LOS ANGELES/LONDON (Reuters) - Leaders of the video game industry, long accused of promoting violence, say they will take pains not to offend a public shocked and grieving after Tuesday"s terror attacks in the United States.
"We"ve always held (that) there"s considerable physical and psychological distance between our games and the reality of current events," said Jeff Brown, a spokesman for Electronic Arts Inc., the leading U.S. game publisher.
EA suspended "Majestic" its popular online interactive game that draws players into an X-Files-like conspiracy.
Publisher Arush Entertainment is also evaluating a game in development that features legendary video game character Duke Nukem blasting his way through New York. The game is being reviewed for possible offensive scenes, such as depictions of the now-toppled World Trade Center, the company said.
The game"s logo and a clip of highlights were removed from Arush"s site because they contained images of the World Trade Center, Chief Executive Jim Perkins told Reuters.
The fate of "Metal Gear Solid X" for Microsoft Corp."s forthcoming XBox game console was unclear. The game"s protagonist, Snake, reportedly wreaks havoc in New York.
Microsoft declined to comment on its plans for the console or its games in light of the week"s events, but Nintendo said it was pushing ahead with its own long-awaited release.