Laden VS USA

Gameplay

The player controls a submarine travelling across the bottom of the screen shooting at fighter jets flying by. The game is divided into 20 levels and automatically levels you up to the next. When a level is completed the game plays a pinging version of "Deck the Halls". The higher the level, the more difficult the game becomes. Laden VS USA is based on the 9/11 incident in 2001 all superimposed over a 9/11 photograph. Although the game is about the 9/11 attacks, the instructions on the back of the packaging appear to have been lifted word for word from the blurp of a boxing game, and the gameplay is seemingly unrelated.

History

The game is supposedly manufactured by Chinese company Panyu Gaming Electronic Co. Ltd. located in Guangzhou, China. Panyu Gaming Electronic used technology almost two decades old when creating the game. Due to mass counterfeiting in China it is not certain whether the company actually created the game. The video game also leads an important part of the history of video games as the first game to have 9/11 as the main plot device. The game was released in two models, the first being GM-026A-3 and the second GM-028A-3. The first model can also come with yellow or white buttons. The game was also released with pictures of actual 9/11 wreckage on the packaging and pictures of George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden on the console. The packaging also bears the marks "Made in China" on the packaging, and is recommended for "Ages 5 and Up". Upon the game's release it was unrated by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB).

Laden VS USA is also an example of the growing political and cultural impact among video games. The game can be compared to other controversial video games such as Grand Theft Auto or Ghost Recon. Laden VS USA also presents an unusual challenge to journalists, scholars and historians for its inherent value as classic war propaganda. Laden VS USA also provides an interesting example as a non-American cash in to contemporary conflicts, similar to the game Final Battle Afghanistan X-Tank. The game is also notably very rare but can sometimes be found on eBay.

Reception

Laden VS USA has become popular among Pakistani children. Despite this the game is very controversial and has even been banned from the shelves of a discount store in Warrington, Cheshire, England after several protests from religious leaders. Teenager, Hannah Birchall stated about the incident, "The images on the box bring back all the memories of September 11," and that she thinks that "it will desensitise children to what happened." The game has also created controversy in the town of Brooklyn, Chelsea, USA where pedestrians were outraged over the presence of the game in the local store named Oakdale Dairy. YouTube toy reviewer Mike Mozart of JeepersMedia considered Laden VS USA "the worst concept for a game in history" and said that "it boggles the mind that it was actually manufactured and sent to the United States".