<http://slate.com/id/2110034/>
Apart from the fact that this was lampooned in 1977's "Kentucky Fried Movie," note the selective anguish and horror here. Even Slate's author concedes that when he's playing games where anonymous Japs and Krauts are getting mowed down, he doesn't feel any squeamishness. But when the game's murder target is JFK, well, civilization has surely slipped dozens of notches.
I believe there's a game currently on the market (D. Redmond will doubtless fill in this blank) where US troops fight Iraqi soldiers. Talk about yr. ever lovin' verismilitude! Now all that is needed is an updated version with beheading vids, jihadist car bombs, US saturation bombing and use of napalm, Abu Ghraib re-enactments ("See how long the terrorist suspect can hold out under torture! [Rated M for Mature]), and so on. Just don't program a game where US political celebs, living or dead, are iced, maimed or otherwise injured. I don't think American sensibilities could handle it!
DP