GCDC 2008: 'Space Invaders' Pummel World Trade Center

On a dim electroluminescent screen splayed across an entire wall, row after row of electric green invaders march inexorably downward, slowly dissolving two gray pylons one fiery chomp at a time. In the holes left by their rampage, tiny forms crouch like the "jumpers" remembered with horror on September 11, 2001, the day members of a terrorist Al Qaeda cell flew two planes into Manhattan's twin towers, acts which ultimately caused two of the world's tallest skyscrapers to pancake into rubble, killing over 3,000 people and injuring thousands more.

No, it's not some deranged homage to terrorism, but it is an actual game premised on Taito's classic Space Invaders, playable as I type this at the Games Convention occurring this week in Leipzig, Germany. I'm describing an art project designed by French-American self-described "artist, theoretician, and researcher" Douglas Edric Stanley, Professor of Digital Arts at the Aix-en-Provence School of Art in Paris.

How does it work? Players stand in front of the screen and make arm movements which are read by a sensor that translates them into shots fired by the game's notorious cannon. According to the game's official convention website, "like the original, this trial is ultimately unsuccessful, thus creating an articulated and critical commentary about the current war strategy." The game's creator sees this as his way of conveying "a social tale that can be related to historical tales without losing its poetic power."

This video from the game's Laboral Gameworld exhibition in 2007 illustrates how physical interaction works.

It's also nothing new. According to a a blog post on Stanley's site, Abstract Machine, the GCDC display is simply the most recent iteration of a project he's been retooling and exhibiting since 2001. The GCDC 2008 version is essentially a recycled version to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Taito's original.

I caught the news this morning via Fox, which sourced it from Kotaku, which led by saying "let's file this one under 'too soon'" and only updated the story post facto to acknowledge it was in fact an art project and not just "weird" or "what the f***." I say there's no such thing as 'too soon' when it comes to public discussion about issues as serious as 9/11. Whether this qualifies as discussion-worthy or just plain exploitive isn't my place to say (I'm not sure it's anyone's who hasn't played it or taken more than five seconds to knee-jerk about it) but I'd cautiously counter with "file this one under 'make up your own mind'," and don't let the media on any side of the issue lead you around by the collar.

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