Activision Defends Oliver North in Black Ops 2

[Rooster Cogburn]

I passionately disagree with this defense of a man who is a criminal and a traitor. It is true that governments are havens for crooks and profiteers, and it may even be there is nothing we can do about it. What we can do is not provide social sanction and respectability to criminals. If we cannot wipe his kind from the face of the earth we should shame them off it. Even criminals like Dick Cheney are granted the respectability and social sanction of 'political controversy', rather than being damned to the public as the criminals they are. I can't stand to watch them sneer through interviews where they are treated like controversial figures and not the worst kind of slime. It is the face of a man who knows he has done wrong and is content. It is disgusting. It has to stop.

Complicity in treason, rape, murder, pillage and torture are his crimes. Allowing him to show his face in polite society is ours.

Fuck you Activision. Just fuck you.

 

[Frostbite3789]

But isn't that exactly what what Atomic did with Six Days in Fallujah - which many gamers defended against the backlash from "outside the community?"

The thing is after the Nuke level which was actually...genuine in CoD4, this has become the thing for the CoD series. Stir up controversy. Shoot up an airport. Watch a family die. Torture a dude. This time they aren't waiting for the game to even start for it though.

 

[Frostbite3789]

Why the hell do they even need consultants? I mean they pretty much just pull crap out of their asses and add explosions for the cod games.

How much can this many consult about a game in the near future that deals with a robot army and fighting while on horseback?

I mean, maybe I'm completely uninformed about the Iran/Contra Affair, but I feel like North isn't exactly qualified to consult on unmanned armies. Maybe he's consulting on how nefarious the guy who hands the bad guys the figurative keys that are mentioned in the trailer?

 

[Worgen]

Why the hell do they even need consultants? I mean they pretty much just pull crap out of their asses and add explosions for the cod games.

How much can this many consult about a game in the near future that deals with a robot army and fighting while on horseback?

I mean, maybe I'm completely uninformed about the Iran/Contra Affair, but I feel like North isn't exactly qualified to consult on unmanned armies. Maybe he's consulting on how nefarious the guy who hands the bad guys the figurative keys that are mentioned in the trailer?

That would be pretty good if it turned out he was consulting for the bad guys you were fighting in it. They would be oli north robots or something... maybe with human emotions and they bleed. So they can beg for their lives, their robot lives.

 

[Hazy992]

We're trying to make a piece of art

a piece of art

art

Oh wow that's a good one, Treyarch! Really! You guys crack me up!

OT: Yeah it was short-sighted as it sends out the wrong political message, but I think that's all it is; short-sighted. They probably didn't think it'd stir up as much controversy as it actually did.

 

[Hazy992]

Why the hell do they even need consultants? I mean they pretty much just pull crap out of their asses and add explosions for the cod games.

How much can this many consult about a game in the near future that deals with a robot army and fighting while on horseback?

I mean, maybe I'm completely uninformed about the Iran/Contra Affair, but I feel like North isn't exactly qualified to consult on unmanned armies. Maybe he's consulting on how nefarious the guy who hands the bad guys the figurative keys that are mentioned in the trailer?

Some of the game is set during the 80's so he might be consulting on that?

 

[Loonerinoes]

I can't help but think: "Why him?" I mean...I am 100% certain that there are other, less well-known, black ops people they could talk to and use their expertise instead of North's. And let's be clear - these other people would be just as bad as North if not worse - the reason why they're called 'Black Ops' is precisely BECAUSE they are technically illegal. Not to say that I don't agree with Andy's perspective, still when it comes to matters of law one does still need to follow its letter while not following its spirit to at least *appear* legitimate and thus avoid getting nailed. Black Ops, however, by definition break those laws and do the stuff that the country in question shouldn't solely for its own benefit. So it's no surprise that Oliver North took the fall for the rest of the administration since he was moreso directly involved...not that it mattered - he still got acquitted.

But my point was - they could've used any other less known person than him. Because if it's just a matter of expertise being relayed towards the creation of a fictional game...what does it really matter if you talk to North or someome else who did that actual work. Even moreso, North with his moreso 'superstar status' probably charged Activision more for his appearance. So why not go to a less-known black ops expert to back the game's writing up who would probably also charge Activision less for the priviledge?

Unless of course...you're actually *hoping* to stir up controvesy by having such a 'superstar status' polarizing figure appear on your game's ads. To me that's pretty much what this is. And I'd actually agree with Andy that the only difference is that he got caught, but as to the question of why he specifically is being used well heh...it's an old marketing strategy really.

And I daresay it's working beautifully considering all the press coverage they're getting because of this controvesy.

 

[TotalerKrieger]

They should make a game about Major General Smedley Butler next. Each mission could feature a new locale as you progess through his impressive, if extremely mercenary, military career. The final mission could allow the player to choose whether to be a "patriot" and command the forces of the Business Plot or be a no-good commie and blow the whistle on the whole operation.

Dear Activision/Teyarch, you are a bunch of talentless attention-whores.

 

[Chairman Miaow]

I would be fine with this if ya'know, CoD really had artistic merit, and they weren't just going "ART! Our games need to be realistic and accurate despite the fact we've never given a shit about it before."

As it is, they have no need to hire him.

 

[Angry_squirrel]

Nope. His real crime was selling weapons to the Ayotollah, despite their being an embargo at the time with Iran (thus breaking international law), to fund drug-smuggling, torturing, raping, murdering rebels in Nicuragua. According to Sen. John Kerry, there's evidence to suggest that North got the US actively involved in the Contra's drug smuggling schemes. At the very least, it was his funding that allowed them to go round burning down villages, raping women and children, killing innocent civilians, and capturing and torturing whoever they felt like.

This is no different than if Dice, ahead of their next Battlefield game, were to go "We really wanted to know what the experience of fighting insurgents is like in Afghanistan... so we invited several key members of the Taliban to come and advise us on what sort of missions they do, insurgency tactics, etc."

North is a criminal. He was tried for war crimes. The only reason he wasn't convicted was because of a ridiculous plea-bargain he made beforehand that meant the US could bring him to trial, so long as they didn't convict him. Fuck him, and fuck Activision for supporting him in any way. Black Ops is not such a true-to-life game that the developers need to consult war criminals to get the campaign right.

I would go off on a rant about this, but this post puts it better than I ever could.

 

[Aeonknight]

This may be completely off topic, but it needs to be said.

Does anyone remember the days when the choice to buy/not buy a game wasn't a political statement?

 

[idarkphoenixi]

It's pretty obvious why they did this. They cannot make a single call of duty game ever since MW1 without having controversy. It's really kind of childish on what they'll do to get attention (MW3 having some American child die in an explosion)

Yeah, he's a war criminal and a lot of people know that now. Which is what Activision was counting on.

Honestly I don't like that they used Oliver North like it was nothing. He's a damn criminal and deserves to be serving life for what he did. But I won't go making a huge deal out of it and I won't go signing any petitions and I won't be adding my voice to any boycott movements. Why? Because that's exactly what Activision want you do to!

Don't fuel the fires guys. Just voice your opinion and move on. Theres nothing you can do about this.

 

[Grey Day for Elcia]

Men like North deserve to be publicly shamed, stripped of all commendations, removed from history and forgotten about.

 

[Loonerinoes]

This may be completely off topic, but it needs to be said.

Does anyone remember the days when the choice to buy/not buy a game wasn't a political statement?

Ahhh...the days before internet becoming prolific...the wild days.

 

[Bigeyez]

*SNIP*

Not trying to knock you or anything here I completely see where you are coming from, but would be you saying the same thing if they had hired Reagan or Caspar Weinberger for the same job North is doing? In my opinon North catches the most flak because he became the face of the whole affair but there were many more people involved in Iran-Contra then just him. Reagan, his cabinet, many high up military and intelligence people. North basically took the dagger in the public spotlight, but he was definitely not the one and only guy behind it all.
It's sad to say that the stuff that happened in Iran-Contra has been happening for a long time in our history and thats only the stuff we know about. Thats in no way defending North, but I will say some of the hate geared toward him should really be geared towards the entire top echelon of U.S. Gov't/Military/Intelligence.

 

[Mysterious Druid]

Maybe this clears things up a bit

That's where I first heard of the guy.

Don't look at me like that.

 

[EMFCRACKSHOT]

That would be no different to a Hollywood studio making a film set in WWII, only to hire a former SS commander to advise them. It's in bad taste, and insults the people who died because of this prick's attempts to bypass Congress.

How is it in bad taste to consult someone who can rightly be regarded as an expert in their field for research?
Its kind of funny, even now he still does what he was intended to do when the affair went public and keeps all the attention off the guys who were truly responsible. All this hyperbole about how terrible he is is somewhat mis-aimed. He couldn't have done what he did without approval from higher up (reagan did approve of it after all) and he only takes the flak because he is the pulic face of the scandal. It was the cold war, that sort of thing happened all the time, this time they were just unlucky enough to get caught.
Also, i have to point out that several members of the Waffen SS did in fact go on to star in hollywood movies. The most notable of them being Hardy Kruger.
One thing i think many of us can agree on though is that Black Ops 2 wil most likely suck massive doneky balls