Nintendo refuses to release Holocaust DS game in US

According to this, Nintendo has confirmed that Imagination Is the Only Escape will not be released in America.

“At this time, there are no plans for this game to be released for any Nintendo platforms in North America,” the company said in a statement.

The game, created by 21-year-old Brit Luc Bernard and published by Alten8, is the story of a boy living in Eastern France at the time of German occupation during WWII, who seeks to escape the horrors of war through his fantasy world.

“There will be no on-screen violence in this product," said Bernard. "I don’t see war as a game. I don’t find that amusing.”

Bernard's mother was Jewish, and his maternal grandmother looked after orphaned Jewish children after WWII.

While Nintendo may not approve of the game, US-based Anti-Defamation League has welcomed the concept of the title, although it hasn't seen the title as yet.

“We certainly believe that we have to find new ways of teaching lessons of the Holocaust as new technologies are being developed,” said a spokesperson for the society.

Bernard is also developing Eternity's Child for Wii and DS, again published by Alten8, which focuses on a world destroyed by global warming.