EA Boss Was "Surprised" By Medal of Honor Uproar

[DTWolfwood]

Ignorance. what an all encompassing word for all that is wrong with ppl in this world \o/

 

[Falseprophet]

I see alot of people saying "there are tonnes of WWII games where you play as nazi's" yeah but most people are fine with that because it happend 65 years ago. people are still dying in afgahnistan, it's not made to be a middle finger to servicemen but it is bad taste.

Yeah, you pushed my buttons about this whole issue:

So I guess when this classic film [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034583/] was made during World War II that used the war as its backdrop, the actors playing the Nazi villains were in "bad taste". (Even though they all they were all refugees from Nazi persecution.)

And when some comic artists drew this cover of Captain America punching out Hitler [http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_31TGdXVwLqc/S8uoAQGgq_I/AAAAAAAAAT8/fKuy24SkfyQ/s1600/captainAmericaHitler.jpg] in 1941 nine months before America was even at war with Germany, that was also in "bad taste".

So you should never create art based on a current war, since you have to portray the adversaries from that conflict, and that makes it "bad taste".

Do I have that right?

 

[Cid Silverwing]

I swear the industry is built solely around seeing what they can get away with in this day and age.

 

[Blackjack 222]

EA has a boss!?!?!?!?

I always assumed it was run by a horde of about 50-60 bipolar chimps with brain damage.

 

[Crimsane]

Eh. It's to be expected. I don't think he could've been unaware that such a thing would inevitably happen. I mean, he does know that Fox News exists, right?

Still, he's right in basically giving the news media the finger.

 

[SultanP]

What a liar. That crap was put in there deliberately to cause exactly this kind of uproar, considering what it did for Modern Warfare 2.

Playing as the Taliban on one side in the multiplayer is nothing like the stuff from MW2. And frankly putting it in for controversy seems highly unlikely because people actually being upset over it is so completely ridiculous, that anticipating it wouldn't have made any sense.

Agree 100%. When I heard about the "outrage", I was at a loss for words. It's okay to play as terrorists, but only as long as they are not named or belong to a fictional terror organisation? What?

Indeed. It's not like people are up in arms about racing games because "My son drove way too fast and hit something and died! In a car!!!" I kinda see it as something similar. Oh, no, you can't make a game with food in it, because people have choked to death when getting some stuck in their throat. Where does it end?

 

[Booze Zombie]

I honestly didn't see this coming, either. No one batted an eyelid at all the other games with Taliban in them.

 

[lemby117]

sory messed up quote has now been rectified

 

[lemby117]

I see alot of people saying "there are tonnes of WWII games where you play as nazi's" yeah but most people are fine with that because it happend 65 years ago. people are still dying in afgahnistan, it's not made to be a middle finger to servicemen but it is bad taste.

Yeah, you pushed my buttons about this whole issue:

So I guess when this classic film [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034583/] was made during World War II that used the war as its backdrop, the actors playing the Nazi villains were in "bad taste". (Even though they all they were all refugees from Nazi persecution.)

And when some comic artists drew this cover of Captain America punching out Hitler [http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_31TGdXVwLqc/S8uoAQGgq_I/AAAAAAAAAT8/fKuy24SkfyQ/s1600/captainAmericaHitler.jpg] in 1941 nine months before America was even at war with Germany, that was also in "bad taste".

So you should never create art based on a current war, since you have to portray the adversaries from that conflict, and that makes it "bad taste".

Do I have that right?

I see where youre coming from however as this is multiplayer you can expect Team Death match and this seems to portray the war as a sport.i don't have a problem with the taliban being included but I feel that including two sides courently engaged in fighting in a almost light hearted kill for points scenario belitles the conflict somewhat.

 

[Canid117]

Are you seriously saying that MW2 wouldn't have sold so well if not for some stupid little controversy?

Yes. It still would have sold extremely well, but it absolutely gained a boost from the controversy.

MW2 sold because it was the sequel to one of the most beloved shooters off all time. The controversy may have boosted early awareness before ads started coming out and so increased pre-order sales but it was going to sell better than most other games ever have regardless. If there was a mission where you played as the Taliban I might agree with you but it is just multi-player. The real reason they put this in is because, hey someone had to be the bad guys.

 

[JaymesFogarty]

I see alot of people saying "there are tonnes of WWII games where you play as nazi's" yeah but most people are fine with that because it happend 65 years ago. people are still dying in afgahnistan, it's not made to be a middle finger to servicemen but it is bad taste.

My granddad died of blood loss while on the field during WWII. You know what? I care, I care a lot. It's an important part of my family history. The other side of my family, however, were a group of German civilians that tried to escape Nazi Germany with a friendly Jewish family. Do you think I mind that people can play as Nazi's, killing others online like how they killed a member of my family? No. Know why? Because it's a game. You're not killing real people, and it's complete bullshit to say that it's more correct for virtual americans to kill americans, than for the Taliban to kill virtual americans. The fact that some people are offended by it shocks me. It's like someone being offended by the various drug scenes in a soap opera, because their father died from an overdose. In fiction, basing the narrative around real groups of people should be fine. It's not real; and censoring material like this is only demonstrating a ridiculous state censorship similar to the kind in totalitarian regimes.

 

[rockyoumonkeys]

Are you seriously saying that MW2 wouldn't have sold so well if not for some stupid little controversy?

Yes. It still would have sold extremely well, but it absolutely gained a boost from the controversy.

MW2 sold because it was the sequel to one of the most beloved shooters off all time. The controversy may have boosted early awareness before ads started coming out and so increased pre-order sales but it was going to sell better than most other games ever have regardless. If there was a mission where you played as the Taliban I might agree with you but it is just multi-player. The real reason they put this in is because, hey someone had to be the bad guys.

I didn't dispute any of this. Yes, MW2 would have still sold very well. Yes, it would have become one of the best selling games ever regardless. But the controversy absolutely boosted awareness, and it also boosted curiosity. The controversy certainly changed, in some peoples' minds, the perception of CoD from that of a generic war shooter to something more complex and thus more interesting.

Look, I'm not saying either game is deserving of this controversy. I'm just saying that it baffles me that anyone is surprised by it, especially EA's boss.

 

[lemby117]

I see alot of people saying "there are tonnes of WWII games where you play as nazi's" yeah but most people are fine with that because it happend 65 years ago. people are still dying in afgahnistan, it's not made to be a middle finger to servicemen but it is bad taste.

My granddad died of blood loss while on the field during WWII. You know what? I care, I care a lot. It's an important part of my family history. The other side of my family, however, were a group of German civilians that tried to escape Nazi Germany with a friendly Jewish family. Do you think I mind that people can play as Nazi's, killing others online like how they killed a member of my family? No. Know why? Because it's a game. You're not killing real people, and it's complete bullshit to say that it's more correct for virtual americans to kill americans, than for the Taliban to kill virtual americans. The fact that some people are offended by it shocks me. It's like someone being offended by the various drug scenes in a soap opera, because their father died from an overdose. In fiction, basing the narrative around real groups of people should be fine. It's not real; and censoring material like this is only demonstrating a ridiculous state censorship similar to the kind in totalitarian regimes.

let me just refer you to the post i made to respond to falseprophet I personly am not offended however I feel that placing a real life conflict witch claims lives of hundereds of people each day in a kill for points frenzy like team dethmatch is poor taste.

 

[JaymesFogarty]

I see alot of people saying "there are tonnes of WWII games where you play as nazi's" yeah but most people are fine with that because it happend 65 years ago. people are still dying in afgahnistan, it's not made to be a middle finger to servicemen but it is bad taste.

My granddad died of blood loss while on the field during WWII. You know what? I care, I care a lot. It's an important part of my family history. The other side of my family, however, were a group of German civilians that tried to escape Nazi Germany with a friendly Jewish family. Do you think I mind that people can play as Nazi's, killing others online like how they killed a member of my family? No. Know why? Because it's a game. You're not killing real people, and it's complete bullshit to say that it's more correct for virtual americans to kill americans, than for the Taliban to kill virtual americans. The fact that some people are offended by it shocks me. It's like someone being offended by the various drug scenes in a soap opera, because their father died from an overdose. In fiction, basing the narrative around real groups of people should be fine. It's not real; and censoring material like this is only demonstrating a ridiculous state censorship similar to the kind in totalitarian regimes.

let me just refer you to the post i made to respond to falseprophet I personly am not offended however I feel that placing a real life conflict witch claims lives of hundereds of people each day in a kill for points frenzy like team dethmatch is poor taste.

And doing the same thing but with Nazi's isn't? That war claimed 10 million; to say that is better to represent that than the Taliban in a game mode online in pure hypocrisy.

 

[Dragonborne88]

EA has a boss!?!?!?!?

I always assumed it was run by a horde of about 50-60 bipolar chimps with brain damage.

I didn't realize making fun of EA was still the cool thing to do, now a days. And here I've seen EA as the bright light in the game creativity department, especially when put up against that other company...what was the name...oh right, Activision...

EA has been on a road of improvement since a few years ago. And that was after the new management took a hold of the company. Don't even pretend that EA is the great evil of the game development world anymore when the President of Activision says stupid stuff on a daily basis.

 

[Vrach]

Tbh agree with the guy, there's no reason for it other than journalists needing a paycheck and stupid people needing something to whine about. Wouldn't be surprised if he didn't expect such a backlash. If it was in the singleplayer then yeah, I'd see it as a marketing move, but as a multiplayer faction thing that's just the media attention whoring.

 

[Dioxide20]

Don't back down, otherwise you lose all my respect EA.

(The fact that they haven't yet actually makes me respect them more)

 

[The Critic]

I swear the industry is built solely around seeing what they can get away with in this day and age.

Which industry, Gaming or Journalism? That statement could be applied to either one.

On the focus of the article, I find this whole issue pretty darn stupid. If games about this subject are going to be censored, does that mean we should censor films like The Hurt Locker? I don't think that we should. Really, even if you consider this to be in bad taste, you can at least agree that this is attempted censorship.