Shipping Emergency Game Draws Criticism
A new computer game called Ship Emergency Simulator, and hailed as the world's first maritime career simulator, is expected to be on sale ready for Christmas 2016.
The problem? It’s development is costing U.K taxpayers £75,000 ($114,000).
New research from the TaxPayers' Alliance shows that the European Commission has spent nearly £2.4 million ($3.7 million) on grants towards video game development in 2014 alone, the first year of the new "Creative Europe" program. The most recent E.U. budget saw Britain contribute 11.4 per cent of total E.U. funds.
Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Taxpayers will be furious that Brussels bureaucrats seem to have no regard for the value of taxpayers' money. At a time when there are serious issues across the continent, the E.U.'s focus should be on solving real-life problems rather than splashing the cash on made-up ones. Those responsible for approving this spending must be held accountable."
In the game, players start out as a junior engineer or junior officer and have to work their way up through the ranks. The developers admit the majority of the game is fairly undramatic.
Instead of sex, violence and criminal behavior, the game “features accurate models of real-life transport vessels and faithfully mimics the daily life on ships.”
The Independent reports Lars Henriksen, the managing director of the Danish company developing the game, Apex Virtual Entertainment, saying that although he may have mentioned the words “fairly undramatic” in his grant submission, they had been taken out of context.
Henriksen says players would not watch their ship plough through waves for hours on end. Rather they could perform activities such as maintenance tasks. It would be unrealistic to have fires on board all the time.
Among the other game projects funded are:
Arena World, a combat game based "in a rift in time, between universes... where Gladiators from the known dimensions meet, to demonstrate their absolute skill in combat and survival against deadly foes enslaved from around the cosmos," given £110,000
Duels, an action adventure game in which you play The Soul, breaking free from an eternity in prison via "an innovative mix of sword fight and shoot-them-up game play," also given £110,000
Cosmic Top Secret Experience, a "playable cocktail of James Bond, Find My Family and The Walking Dead," also given £110,000
Your Kingdom Come, a game which "tells a simple story about the fragility of the family with a metaphor where the family members, presented as unreal monsters, continuously fight," given £103,000
Party Tennis: Euro Tour, a multiplayer tennis simulator, given £88,000
Save the Queen!, a fairy tale featuring a "loving Queen, a valiant Knight, a wicked witch and a trustworthy wizard", given £65,000
Future Unfolding, a "surrealistic adventure game about the mind during meditation and dreaming" in which "players explore a mystical forest filled with life, both beautiful and dangerous," given £40,000