Civil war game causes public uproar

A game due for release in Spain tomorrow has caused something of an uproar, with families claiming that the title "trivialises killings", according to a report in The Guardian.

Shadows of War: The Spanish Civil War, which is a real-time strategy title that allows players to take either side of the 1930s conflict, goes on sale on the anniversary of the death of dictator General Franco, widely thought of as being responsible for the 500,000 killings that took place during the war.

Paco Perez, project director at developer Legend Games, defended the game by saying: "As well as being entertaining, it could serve to remind people that they need to be conscious of past events to make sure they are not repeated."

But the daughter of a man known as Franco's first victim, Commander Virgilio Leret Ruiz, who is named in the game, disagrees: "It is not a historical event buried in the past, but is very fresh in the memory of Spaniards. There is no justification for trivialising the killings and the suffering and pain of the victims when we still haven't reconciled ourselves with the past."