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Mission 2 - Production Notes
Uday and Qusay's Last Stand, Part 2

Re-creating the events in Mosul, Iraq in which Uday and Qusay Hussein were killed was the inauguration of the Kuma News concept - our first opportunity to develop a compelling, interactive experience from actual events. This episode would set the precedent for all future Kuma War releases, and so there was a tremendous amount of pressure to create an accurate, informative mission that also communicated the intensity and significance of the actual event.

Kuma War is intended to give subscribers a novel experience of events on the ground during key events in the war on terror - visceral as only a first-person simulation can be, informative and timely as is only possible with a "connected" game. While these can be huge advantages, there are production consequences: a reality-based game - - a Kuma Reality Game - - requires extensive research, political and military analysis, 3D modeling, tactical design, custom coding, hours upon hours of play testing, video production, background materials, etc., etc. etc.

We began development of Mission 1: Uday and Qusay' s last stand after the news broke on July 22, 2003. With the details still being sifted through by newscasts, and reports differing in slight detail, it was up to us to sort out the most critical and reliable intelligence and move forward. We attained a copy of a film shot within the building after the attack, which we were able to expand on to create the realistic panorama in the Hussein's hideout.

Unlike fiction-based games, we have technical challenges that come with recreating genuine experiences. There is always something unusual we have to plan for. While pre-programmed fantasy features would allow us to redesign or replace any difficult option, in our Kuma reality game we need to account for it. For Mission 1, we specially designed and built TOW missile launchers, an unusual piece of weaponry but crucial in duplicating the mission precisely.