An article on NYTimes discusses (Which I thought was linked earlier today, doh) something that appears to be rubbing some people the wrong way lately. Playing a game as the Nazi Axis team in games like RTCW and DoD. Thanks Matt for the reminder.

FEW taboos exist in the blood- and-gore world of shoot-'em-up video games. But game makers have traditionally respected one rule: no Nazi protagonists. Last year that rule was challenged on at least two fronts. In November, Activision released Return to Castle Wolfenstein, [...] The multiplayer version, which pits players against one another online, allows some players to fight as German soldiers. And even before Return to Castle Wolfenstein, another realistic first- person shooter with a Nazi protagonist was making a stir: Day of Defeat, which was released for online play last January.
[snip]
A recent scan of active Day of Defeat game servers revealed a list of Axis players with noms de guerre like Mein Kampf, HitlerYouth and ZyklonB, although it is hard to determine whether the names were chosen simply to get attention. In a recent game, a player on the German side using the name AnneFrank was questioned about that moniker. "Oh, you know," the player said. "I'm just trying to keep things spicy."

There was a big stink about playing a terrorist in Counter-Strike, so I guess it's only expected that they start making a stink about this too. There have been games, movies, and songs from the side of the "bad guys" for years. I guess what makes games different though is that you are actually in control of the actions. Whadya guys think? Is there ever really an amount of time for "healing" that makes playing the part of a Nazi or Terrorist acceptable?