How bizarre is it when the makers of an online computer game engage in threat escalation with a hostile foreign government?

But that seems to be what's happening between the Iranian government and Kuma Reality Games, publishers of the episodic, military-themed, first-person shooter Kuma War.

GamePolitics readers may recall our recent coverage of an Iranian claim that members of the Union of Islamic Student Societies were developing a PC game in which "Commander Bahman," an elite Iranian special forces operative, undertakes an eight-level mission to rescue an Iranian atomic scientist seized by U.S. troops in Iraq. The Iranians were apparently angered by an earlier Kuma War episode, Assault on Iran.

Although sparse on details, the proposed Iranian game received wide coverage in the mainstream press, which apparently prompted Kuma Reality to offer a riposte. The New York-based company issued a press release on Friday which carried the headline, "Kuma Reality Games Sparks Virtual Dialogue With Iran Over Nuclear Arms Dispute"
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