Modern Warfare 2 Not Banned in Russia, Says Activision

[Andy Chalk]

Modern Warfare 2 Not Banned in Russia, Says Activision

Modern Warfare 2 [http://www.activision.com] was recalled or banned in Russia are untrue, pointing out that only the PC version of the game has been released in that country.

It was Google translation [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/96136-Modern-Warfare-2-Recalled-in-Russia], the game "feeds the primary audience residing in the United States of America a story about the evil Russian!"

The anger is quite likely real, Russian nationalism being what it is, but according to Activision, the reports of a recall and ban are not. The offending scene has been excised from the game, the company said, but the decision to remove it was entirely voluntarily.

"Other countries have formal ratings boards that we regularly work with. However, Russia does not have a formal ratings entity. As a result, we chose to block the scene after seeking the advice of local counsel," Activision said in a statement to Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/activision-chose-to-censor-russian-mw2].

"Reports that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has been banned in Russia are erroneous," the statement continued. "Activision only released a PC version of the game in Russia which went on sale on Tuesday, 10th November."

It's really not all that surprising that only the PC version of the game has been released in Russia; I've been told by more than one developer that unlike North America, the PC still dominates the Russian gaming scene. (This is another reason why I love Russian games.) No word yet on when, or even if, the console versions will hit the shelves over there, but it's a safe bet that when it happens, "No Russian" will be no more.


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[Captain Pancake]

Huh. I didn't know PC gaming was so prevalent in Russia. at least one place in the world isn't dominated by pick-up-and-play consoles.

 

[uppitycracker]

So I guess Russia is balanced for MW2 after all

 

[Doug]

Evil Russian? What about the SAS who murder and torture throughout the game. Admittly, thats probably what they do, but I don't hear an outrage about the 'evil Brits'. Or do I see complaints about the bomb-happy Americans.

 

[Dudeakoff]

Huh. I didn't know PC gaming was so prevalent in Russia. at least one place in the world isn't dominated by pick-up-and-play consoles.

Pretty much all of eastern Europe are big on their PC gaming, although piracy is also massive in those countries (and I suspect the Russian PC gamers will pirate the game to get the 'No Russian' level).

 

[disco freak 86]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!STORY SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
in the end of the game usa is depicted as the bad guys im.irish so i dont really care.
But someone has to be the bad guys i dont know why russia.

 

[MrCrun]

------SPOILERS------

Actually, I thought the Americans were evil all the way through. Not you understand the grunts you defend Washington with (honorable but gung-ho/jingoistic) but when you've got extremists doing extremist type things and one is a govenment agent it changes slightly from extremist extremism to state sponsored extremism. After that the Russians react in the same manner the US would if things were reversed. If, say, Islamists/White Supremesists/Shining Path/Kymer Roughe shot up LAX and one dead one turn up as an FSB agent, that would be World War Three. Since most of Europe would end up as the front line again.
Then you have lunatic Brits sky-nuking D.C. and such, I have trouble singling out anyone as the most evil. Maybe the Russians are to eager for war, but if we can invade Iraq for potential threat, then an actual slaughter of innocents can only be more justification for military based angryness.

 

[Sebenko]

I do feel sorry for the Russians, always being portrayed as the bad guys since Goldeneye.

Pretty much all of eastern Europe are big on their PC gaming

STALKER!

Explains why it's barely worth spending money on most western games when I can get games like Arma 2 and STALKER from Eastern europe.

 

[Kollega]

Well, yeah. Not banned, they say. It's just that both local publisher and Activision would be eaten alive by both gamers and gonverment if they actually released the game with this scenes.

And yes - Russia, former USSR countries, and Eastern Europe are dominated by PC gaming.

 

[Toty54]

In Soviet Russia... nevermind.

I wonder if it was purposefully said that they were recalled or by mistake.

 

[Magepunk]

From my viewpoint, as living next to Russia, in a country they totally and utterly hate (Latvia), yes the bloody Russians are evil. Except the St. Petersburg one's they're really cool. About the PC being the king here - it's just because we can't afford your expensive consoles and expensive games. One could live TWO WEEKS from the cost of the mentioned MW2 alone.


And yeah, you'll probably will be able to buy MW2 in a week or so for 6$ IN A LEGAL PC STORE! Of course, no manual, no shiney box and a crack inside a "licensed" version of a game, but still...

So, as this, for the most part, is our only option for game purchase, unless we spend two week's worth of salary to order something from teh interwebz or buy from a specialized legal game store, then yeah - TPB and, well, every other imaginable Torrent Tracker LIVES off us.

 

[Slider2k]

From my viewpoint, as living next to Russia, in a country they totally and utterly hate (Latvia), yes the bloody Russians are evil.

I don't understand why Russia must hate such a tiny country as Latvia.

 

[rockingnic]

Russia has games? I didn't know communist played games, since they involve competition.

 

[d100Productions]

Least Russia isn't as touchy as the Japanese government and they're outright ban of World at War because it casts a "negative image".

 

[Cyberjester]

Check out that other post on here, the one with stats on how many times MW2 has been torrented. PC gaming is still alive and well in the states, it's just that no-one out of the ~5 million people who downloaded it show up on sales records. =P

Maybe the Russians are to eager for war, but if we can invade Iraq for potential threat, then an actual slaughter of innocents can only be more justification for military based angryness.

Iraq they had an excuse, involving 2 planes and 2 towers which you Americans seemed to forget faster than the rest of the world. :S It's weird that we remember it more than you..

6am and I'm off to bed, need a working brain to ponder that question.

 

[Tankenstein]

Check out that other post on here, the one with stats on how many times MW2 has been torrented. PC gaming is still alive and well in the states, it's just that no-one out of the ~5 million people who downloaded it show up on sales records. =P

Maybe the Russians are to eager for war, but if we can invade Iraq for potential threat, then an actual slaughter of innocents can only be more justification for military based angryness.

Iraq they had an excuse, involving 2 planes and 2 towers which you Americans seemed to forget faster than the rest of the world. :S It's weird that we remember it more than you..

6am and I'm off to bed, need a working brain to ponder that question.

you dropped the pwnhammer.

 

[ReincarnatedFTP]

Russia has games? I didn't know communist played games, since they involve competition.

Russia's more of a kleptocracy/badly run capitalist country today, the USSR is long gone.

Iraq they had an excuse, involving 2 planes and 2 towers which you Americans seemed to forget faster than the rest of the world. :S It's weird that we remember it more than you..

Except they had nothing at all to do with Iraq. All the intelligence that said anything about WMDs were either direct lies or known lies that we accepted from other sources. And they had nothing to do with Al Qaeda. The Russians have more of a justification in MW2 than America IRL because they actually found an American agent directly involved in the attack with the Russian terrorists. We had no proof at all, they have one guy. Was it a sound logical response to the information? No, but then invading Iraq wasn't sound or logical.

I'm more worried about the blatant plothole that 1)Such a situation is more likely to be solved through backdoor diplomacy and black ops between countries than a war between two nations with nukes. 2)The American agent was so easily identified as such when he was supposed to be infiltrating a terrorist organization and originally of relatively low rank, and he should have had fake ID anyway (I guess you could explain it away as Shephard and Makarov had a pre-planned deal, but I got the feeling that Shephard sent you in intentionally to get you killed, and Makarov had no idea someone else wanted a war between Russia and America.That and Shephard's plan was to kill Makarov,defeat Russia and become a national hero). Not to mention, they use cameras from the Russian airport to find out it was a setup and yet the Russians didn't use their own camera.

 

[MrCrun]

Sorry, but Saddam had absolutly nothing to do with 9/11. bin Laden did not like Hussain because Iraq did not have Sharia Law. There is not an even slight terrorist connection between the two.
Also, I'm English.