Will we ever see Imagination Is the Only Escape?

by Candace Savino { Mar 10th 2008 at 7:00PM }

Imagination is the Only Escape is only in its early stages, and yet, the game is already causing controversy.

This Holocaust-themed title is about a Jewish boy in Eastern France during WWII, when the Nazis occupied the territory. The game's world then becomes a fantasy land, imagined by the boy in order to "escape" the harshness of reality. The New York Times caused some alarm this morning, though, reporting that Nintendo wouldn't be releasing Luc Bernard's DS game to America.

The article, however, might have been jumping the gun. It's true that Nintendo of America has no plans to distribute this title, but Bernard hasn't even approached the company yet. A representative from Alten8, Imagination's potential publisher, also told Eurogamer that no one has blocked the game and that it's still in its early stages.

Does that mean the game is in the clear, though? Not necessarily.

Alten8 issued a press release today after the whole debacle, informing us that although they have options on Imagination and some other of Bernard's works, "No decision has been taken by Alten8 on whether to proceed with this [sic] games in terms of development."

Imagination seems to be facing a lot of obstacles from the get-go. Such a delicate subject matter has left it with an uncomfortable publisher, and even if Alten8 or another company picks up this title, it must still be approved by Nintendo. We hope the game makes it, though (assuming, of course, that it's done tastefully, which we think it will be).

On a side note, Bernard has stated that he'd like to donate Imagination's profits to groups trying to end the current genocide in Darfur.

Tags: alten8, censorship, genocide, holocaust, imagination-is-the-only-escape, luc-bernard, new-york-times

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

bryansurvive @ Mar 10th 2008 8:25PM

what a good idea for a game. i would buy it.
sucks it wont be here in america. and the spin off for america against "global warming"? lol retarded.

raindog @ Mar 11th 2008 9:25AM

The "spin off" you mention is Eternity's Child, a Wiiware game that's been done for a while and is just awaiting the release of WiiWare. The holocaust thing is a new game and (so far) Bernard hasn't announced a connection between the two concepts.

hvnlysoldr @ Mar 10th 2008 8:45PM

Political Correctness is politically incorrect upon itself.

Mr Khan @ Mar 10th 2008 9:25PM

Bet on it being banned in Germany first for the Nazi usage. If Israel finds out it'll make a stink about it and the rest of the Western World will block it

Bryan W @ Mar 11th 2008 12:17AM

Little xenophobic? Germany bans Nazi imagery in games without a historical context. True, this is a fictionalized story, but the game seems to be taking place within a context of real history. They'll probably do what they did with Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, and Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty - remove the swastikas but keep all other references to the NSDAP.

But the Israel comment? Why would they raise a stink? They're pretty supportive of all forms of media that are critical or educational of the Holocaust experience. Plus I'm a little sick of people implying that the US or the "Western" world are the lapdogs of Israel. It's pretty clear, especially in Europe, that most countries are rather critical of Israel.

bluezy @ Mar 10th 2008 10:37PM

If it reaches European markets, i'll just import it.

vgxtremist @ Mar 10th 2008 11:58PM

This is a brilliant idea, and I would gladly buy this if it came out here. Hopefully they can make it happen and make it work.

HellsHammer @ Mar 11th 2008 4:43AM

I love that the US government wants to protect me from making my own decision.

Sponge Bob and Girls Gone Wild are perfectly fine, perfectly normal. It's those historical events that'll get ya.

Bryan W @ Mar 11th 2008 5:37AM

Who said anything about the US "protecting" you from making your own decisions? I can't remember a single video game in the US that has actually been banned by the government. Manhunt 2 would be the closest case, but seeing as it was (originally) rated AO by the ESRB (a private organization) and THEN the console makers refused to publish it. Yikes.

Dementis @ Mar 11th 2008 3:41PM

Bryan, the US government don't need to "protect" the American people, Nintendo does that for them.

Example:
Freshly Picked: Tingle's rosy rupeeland, they decided to not release it at all, "because it won't sell", yeah right!
But i've read countless of american people importing it from europe.

It's sad that people not from the gaming industry is making the call, and it's sad that the gaming industry is censoring itself. But the most sad thing is censored games, period.

*end rant*

(And yes, the Tingle game kick ass!)

Will we ever see Imagination Is the Only Escape?