeda in any way, shape or form."
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. It had been scheduled for release in the Fall of 2009.
The promotional material used the slogan, "It's time to fight back."
Company director Zarrar Chishti, quoted in Scotland's Sunday Mail
Sunday Mail (Scotland)
The Sunday Mail is a Scottish tabloid newspaper published every Sunday. It is the sister paper of the Daily Record and is owned by Trinity Mirror and as such has a left-wing outlook which in turn tends to guide Scottish political debate in that direction.The Sunday Mail is read by over one million...
: "It's been in production for a year and two months. The player start the game with the orange boiler suit, cuffs and ear muffs.
There are certain rules we can't break after meeting politicians so we are not making the game too extreme.
We have had a lot of hate mail about this, mainly from America, saying things like, 'Don't dare put out a game that shows them killing our soldiers'.
But no US or British soldiers get killed in it. The only ones being killed are mercenaries. We have set it in January 2010 because that's when we think the camp will be closed.
We are making a statement. We did not want Guantanamo to be forgotten."
Cancellation
The game was cancelled citing "inaccurate" details posted on various websites detailing about the game and the "extreme reaction that the game and its popular misconceptions have provoked." Zarrar Chishti, the director at T-Enterprise, wrote an official statement on June 3 regarding the cancellation of Rendition: Guantanamo on the game's official website, which previously showed the teaser trailer for the game. He claims that the main character was not going to be Moazzam BeggMoazzam Begg
Moazzam Begg , is a British Pakistani Muslim who was held in extrajudicial detention in the Bagram Theater Internment Facility and the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp, in Cuba, by the U.S...
, an actual detainee of Guantanamo, but was instead going to be a man named Adam. He also states no American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
or British soldiers would be killed, but instead the institution would be run by mercenaries
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
.
Chishti states "T-Enterprise is against all forms of terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
and would never seek to advocate otherwise. Furthermore, Guantanamo was to be a mercenary run institution and so there would have been NO American military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
personnel killed within the game. Again, we support the British and American troops that fight the war against terrorism to make the world a safer place and would not make a game that said otherwise."
The game company was also claimed to be working with Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
, which Chishti repudiates saying, "Having clarified our position on terrorism, I would now like to refute all suggestions that the game was in any way linked to Al Qaeda. T-Enterprise has never had and would never have a link to Al Qaeda in any way, shape or form."
External links
- Official Game Website
- T-Enterprise (Developer)
- Brit freed from Guantanamo cashes in on Xbox, The SunThe Sun (newspaper)The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
- Guantanamo the Xbox game, Telegraph (newspaper)
- Guantanamo Bay: Xbox game on the way
- Escapee button: Rendition Guantanamo, Rock, Paper, Shotgun
- Former detainee consultant upcoming Guantanamo game, GamePolitics
- Former Guantanamo prisoner lends experiences to new game, Yahoo! Games