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The saga of Medal of Honor goes on. As we reported on Friday, Electronic Arts bowed to pressure from various critics and decided to remove the name "The Taliban" from MoH's multiplayer. This apparently isn't good enough for the U.S. Military. Our armed forces have declined to lift a ban on the title at The Exchange, the chain of stores located on its bases.
“Out of respect to those touched by the ongoing, real-life events presented as a game, Exchanges will not be carrying this product,” Maj. Gen. Bruce Casella, the commander of the U.S. Army & Air Force Exchange Service, said in a statement.
"Merchandising a product that presents depictions of American troops engaged in an active combat zone as a game could construed as inconsistent with the Exchange’s ongoing desire to treat its patrons, and their family members, with the respect their service warrants," Judd Anstey, a spokesman for the Army & Air Force Exchange Service, told the Los Angeles Times.
I understand that you sign away certain freedoms when you join up with the military, but still, this is ridiculous. The men and women of the armed forces are called on to put their lives at risk to protect our freedoms, and yet they don't have the freedom to purchase the games they want at "official" stores? There's something so not right about that. Sure, you could order it from Amazon, but it's this principle of the thing that's important.
Rank and file soldiers are the most affected by the "real-life events" Casella mentions, and I doubt too many of them are against the right to buy a freakin' video game at their base stores. If you really don't like it, you don't have to buy it. Military people put their real lives and safety at risk all the time; if they want to blow off some steam by pretending to kill (or be) The Taliban or anything else, the powers-that-be should let them. In other words: Politics suck.
Anyway, the game comes out on October 12, and you'll be able to pick it up in local stores...as long as you don't live on a military base.
Source: The LA Times
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Comments
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Sam00
I agree with the military on this one. They are taking the road of less caution. I am former military and many of my friends are currently in Afghanistan I can only imagine what they are going through on a daily basis. Most likely boredom as I was in G2. But still, it can not be an easy thing to live through that stress every single day, and then to come home and live through that same stress as a game? Come on.
I have MOH preordered and have been participating in the PC beta. I did this as an American citizen and no longer active military. If my CO told me to not order this game, I wouldn't. It is a completely different mindset in the military and unless you've served you don't really understand. Of course none of my CO's would have ever said that, but just saying.
The PX isn't public property it is government property that has every right to decide what it will and will not carry. Every soldier, family member, former military, and citizen has every right to purchase and play this game but don't blame the military for siding with caution and choosing to not deal with the one or two, possibly more cases, of PTSD caused from playing a game bought on base. It isn't worth it, no game is.
The issue is only partly dealing with this being a current war, it is more dealing with the realism of it. I remember as a little kid watching my uncle freak the f out while watching Apocalypse Now. It isn't something you just get over. Just try to show some understanding it is a very delicate issue. Until we can properly diagnose and treat VFW soldiers with PTSD this is a "safe" step. Congress needs to address their lack of attention to our veterans and stop this ridiculous war on marriage, drugs, and whatever else they attack to keep us off the real issues.
Our veterans need help.
Makaiju
Freedom and Anarchy are not the same thing. People are free to change their mind. People are free to use their brain or spout off half thought out nonsense they barely understand.
A business is free to say all employees must wear suites and ties to work. Every employee, men and women.
People are free to choose to accept jobs at the company who forces everyone to wear suites and ties or not.
Accepting the job and then deciding you would rather burn down the building then wear a suite and tie is not freedom. It's anarchy and it actually hurts the freedom of others more then following the rules that you might feel 'limit' your personal freedom.
lynch dude8
i don't care as long as they don't ban it in Rhode Island im cool with it
lowkevmic
@bmckniff- Actually as long as taxpayer dollars go towards practically evertything owned, operated, and used by the military, civilians absolutley has the right to voice an opinion as to what goes on in the military.
San_Pato
Not everyone over there is sleeping in tents. Many are in shared rooms with a cable hook up for tv and usually an internet connection. Some will bring a console on deployments, because when off duty, there isn't a whole lot to do on those bases. The stores there even sell tvs and consoles. I bought my xbox elite when I was deployed with my National Guard unit in Iraq. If you cannot buy a game in the store there that you want, you have to order online, and ask anyone who has deployed, the mail isn't totally dependable or swift. I am still a defender of the military's right to ban whatever it wants in its stores, but now that EA changed the game, they should release the ban. This game is just an over-hyped modern warfare clone anyway. It's probably gonna suck or be a 3 star at most and none of this crap will really matter in the end.
nvserg
Stephen,
you got my vote. i back your words up %100. you are right
Ruhi
Land of the free my ass... How stupid is this. EA caves and removes Taliban as the name and the Army still doesn't allow it on bases? The military has to realize this is entertainment right? Just like movies that show US Soldiers, Marines, etc getting blown away, entertainment... Do they ban those movies?
Maybe EA should go back to keeping the name of the "opposing forces" Taliban, they can put a user option in to turn on name or not... keep the cry babies quiet.
Once again, Land of the free my ass...
ww2_honor
Another reason why we're on our way to becoming a communist country.
JBigs206
Though this type of censorship is generally wrong I can see why the military is doing this. When someone is playing a game based on events that the player is experiencing right now can possibly blur the line between fiction and reality for that player. It could also cause PTSD. And the last thing the military wants is for when you return to base after duty you put yourself back there virtually. Yeah it's unfair but in case you haven't noticed life's not fair. Im not trying to argue on the side of "Maj.Gen. Bruce Casella" im just saying I can kinda see why they are doing this. Also none of us should really be stating strong opinions towards this matter either way unless you are in or have been in armed services because we can truly never understand what these peoples lives are like. It's like if your neighbors were having a household fight and you decided to get involved. It's just not your place to get involved. The military and its armed service men and women know what's best for themselves so let them deal with it themselves.
Makaiju
(*note* yes, the "reply" feature just doesn't seem to work for me today. Sorry for the extra posts.)
To clarify... EA stripped the name Taliban (replaced with OpFor) out of the game due to the number of letters they received from the families of soldiers who did die during our current war. Not to be sold on military bases.
The military banned the sales of the game on bases because the game's realistic replication of our current war could emotionally harm our active personnel, not because the name Taliban showed up in the game.
T
DreamingDarklyRobin
So the idiots at EA caving in to pressure resulted in nobody being happy and no additional sales. Good f-ing job, EA.
peanutmanak47
I served over seas twice in the USMC and I have no problem with this game or any content on it. I have plenty of friends who are still active service along with the ones that are out and they don't have any problems with it. I have talked to family members who have lost someone and they have no problem about this game. We have no problem making WW2 games that depict the Japanese killing American troops but yet we can't take in the Taliban killing our troops? The only people complaining about this in the military are the higher ups that think they are making a difference. I just shows how much they don't know what the back bone of the military knows and cares about.
Stealthmaster86
It seems that having the Taliban was just an excuse not to have the game in Military Bases, now that it's out of the game there's no more excuse. Still, they are refusing to sell it.
Christ0bell
Its a Game get real.....what the hell is gonna happen when we end up fighting some Aliens in real life.......Halo gonna be banned to??? COD Had you shooting civs running for their lives.
Gaming industry needs to form its own union. Creative expression is all that stands between us and those black suit wearing tie chomping wall street banking share holders......... etc etc
bmckniff
People seem to be confusing the choice to not carry a product with banning it from the military. The game is not banned from use or possession. The game can still be owned and purchased and played. They just can't buy it from the store on the base. They can still go to any Wal-mart, Game Stop, Best Buy, etc. or any website and purchase it.
I can understand this decision, regardless of my opinion of it. The Army has every right to determine what they choose to support by selling on base. People who have not served sometimes have trouble understanding the sacrifices that are made by Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen. Yes, there are the obvious ones, but another component of military service is limitations in everyday life. What can be done in the civilian world is not always acceptable in the military and especially vice versa. People are making this into a much bigger deal than it needs to be. The Exchange command can determine what products to carry just like any other civilian business.
If you aren't in the military or a family member of a service member, this decision has no effect on you. And while the point has been made that as tax payers anyone can voice their opinion, the public at large has no authority to interfere in command decisions, which is exactly what this is. Just let it be and stop making issues out of nothing.
OneEyedJohnny
Looks like the terrorists win. :(
Matches Malone
For some reason I can't post a reply to anything so I'll do it here.
First: I am not currently enlisted in active or reserve duty for any branch of our armed forces. I served in the Marine Corps but that was in the 90's (peacetime) and I would never put myself in the same category as anyone who has had to actually put their butt on the line for us. I have too much respect for them to do that.
Second: Where in my post did I say, "don't talk about this;" or,"your opinion doesn't matter"? I was only making a point that this is a non-issue for most of us and probably for the folks in uniform too. Considering they can get this game anywhere else except on base. Not to mention that there is no restriction on them from playing the game on base.
MY opinion is that this is nothing more than making a mountain out of a molehill. What's yours?
BTW, I don't think EA should have changed the tag 'taliban' to 'OpFor'. That pesky 1st Amendment. And I won't be buying this game, either. Not b/c of the taliban or lack thereof, but b/c I can't see why I should shell out yet another $60 for yet another shooter.
Makaiju
If you aren't active military or recently active military, you don't understand. Seriously
The military command is doing what they can to error on the side of caution when it comes to protecting the emotional well being of their personnel.
Will all military servicemen/women be upset about seeing a game that fairly accurately recreates the events they just lived in a country they were just in? No.
Will someone potentially slip back into PTSD problems if they see a reminder of those events? Yes.
The military isn't banning this game or hurting any personnel who decide to buy/play the game. All the military is doing is making sure that the base grounds these active duty men and women live on is as safe, friendly, and protected as possible. Overly safe? Maybe... but I'd rather see the military personnel being over cared for rather then ignored or abandoned.
tehblessed
"Merchandising a product that presents depictions of American troops engaged in an active combat zone as a game could construed as inconsistent with the Exchange s ongoing desire to treat its patrons, and their family members, with the respect their service warrants,"
This is akin to saying that out of respect we should prevent any veterans of previous wars from buying any fictional media (books, movies, games, etc...) based on events that occurred in that war in case it makes light of their experiences. I can't see how removing a choice for someone can ever be considered done out of respect for them.
|Zero|
This is just controversy for the sake of controversy. I really think EA should have left the game the way it was and just accepted the fact that Exchanges weren't going to carry it.
So they don't want to carry it. Are we going to hop on every retailer's case for not carrying a product? That's ridiculous! Are you going to protest a store's choice for not carrying a particular brand ? You would just go to another store that has the product you want!
The Maj. General made the right call. So some soldiers will have to go out and buy the game from another store, or order it online so some widow doesn't have a breakdown while picking up a game for her, now, fatherless child.
I'd rather deal with a few soldiers too lazy to go to a Best Buy or click the order button on Amazon than the wrath of military mothers and wives.
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