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Controversy Arises Over Taliban Option In Medal of Honor

Posted by Soulskill on from the yes-this-again dept.

eldavojohn writes "CVG is covering the controversy surrounding players' ability to play as a member of the Taliban in EA's Medal of Honor multiplayer. Fox News hopped on the wagon, interviewing a Gold Star mom whose son died in Iraq. She said, 'My son didn't get to start over when he was killed. His life was over and I had to deal with that every day. There's 1200 families from Afghanistan that have to live with this every day. And we live it — it's not a game... EA is very cavalier about it: "Well, it's just a game." But it isn't a game to the people who are suffering from the loss of the children and loved ones.' EA's response to this criticism of giving players the objective to 'gun down American troops' was this: 'Medal Of Honor is set in today's war, putting players in the boots of today's soldier... We give gamers the opportunity to play both sides. Most of us have been doing this since we were seven. If someone's the cop, someone's got to be the robber, someone's got to be the pirate, somebody's got to be the alien. In Medal Of Honor multiplayer, someone has to be the Taliban.' Of course the story recalls Six Days in Fallujah, which was dropped by Konami following similar controversy. It's clear at least a few people take issue with games surrounding modern conflicts."

11 of 671 comments (clear)

  1. Hypocrisy Isn't Free by drinkypoo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    She said, 'My son didn't get to start over when he was killed. His life was over and I had to deal with that every day. There's 1200 families from Afghanistan that have to live with this every day. And we live it -- it's not a game..

    That's funny, I hear that's what the people on the other side said too, except possibly in another language.

    Last I heard, American soldiers were supposed to be fighting to preserve a way of life, a way which includes freedom of expression.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    1. Re:Hypocrisy Isn't Free by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "These days", huh? Well, if you could go back to whatever previous "days" you imagine as the time when freedom of expression wasn't a myth, you'd find that it too was chock full of people like you smugly declaring that "freedom of expression is pretty much a myth these days". They were as wrong then as you are now.

    2. Re:Hypocrisy Isn't Free by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No, but you can't torture people in Gitmo either so in the end you just have to accept that you can't do everything both sides do.

    3. Re:Hypocrisy Isn't Free by PitaBred · · Score: 5, Insightful

      So... they're offending their target market, going to fail in the marketplace because nobody will buy the game, and collapse as a company? Great! Free market at work!

      Or it offends a few busybodies who make a bunch of noise, and... life goes on.

      If you don't like what they do, don't buy the damn game. It's not that hard. Just refuse to open your wallet when they hold you at gunpoint. Life's too short to get offended. You don't have a right to not be offended. You have a right to free speech and association.

      --
      My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
    4. Re:Hypocrisy Isn't Free by KahabutDieDrake · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think you don't have the foggiest idea of the facts of the case. The so called ground zero mosque is more complicated and yet simpler than you imagine. High five for buying into the media blitz. Now lets have some facts to fuck up your opinions.

      The planned community center is NOT on ground zero. It's blocks away. Roughly equidistant from 2 other mosques already in place in the area. The "symbol" isn't a symbol. It's a freaking YMCA with slightly different religious overtones. The only appreciable difference is, right now, this country likes Christians and doesn't like Muslims. Racism, religionism, whatever you want to call it. This whole thing is about HATE mongering. The people behind this community center are the kind of people we need in this country. Smart, rational, empathetic, open minded and willing to compromise. The kind of people AGAINST this center are the kind of people we SHOULD be putting up against walls. They are extremists, and zealots. Both of which, no matter the creed, should be removed from society as they are of no benefit, and we KNOW THAT as a society.

      If providing a community center in NY, where exists dozens of similar centers from dozens of creeds is counter productive.... well I don't even know where to begin. Are you AWARE of your bias? Do you just not care? NY was once known as the melting pot. It was the place where dozens of religions, creeds and races mixed and more or less got along. If that is now not true anymore because of "ground zero".... well, I guess we can declare a winner can't we?

    5. Re:Hypocrisy Isn't Free by fishbowl · · Score: 5, Insightful

      >In one word, yes. It's all a matter of sensibility.

      As soon as you define "matter of sensibility" in a way that has universal acceptance *or* can stand as a basis for a legal decision in court, it will be meaningful.

      Like pornography, just because "you know it when you see it", that doesn't make it a reasonable universal standard that can be applied to any given scenario.

      --
      -fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
    6. Re:Hypocrisy Isn't Free by Joce640k · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I wonder how many enemy's sons her son killed...oh, wait, they don't count.

      --
      No sig today...
  2. Well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    My son didn't get to start over when he was killed. His life was over and I had to deal with that every day. There's 1200 families from Afghanistan that have to live with this every day

    I feel your pain. Given our nation's involuntary draft, the servicemen who have died in the war thus far did so against their will. They did not know what they were fighting for, and what they were ready to give up to secure our freedoms.

    Oh, wait. They did. They bleed crimson red so we can maintain our way of life. They chose to join the service.

    You do a disservice to the fallen soldiers memories by acting like the very corrupt, anti-American terrorists. How dare you?

    They died for us. It's our job to keep on living and enjoy life. You've better things to do than to wallow about some videogame.

  3. What the fuck ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yuppies are die hard hypocrite pussies. Wake me up when a game contains the following plot:

    1. A foreign invader bombs your village and drops leaflets about liberation
    2. You lose one cousin to an errant bomb, another is killed by a rival tribe
    3. The electric grid starts to fail. Riots take over the streets, and you can no longer go to school or even visit family across town
    4. Finally, your mother is forced into prostitution because your father was abducted, tortured, and killed by the invaders
    5. You completely lose your mind and embark on a mission to kill at least one foreigner in retribution for the suffering you have endured

    When that shit happens, video games will be art, and they will start to matter. Any complaining about obviously pro-American games like Medal of Honor is the most pathetic and empty endorsement of patriotism I've heard this week. And trust me, there's a lot of competition.

  4. It's gotta be rough by phantomfive · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's gotta be rough playing Taliban where your only hope of anything is to shoot quickly than run, and hopefully you'll kill someone before you die, if you're lucky. Where if you ever begin to get the upper hand in any fight, your opponent calls in a helicopter that you have no defense against, or even hope to have a defense against. Where your only chance of winning is if your opponent decides to go home. That would be so depressing.

    --
    Qxe4
  5. All credibility lost by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The moment you ragged on Obama as 'the worst President'. If you honestly think Bush was any better, then you have NO credibility at all with your statement.

    And yes, one thing has something to do with the other, since YOU decided to mention that.

    You comment being marked as 'insightful' says volumes about the readership of this site.