JFK Reloaded 2004 what happened to this game?

[craigsters]

JFK Reloaded https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JFK_Reloaded

Was it removed from the gaming market because of it's controversy? or was it just bad gameplay ?

[Adversary]

I will proceed to answer your question by posting a review made by Home of the Underdogs.

Originally posted by Home of the Underdogs:

No doubt one of the most controversial games ever made, JFK Reloaded is a shareware game made by a Scottish company called Traffic Management that lets you recreate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Released on the 41st anniversary of the assassination in 2004, the game not surprisingly provoked a huge public backlash ranging from Ted Kennedy (who called it "despicable") to scores of media criticisms. Perhaps due to intense backlash, the game was removed from circulation in 2005, and the $9.99 shareware game is no longer sold or supported.

Let me say here first that I was concerned about whether this 40-year-old event is still 'fresh enough' in the minds of Americans for them to find the game offensive - that's why I asked people's opinions about whether they think it's a good idea to upload the full version before doing so. Anyone who finds such games offensive is advised to stop reading now. While I do find the game morally questionable, the designers deserve credits for shying away from focusing on pure "shock value" (which would be extremely easy to do, given the circumstances) - focusing instead on the physics behind the vent.

The 'official goal' of JFK Reloaded according to Traffic is "...to debunk assassination conspiracy theories by buttressing the Warren Commission's conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone and fired only three bullets." Accordingly, the game places you in the exact spot that Oswald stood, and offers you the chance to re-create his three shots (the last of which was the one that caused "the fatal wound"). The perfect score of 1,000 is awarded if you can replicate the three bullets' trajectories perfectly. You can replay as many times as you want.

As a simulation, JFK Reloaded is quite good: no matter how I shoot, I see bullets behave in ways that one would expect: smashing glasses, bouncing off the limo, etc. The graphics, while not state-of-the-art, is more than adequate: all passengers of the fateful limo, from JFK to his wife, driver and everyone else, are recognizable. After the event, you get a ballistics reports that tell you how your bullets traveled, and how closely they match Oswald's shots.

As a game, JFK Reloaded falls short mostly because its objective and context are far too narrow: your only objective is to recreate that tragedy. And no matter how you try to cloak it, the game's moral dimension still looms large and has a real impact; I am not American, yet I still felt my heart skip a beat when looking through the rifle scope in the game, seeing JFK's face squarely in the crosshairs.

For conspiracy buffs, though, it is an interesting 'tool' that tries to prove the feasibility of the 'magic bullet' theory, and therefore they are probably the only ones who will have 'fun' with this game that we can all do without. The 'educational value' of the game, in my opinion, is questionable, but it does try to do more than simply shock and titillate. Preserved on this site for historical value as 'abandonware' - proceed at your own risk.

The teal deer is that yes. It was removed because it was controversial. You can still play it, sure, but I'm not going to tell you where to look.

[Morkonan]

Just an aside:

I was once intrigued about making a game about the US Secret Service protecting the President. (And other agencies.) The idea was that the player would be a Director in charge of protecting the President as they visited foreign lands, campaigned for re-election, spoke at charities and the like, and visited historic landmarks to give big speeches.

So, there'd be increasing threat levels depending up on what kind of missions had been occurring, some RNG dealing with an event system, protesters, radicals, potential riots, fans, unfriendly state actors, opportunists trying to claim the limelight, etc..

There'd be special limos, vans, helicopters, aircraft, prep-crews, intelligence, even nearby military assets should the need arise. Host nations would muck up the works with their own "security" and policy needs, too. What happens when they don''t want you to shoot blindly into the crowd of stampeding activists?

I had looked into some of what the Secret Service does, watched a few documentaries, probably got put on a list, somewhere...etc.

But, it was pretty clear that a game about trying to foil plots, some of which may include assassination, as well as all the controversy around what protesters were protesting, etc... Well, that wouldn't stay on the market very long when complete failure involves the President being assassinated.

BUT, if I just third-worlded it, nobody would give a crap...

"El Presidente"

There ya go... And, that's what depressed me. Nobody cares if a Tropico-Style dictatorship ruins the lives of its citizens or even if that Presidente gets murdered. THAT is supposed to be fun. (It's why I don't like Tropico, even though I own one in the series.)

Anyway, I spent a few days getting some of the mechanics down, but the depressing reality as well as potential real thread of booted feet kicking in my door just because I was thinking about a game about protecting VIP persons... Well, yeah, I obviously didn't do anything with it. :)

[KennyAtom]

You shot JFK in the game.

This was bad in the eyes of the gaming media.

[Chalupacabaras]

The gameplay might've been a bit controversial, but when it came to marketing ideas that title sure hit the mark.

"JFK... Reloaded." Oof, that's some dark humor.

[Heatblizzard]

Originally posted by craigsters:

JFK Reloaded https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JFK_Reloaded

Was it removed from the gaming market because of it's controversy? or was it just bad gameplay ?

In today's world it would open a huge can of worms the government wouldn't even dare touch. Especially with the laptop scandal which is actually happening and the government is guilty. They definitely won't go THAT route.

[Grumb]

The fact that no one has been able to 100% recreate the shot in 20 years says everything

[craigsters]

some evidence well be made public in 2029 and other evidence is sealed tell 2038 Oliver Stone's JFK posted at the end of the movie credits

I just finished watching Oliver Stone's JFK this evening and want to see Bobby 2006 written and directed by Emilio Estevez, but it's not available to stream on amazon prime Canada or Hollywood Suite a movies you love from the 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s a Canadian movie speciality channel I subscribe to through amazon

[Adversary]

Originally posted by Grumb:

The fact that no one has been able to 100% recreate the shot in 20 years says everything

That's because the CIA shot him from the front. Lee Harvey Oswald was a patsy. Declassification is fun like that.

But then again I could have told you that prior to them releasing those documents some years prior. The part about Oswald being a patsy, that is. I mean, the autohypnosis was a dead giveaway.

[craigsters]

https://youtu.be/PfSXkfV_mhA?si=N4uqpVnuH_7hKUTg


https://youtu.be/Th-s3dbboJQ?si=MEWfn-Ckkt2dR7pE

the magic bullet theory

[76561198356019466]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBz3PqA2Fmc

[Pierce Dalton]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHZtWTWT_4o

This looks awful even for 2004

Also, it seems that's all you do in the "game"?

[Duck Twacy]

Originally posted by craigsters:

JFK Reloaded https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JFK_Reloaded

Was it removed from the gaming market because of it's controversy? or was it just bad gameplay ?

Because it's tasteless and sick.

Imagine that instead of John F. Kennedy that it was your mother or father who had been shot, and someone did a CS mod of the event for profit.

How would you feel about that?

[Smokey McBongwater]

Originally posted by Adversary:

I will proceed to answer your question by posting a review made by Home of the Underdogs.

The teal deer is that yes. It was removed because it was controversial. You can still play it, sure, but I'm not going to tell you where to look.

I would argue that the game wasn’t “removed” for being controversial. The game was made by a small, obscure developer; and it made headlines in Nov 2004, and was criticized in the media; but never disappeared as a result of the critics. The game was only designed to be around for that short time after the $100k contest to match Oswald’s shots.

After that, the game was largely forgotten about. Like vaporware/abandonware.

[L1qu1dator]

Originally posted by KennyAtom:

You shot JFK in the game.

This was bad in the eyes of the gaming media.

Unlike all those games about raping and torturing people (that you can get also on Steam)...

[Violeta]

Trump said he'd release the kennedy files, He was stopped.

I think that says a lot.


judge napolitano said trump told him, he's get him the files. And then trump told him that he couldn't. If I remember right.