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The upcoming war game Medal of Honor is gaining a lot of attention, but perhaps not the kind of attention Electronic Arts would like. The company has come under fire from a variety of sources for the decision to allow players to inhabit the skins of the Taliban in the game's multiplayer. British Defence Secretary Liam Fox even criticized the game, calling on retailers not to sell Medal Of Honor in order to "show their support for the armed forces."
Specifically, Fox said:
"At the hands of the Taliban, children have lost fathers and wives have lost husbands. It's shocking that someone would think it acceptable to recreate the acts of the Taliban against British soldiers," he said in a statement. "It's hard to believe any citizen of our country would wish to buy such a thoroughly un-British game. I would urge retailers to show their support for our armed forces and ban this tasteless product."
EA, however, says it's standing fast on its decision. In an interview with Develop-Online, EA's Games president Frank Gibeau said the decision to allow players to be Taliban is a "creative risk," but he won't allow protests to "compromise our creative vision and what we want to do."
“There’s a lot of furor around games that take creative risks – like games that let you play terrorists in airports mowing down civilians,” Gibeausaid said. “At EA we passionately believe games are an artform, and I don’t know why films and books set in Afghanistan don’t get flack, yet [games] do. Whether it’s Red Badge Of Courage or The Hurt Locker, the media of its time can be a platform for the people who wish to tell their stories. Games are becoming that platform."
The last time this came up was over another war. Konami's Six Days in Fallujah was canceled due to a public outcry over the game's realistic depiction of events of the Iraq War. Although developer Atomic Games says it will eventually see the light of day.
For now, EA is holding steady with it artistic decisions, and we hope to see this game released, unchanged, on October 12, the expected release date. We also hope that the game, like The Red Badge of Courage and The Hurt Locker, is a great work of art that honors the dead, as opposed to a cheap cash-in.
Source: Develop-Online
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Comments
Displaying 61–80 of 82
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Symicide
The UK does have a tendency to be this way with "controversial" things. If you like Radiohead then you probably remember Creep having limited air time in the UK. And correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Manhunt 2 completely banned in some of Europe. Oh well whatever. MoH remains the same and gamers are happy. That's all that matters. :)
Canid117
I want six days in fallujah now! If only to see how well the documentary format works for video games.
RandyMercer
Where there is tragedy of a certain level there will be a medium that covers it. Books, movies and comic books have this right to tell a story that pertains to today's events in the world, yes people die in these wars, people die from being in there homes (break in robberies) there's a lot of ugly in the world and it makes for a good/tragic/ great story.
Lance20000
I think its an insult to the people who are using their rights to fight for their government and back at home people are crying out because we will not take a honest and true look at our history. YES they have killed people unjustly, YES it is sensative, BUT we will not insult those who have died by pretending everything is right and there has been no wrong. By not letting us explore the enemys actions how will we ever know what is right and what is wrong.
MasterOfAllLife
who cares!? its a video game. its not going to cause you to join their cause.
mcflyboy123
im thinkin that whenever the taliban win an online match, a nuke should just come and blow them up. the players still get xp but the taliban never "really" win.
crimsonkinge
american soliders killing taliban should be just as bad but no one complains about that just about being in the shoes of the talibian. lets face it what the difference between a terrorist and a patriot? its all how you look at the glass
sirrogue2
Good for EA.
pbjman
i love how ppl are throwing a fit over this when in mw2 u play as the Taliban online kill American soldiers.
toothofymir
@Attavax Napoleon was over 200 years ago. Anyone from that period is dead, so there would be few objections from that group.
Mr.Rager
I hate when non-gamers try to stop these developers from being creative, anything that's not to their liking, they s&%$ themselves. " Will someone think of the children!", Everyone has lost people they love, When my cousin got back from serving a tour in Iraq he told me, He saw innocent people shot all the time by US soldiers, no1 hands are ever clean
droovi
How are multiplayer skins a creative risk? MW2's airport scene was part of the single player campaign featuring a fictional Russian terrorist group, and it was used to progress the plot. Controversial subject matter for the sake of the story. That is a creative risk. Not a whole lot to be gained from multiplayer skins.
PkrPlr4LIFE
I applaud EA and Danger Close Games for this call. it's about time that people started to understand that Video Games are a form of entertainment and they should be allowed to do as they see fit. Weather it means we are playing as the taliban, or shooting up airports, or naming our pet tiger Skittles. (lol had to throw that last one in there)
These are things that video games need to stand up for. We are not little kids anymore. We have become adults as has our chosen form of entertainment. It's time to stop pretending games are not equal as other forms of entertainment. They are, true they might be more immersing for some, but they are still just entertainment. I think you would be hard pressed to find someone playing a game that they didn't enjoy at least a little bit. If it's not fun what's the point. (aside from those that just play the games for the achievements but still same concept you're getting something you want from it too.)
It's time more Game developers and publishers let the games grow up and allow controversial content.
kyoput
Well, Mr. Fox. I would encourage British citizens to hold their government accountable for the illegal invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. But that's life isn't it?
How about you stay out of the imaginary world and stick with screwing the real world up.
Atavax
"At the hands of the Taliban, children have lost fathers and wives have lost husbands. It's shocking that someone would think it acceptable to recreate the acts of the Taliban against British soldiers," he said in a statement. "It's hard to believe any citizen of our country would wish to buy such a thoroughly un-British game. I would urge retailers to show their support for our armed forces and ban this tasteless product."
at the hands of Napoleon children have lost fathers and wives have lost husbans; where is the outcry against Napoleon Total War?
tiger7ven
first off i do believe in pride for ones country and the miltary. but putting that aside i cant help but ask the question...... why is it that when you purches a miltary game half the chances are it will say" not endorsed by the (one form of military or another" in this sense they stay away from connections to said games...its like saying im staying out of it or no comment. yet when something within this same gaming genre has so much as one iota of depicted truth to it then it becomes a center of attention.... come either help make the games as accurate as possible or stay out of it...."doesnt riding the fence hurt ones backside?"
DrShepard
First of all, it is comical that the BRITISH defence secretary is disgusted over game in which the BRITISH are not featured in. Secondly, our generation is the first to experience this kind of controversy because while there are games where you play as the Nazis, Koreans, or Russians, many of those soldiers who lived through those events don't play video games.; but it is just a game, so i guess i can see both sides of the argument. Either way it's progress and that is good for the video gaming culture. Cheers to EA for staying strong.
EKG
I agree with him and I hope they stand firm. Do NOT give in to pressure like Konami did. All Konami did was let everyone know that we will break under pressure, and we as an industry are not allowed to have the same creative rights and freedoms that all other form of entertainment enjoy.
Video Games should not be treated any different, and politicians better get used to it. Stay firm EA, even though I hate you because you rip off the less fortunate gamer, I do believe in this cause.
Bigburito
Hell yeah! I'm glad taht they're standing their ground! I mean seriously would they rather it be american soldiers vs american soldiers? at least with one side being terrorists there's at least some non-soldier kills...
JustTheBeginning
"Do not judge a book by its cover", these people have never played the campaign and yet they shout "evil, evil, evil!!!". Perhaps it shows the emotional effects the other side faces, and *gasps* even reminds us these people are human beings too, who have families and lives as well.
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