Kuma Reality Games

Kuma Games

Type	Video game developer
Industry	Computer and video game industry
Founded	2003
Headquarters	New York City, New York, U.S.
Products	Video games
Website	www.KumaGames.com

Kuma Games is an American video game developer. They have specialized in developing free episodic first person shooters (FPS) since 2004.^[1] The company has also created a number of machinima movies for their games, particularly The Dinohunters.^[2]

Kuma Games; along with their original properties Kuma\War and Dinohunters also produces games based on other TV properties such as The History Channel's Dogfights and ShootOut! series,^[3] as well as The Kill Point for Spike TV.^[4]

Kuma, LLC has its headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.^[5]

Gamisodes

Kuma Reality Games currently produces eleven major game titles. All are available to download for free. Kuma Reality Games ceased production of new episodes for Kuma War Classics, but the game is still available for free download. Despite recent controversy, all KUMA Games published have an ESRB rating of T due to legal issues. Most of the games are built on Valve Corporation's Source engine.

Kuma\War This is the second version of Kuma\War, taking information from recent military operations, but this game is a first person and can be seen in third person (unlike Kuma War Classics). Kuma Games is known as UE9 (Unidad Especial 9) in Latin America. In May 2011, KUMA released their final episode of KUMA\War: The Death of Osama bin Laden.^[6]

WWII\Vietnam: WWII\Vietnam is a game that was produced in conjunction with The History Channel program ShootOut!. The episodic games for this title are based on the actual ShootOut! episodes that air on The History Channel. Some of the battles recreated include Iwo Jima, The Tet Offensive, The Battle of the Bulge, and an episode on the Vietcong attacking of the US Embassy in Vietnam.

WWII Experience: WWII Experience is a game based on actual World War II missions. The missions cover land, sea, and air.

National Blood Sport: A football-style shooter taking place in Nazi-occupied America.

The DinoHunters: The story of the Dinohunters is centered around a fictitious reality show on the Total Hunting Channel. The producers send a crew of washed up celebrities into the past to hunt dinosaurs for sport and big ratings. The crew consists of Australian stuntman and actor Roger Wallaby, country singer Harlan Davis, Brooklyn native Shaw Jefferson, and their sexpot producer Candace "Candy" Spencer.

Mobsters: Mobsters is a free episodic first person shooter based on The Biography Channel's program Mobsters. Each game episode mirrors events from each episode of the series; where police try to negotiate the safe release of hostages in a bank robbery gone awry.^[4] The game was formerly based on Spike TV's program The Kill Point.

Dogfights: Dogfights is a game that was produced in conjunction with The History Channel program of the same name. The games for this title are based on the show's Season 2 World War II episodes.^[7]

Street Soccer: Street Soccer is a third-person soccer game. It is Kuma's only non-shooter, but it does have melee combat & a wall-walking ability.

I,Predator: I,Predator is a survival game based on Discovery's TV channel Animal Planet.The game contains two episodes and has since been discontinued.

Kuma War Classics: This game takes information and strategic data from recent military operations and attempts to recreate the war scenario as it happened. The missions for Kuma War Classics are missions 1-74. The missions after that are Kuma War missions. This game has come under much praise and criticism for the role it plays in reproducing recent battles. Kuma War now has an option to play in first-person, rather than the default third-person.^[8]

Wahdat al Nimr (The Tiger Unit) : The second series released for the Middle Eastern gamer, Wahdat al Nimr is a multiplayer, FPS set in the Middle East and North Africa. Players will join the "Tiger Unit" to take down corruption.

Sibak Al Fursan (Race of the Horsemen) : The latest in KUMA's episodic game titles is a 3D racing game set in and made for the Middle Eastern Gamer. Sibak Al Fursan is available in Arabic, English, Persian and Urdu. United States and Latin American release due out Summer of 2011.

Other Projects

Free Energy Game: An informative and fun approach to energy management, created by Stanford University, KUMA Games, and Seriosity

Controversy

In December 18, 2011, an alleged CIA agent being held in Tehran said in a report that he has worked for Kuma as a CIA operative.^[9] The report which was aired by Iranian state TV alleged that Kuma acts as a cover-up machine for CIA media war operations and has links with DARPA.

The channel named the alleged agent as Amir Mirza Hekmati and said he joined the US Marine Corp and was employed by the military intelligence section in 2001 and had a decade of intelligence training. The report said Hekmati was sent to the US-run Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan and given access to classified US intelligence before flying to Tehran to try to entice the Iranians with it and establish his value to them.

Television report said Hekmati had worked for the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) between 2005 and 2007.

“After DARPA, I was recruited by Kuma Games Company, a computer games company which received money from CIA to design and make special films and computer games to change the public opinion’s mindset in the Middle East and distribute them among Middle East residents free of charge. The goal of Kuma Games was to convince the people of the world and Iraq that what the US does in Iraq and other countries is good and acceptable,” ^[10] Hekmati alleged in the report.

According to an interview on December 20, 2011 with The Daily Telegraph, Hekmati's father states that he was not a CIA spy as authorities in the country claim and was visiting relatives when he was detained.^[11] Finally, an Iranian court sentenced Hekmati to death on espionage charges.^[12] KUMA officials told Kotaku in 2006 that the company has done contract work for the U.S. government, designing gaming technology to help train the armed forces, but it has primarily presented itself as a gaming company that caters to civilians.^[13]

Notes

↑ Klaassen, Abbey (August 20, 2007). "Turning Video-Game Development Into TV-Size Chunks". Advertising Age. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
↑ Kuma Reality Games. (2004) Kuma\War. [PC], New York: Kuma Reality Games.
↑ Andy Chalk. "Kuma Joins With History Channel For Dogfights Program". Escapistmagazine.com. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
1 2 Fritz, Ben (2007-07-19). "Spike ties videogame to series". Variety.
↑ "KUMA ONLINE SERVICE RULES AND DISCLAIMERS EULA." Kuma Games. Retrieved on December 24, 2014. "Kuma Games, 15 W 36th St. New York, NY 10018"
↑ "'War' is Over! 106 Missions Later, Gamers Take Down bin Laden in Final Episode of KUMA\WAR II". May 6, 2011.
↑ John Gaudiosi (June 4, 2007). "History's 'Dogfights' flies online with Kuma game". The Hollywood Reporter.
↑ Kuma plays war games Archived September 30, 2007 at the Wayback Machine
↑ Burleigh, Marc (December 18, 2011). "Iran TV shows 'CIA spy' speaking of alleged mission". AFP. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
↑ "Transcript - Confessions of the arrested CIA spy aired on Iranian TV". Tehran Times. December 18, 2011. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
↑ "Father of captured 'US spy' says his son never worked for the CIA". The Telegraph. December 20, 2011. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
↑ "Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, alleged U.S. spy, sentenced to death in Iran". Washington Post. January 9, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
↑ Totilo, Stephen (December 19, 2011). "Alleged Iranian Spy ‘Confesses’ that U.S. Video Game Company is CIA Propaganda Tool". Kotaku. Retrieved December 27, 2011.

External links

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