Fri, Nov 13, 2009 | 22:22 GMT

Heavy Rain producer weighs in on MW2 controversy

heavyrain

Quantic Dream’s Guillaume de Fondaumiere has told MTV that the controversial airport scene in Modern Warfare 2 should not be treated any different than scenes from a movie.

“My take on it is very simple. I don’t see any reason why video games should be treated differently than movies, for instance,” he told MTV. “I think that we should leave game creators free of expressing their vision as they see fit. I think the guys at Infinity Ward had something very precise in mind when they did this scene.

“The real danger for me is, when you put out such a scene out of context. I can take any movie and take a sequence and make up a story and it will look like something that’s amoral or that crosses the line. This is most of the time what happens in video games [in the media].”

More through the link.

15 comments

#1

JonFE
13/11/09, 10:54 pm

He should know. The strip-tease scene, taken out of context, could be flagged as controversial in my humble opinion.

#2

Ashelia Bnargin Dalmasca
13/11/09, 10:55 pm

Oh, Fox News will be *all over* that strip scene as soon as Heavy Rain comes out.

#3

Razor
13/11/09, 11:00 pm

Is that a pun? I can’t tell.

#4

hitnrun
13/11/09, 11:02 pm

Forget video games vs _____; I don’t see why that scene is controversial in the first place, compared to what happens in just about every M-Rated (in the US) game.

Just for comparison, the first Modern Warfare featured a slow-motion gun suicide, the execution of two defenseless prisoners (one of a POW by a British soldier, the other from First Person where “you” are shot in the face), and the detonation of a nuclear weapon that destroys a major city including you, the player, who survives just long enough to see that all your friends are dead.

EDIT: I think it’s pretty obvious that what’s stirring this “controversy” is Activision itself. If you don’t believe that, consider that they point it out to you before you even begin with the “warning” and joke “option to skip”. At least they didn’t go the full Rockstar and actually bait legislatures.

#5

Wakkum
13/11/09, 11:21 pm

Mission itself was horribly done. Could have been so much better.

#6

NoxNoctisUmbra
13/11/09, 11:44 pm

Of course IW cross the line..

#7

MasterChiefFenix
14/11/09, 12:20 am

bravo, hitnrun. but it still doesn’t change the fact that VideoGames=Heaven/FoxNews=Well, u know.

#8

reask
14/11/09, 12:27 am

OK folks lets take fallout 3.
Nuke a town
Take out individual body parts
Heads exploding.

This is just crap as far as I am concerned.
All video games today go for gore and nobody cares.
Why you may ask. Because that is what punters want.

#9

NoxNoctisUmbra
14/11/09, 1:00 am

@ reask

Fallout 3 is super imaginary world its so OUT there that you don’t wanna take it too seriously it just happens to be on American soil after Nuclear holocaust its like a cartoon.. MW2 is set in current time, with same exact world, one shot one kill .. no laser guns, etc.. to play as a terrorist to kill innocent people at airport is just too much.

#10

tatsujin
14/11/09, 1:17 am

He’s a director. But, I have no freaking idea what he’s talking about. o.o dun even care. I’m getting Heaven Rain anyways.

#11

freedoms_stain
14/11/09, 1:21 am

So, just for clarity, the following things are ok to depict/digitally enact as long as the setting is not current day:

Murder
Burglary
Robbery
Nuclear devastation
Dismemberment
Slavery
Genocide
Vampirism
Cannibalism
Cruelty to animals

And probably a bunch of other nasty shit that takes place in FO3.

Probably Terrorism too, those kids in the Republic of Dave looked mighty terrified as I systematically wiped out their parents and every single person in their world…

Games an 18, free reign imo. Slap a warning on the back and we’re all go for pretty much any carnage imaginable.

#12

Psychotext
14/11/09, 1:07 pm

I’d like to be a wholesale quality brand shoe.

#13

Dannybuoy
14/11/09, 7:51 pm

Thanks Susan. Now piss off.

#14

OrbitMonkey
14/11/09, 9:49 pm

I played the whole level and only fired about 3 times at the armed police to move things along and felt bad about that. Obviously its meant to shock and provke, but your never forced to gun down civilians.

#15

itzdrdoomm
15/11/09, 12:42 am

the game warns you that there is offensive material, and gives you the option to skip, and if you choose not to skip, though shit if you’re offended it gives you a fair warning

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