U.S. Spec Ops Veteran: Modern Warfare 3 Commercial a "New Low"

[Zom-B]

The sad fact of the matter is that you can't do anything without offending someone, somewhere. Sure, it was a pretty brainless commercial and sure, real soldiers face all sorts of horrors and consequences of real war, but this, as pointed out by others, is a commercial for a game about people shooting shit up.

I wonder how many of these ex-soldier bone heads get worked up about stupid war movies? Or how many police officers get worked up about stupid cop movies? Not many I'm betting because at the end of the day it's just silly entertainment.

 

[Fox242]

If that commercial was filled with World War II imagery, would there be a problem? No. You know why? Timing. Because the game is labeled "Call of Duty: ModernWarfare 3" and because it has modern weapons and such that evoke a modern battlefield setting that reminds us of Iraq and Afghanistan. Still, the game is a fantasy, nothing less. I respect all of America's veterans because I come from a family with a long military history. I understand what the horrors of war can do to somebody; some of my family members went through some terrible things.

Still, this is a fantasy. The singleplayer of every CoD game touches on the horrors of war to some extent, but the multiplayer is just an artificial battlefield with generic, no name soldiers. These are nothing more than pixels in cyberspace. No real blood. No real deaths.

Still, people still see video games as a medium that can't handle serious themes or tones. It's this sort of mindset that killed Six Days in Fallujah. Imagine if that game was actually a movie. Imagine if that game was called "Two Months on Okinawa". Would there be a problem? I think not.

 

[MdmGnr]

I'm an Afghan war vet. WTF is this article about? How anyone can find offense in a funny ad for a fun game is ridiculous. Grady needs to chill out. What this whole idea suggests is that war games should be serious business and that no one should enjoy them as 'people do this in real life'.

 

[subtlefuge]

I don't know how he "suspects" that servicemen play these games. I've played well less than 100 hours combined of Battlefield, COD, Halo, Gears, etc... and I've played with and against several active, inactive, and veteran servicemen. I would think that military intelligence could come up with a bit stronger of an answer.

Anyways, that's not the point. The commercial is too stupid and unaware to offend. If a toddler swears, you don't reinforce the behavior by giving it free publicity and making a "gamers" vs "the world" situation.

Still, true enough commentary from someone reasonable for a change. It is refreshing.

 

[sheah1]

Ugh. It's not depicting real-life events, it's depicting made-up events that are made-up in the made-up portion (multiplayer) of an already made-up videogame.

Okay, just stop that. Stop that now. No matter how wrong an opponent's argument is people need to stop using that argument as it's complete bull. How about this? If an argument can be used to defend pedophilia cartoons and nazi comics, it shouldn't be used. Sound good?

Nope.

I don't use this argument for most things, and share your opinion on i- wait a second. Have you even watched the commercial?

Assuming you have, you'll know that it's based on the multiplayer aspect of the game, which is about as cartoony as Team Fortress 2. It plays up to the aspects of gamers that have come to define them. There is no part of it that tries to be serious about the game. The tagline he criticises, 'there's a soldier in all of us', is no different to 'there's a plant collector dragonslayer in all of us' used as a tagline for Skyrim.

It does not trivialise war, it just trivialises the game. This is absolutely NOTHING like anything you just said.

I said nothing about the commercial (though I have watched it, god those two are starting to grate). What I mean is, people in general, especially gamers, need to stop saying it's fiction and therefore doesn't matter. Because if we say that, how can we say that games have any artistic merit whatsoever? Fiction can and does matter, so even if the trailer is dumb or the guy is off base, we can't use that argument anymore because it directly contradicts any arguments as to why games are important.

Well first its not bull cause thats what all fiction is. If you have beef with this idea go QQ to every single fiction writer and movie director starting with Micheal Bay. Or did you miss the part where he made humans and the Military in particular look like self aggrandizing bitches in his transformer movies. (if you didn't watch them I can understand since they did suck.)

Second, wah? Why did your mind go to those places? How does defending pedophilia have ANYTHING to do with a video game advertisement made to poke fun at its own gamers? I'm sorry you don't react and realize like the rest of the gaming community does that this advertisement was meant for its own base but those are your demons. You can't bar an argument just cause you are not creative enough to defend against it.

And I'm not saying that we need to attack all forms of fiction just because they depict something in a way different to the truth (that.... wouldn't really work) but I just mean that we as gamers can't use that argument anymore. A lot of fiction doesn't matter but not because it's fiction, I don't give that much of a shit about the debate (although I can really see where the dude's coming from) but it pisses me off to no end when I see people using that dumbass umbrella argument.
And really? I took something to it's logical extreme so I'm a peadophile? Really?

 

[Bmagada]

I like in the gaming community no matter whats going on falls back on the answer its just entertainment. I'm part of this community and I don't see it so black and white. Its like asking why there isn't a game in American about rape or racism, I mean it is just silly entertainment right? There is a point where it can be offensive. People with friends or loved ones dead might find it offensive. He doesn't say a word about the game being horrible so maybe pull collective head from ass, and deal with it. Maybe all of the COD fanboys can take a second to realize that its not attack on their game, just how the commercial might be perceived by people.

 

[foolish snails]

While I agree with this man's sentiment, I can't agree with him that Activision should be marketing it any differently. I think that we as the consumers know this game series well enough to not mistake it for something that accurately (or artfully) depicts war. Call of Duty is meant for mindless fun, not immersing one'self in a war sim. The people who made this game know that, we know that, and so no-one should be surprised when they advertise it this way.

 

[Bmagada]

While I agree with this man's sentiment, I can't agree with him that Activision should be marketing it any differently. I think that we as the consumers know this game series well enough to not mistake it for something that accurately (or artfully) depicts war. Call of Duty is meant for mindless fun, not immersing one'self in a war sim. The people who made this game know that, we know that, and so no-one should be surprised when they advertise it this way.

I think its more directed at kids who maybe don't know the difference. Kids can be impressionable. I'm not saying that we should censor games, but as a community maybe we should see how sad it is that they can't just show the game. They have to show two guys (as funny as it may be) being total jackasses. Battlefield 3 did the same thing with that bulldozer/C4 commercial. Parents spend enought time today without telling their kids right from wrong, but I'm sure they aren't going to make a it a point to say "War is not fun". Fiction can be harmful, i mean how many people have died for the bible? Oh yeah, I went there

 

[Krion_Vark]

Sorry but NO.
Im no call of duty fan, in fact I hate the games BUT the one thing Modern Warfare isn?t trying to be is a war sim. If ARMA or america's army did something like this i'd be disgusted, but Modern Warfare isn?t trying to show or recreate what real soldiers go through. It only uses the war like esthetic to give it?s self some personality and identity.

You kind of missed the point of what hes saying. He isn't saying that Modern Warfare is trying to recreate what soldiers do. He is saying that Modern Warfare is making it seem like a sport to do what soldiers do by making commercials like this.

 

[tetron]

People used to worry about gamers taking games too seriously. Now the gamers must worry about those people taking games too seriously.

 

[Akimoto]

[blockquote]

OT: I find it interesting that no Vietnam or Cold War veterans complaining when Black Ops pulled the same "There's a soldier in all of us." ad campaign. I'd imagine something like that would piss off quite a lot of soldiers. I wonder why that wasn't brought up too.

Probably cause it's considered 'history' as compared to Iraq and Afghanistan which are quite recent. But I feel that Battlefield 3 advertisement was more over-the-top with the tanksi - I still love BF though. Games in general trivialize life issues one way or another. Trying to grind gaming along this line is an exercise in frustration.

 

[Digitaldreamer7]

This is coming from someone who knowingly signed up to participate in an occupation of a foreign land while believing he's defending our country.

His opinions and others like him should be ignored.

Pretty much. But he didn't do it for those reasons, he did it because his government glorified and sensationalized war and called it patriotism instead of capitalism..wait... isn't this what he's on about with this advert???

 

[Khada]

The first time an add for COD was made with the moto: "There's a soldier in all of us" was the moment I stopped having anything to do with the franchise.

What a terrible a false message to propagate to the many young adults who play it.

 

[Khada]

This is coming from someone who knowingly signed up to participate in an occupation of a foreign land while believing he's defending our country.

His opinions and others like him should be ignored.

Pretty much. But he didn't do it for those reasons, he did it because his government glorified and sensationalized war and called it patriotism instead of capitalism..wait... isn't this what he's on about with this advert???

Seems all three of you are right =\

 

[bue519]

Eh. The commercial knows it's target audience: grade a clowns who would like to think there's a soldier in them.

This describes the subject exactly. Yes, that commercial is tripe and Activision paid way too much money for it. No, D.B. Grady and his fellow soldiers are not its target demographic. Modern Warfare 3 is for nobody else but wanna-be's. It is not for the will-be's.
It makes me sick that cheap games like MW3 and BF3 are accepted by the Republican loudmouths, but games like 'Six Days in Fallujah' are tore down by those same people; "We love war games, but God forbid we should let it actually be portrayed as it really is."

Dude it is a video game, please don't take it too seriously. It's fun relatively fun to play both games online and I'm sure some members of our armed forces and those abroad enjoy it greatly. While I understand your disagreements about games like 'Six Days in Fallujah' not being made not being made, I would say that is due to games not being taken seriously as a form of art like movies and music. The general public has yet to see a 'Citizen Kane' and thus thinks of games little better than expensive toys. (Personally, I believe Planescape:Torment was our 'Citizen Kane' but that is another discussion) When the general public begins to take games a bit more seriously we may begin to see more games dealing with rather mature subject matter in an appropriate way that both informs and entertains an audience and helps people learn about themselves. It is my only hope that the day comes sooner rather than later.

 

[MortisLegio]

*reads through comments and shakes head in shame for the human race.

It's his opinion that the commercial is distastful. If you disagree, fine but dont call the man an idiot for his opinion.

To all those people who say "Its just a game.Dont take it seriously." yes its a game, and there are other games where you play as a Skin head killing jews, gays, and non-caucasians.
I love games and have about thirty just for my 360, but seriously the whole "its a game." line needs to be stopped.

 

[samsonguy920]

Eh. The commercial knows it's target audience: grade a clowns who would like to think there's a soldier in them.

This describes the subject exactly. Yes, that commercial is tripe and Activision paid way too much money for it. No, D.B. Grady and his fellow soldiers are not its target demographic. Modern Warfare 3 is for nobody else but wanna-be's. It is not for the will-be's.
It makes me sick that cheap games like MW3 and BF3 are accepted by the Republican loudmouths, but games like 'Six Days in Fallujah' are tore down by those same people; "We love war games, but God forbid we should let it actually be portrayed as it really is."

Dude it is a video game, please don't take it too seriously. It's fun relatively fun to play both games online and I'm sure some members of our armed forces and those abroad enjoy it greatly. While I understand your disagreements about games like 'Six Days in Fallujah' not being made not being made, I would say that is due to games not being taken seriously as a form of art like movies and music. The general public has yet to see a 'Citizen Kane' and thus thinks of games little better than expensive toys. (Personally, I believe Planescape:Torment was our 'Citizen Kane' but that is another discussion) When the general public begins to take games a bit more seriously we may begin to see more games dealing with rather mature subject matter in an appropriate way that both informs and entertains an audience and helps people learn about themselves. It is my only hope that the day comes sooner rather than later.

That's rather a self-defeating point. As long as we gamers feel 'it's just a game,' how are we supposed to show it to be otherwise to others to where it can be accepted along with movies, books, music, and other media?
We may as well just go back to playing Pong.
EA had its opportunity to really show that games do belong on the same shelf. Medal of Honor. We all know what a farce that turned out to be. Considering where EA and DICE decided to go after that instead of trying to fix that mistake, it is safe to say that we can't expect anything significantly respectful to come from the large publishers.

 

[XSin]

I thought this was funny and well-written, not even slightly offensive.

But I'm from New Zealand, not America, the wars in the middle-east have never had a direct effect on my life beyond something I see once in a while on the news. It's hard to see it as real events without patriotism or a sense of wrongdoing against myself or my country.

I completely understand the angle this guy is taking though.

 

[Zakarath]

Honestly, my main thought about the commercial was amusement at the noob using the grenade launcher. It's obvious they aren't trying to be realistic, same as dozens of other over-the-top action games and movies. Why should people start getting butthurt over it now? Sure, it's a little crass and irreverant, but so is their target audience.