EA removes Taliban from Medal of Honor for “the men and women serving in the military”

In order to subvert the first amendment, you’d have to prove that videogames cause violence. There’s absolutely no empirical evidence to support that.

Idiots can run whatever scare campaigns they want, but that doesn’t afford them any sort of legal or social right to be taken seriously.

Unenlightened people will always champion unenlightened causes because they don’t care about facts, they just care about their own pigheaded beliefs, and forcing those on everybody else.

Democracy rarely manages to inspire democratic values, sadly.

EA has the right to selfcensorship under the law. If they think that’s good for business, they can do it.

This is how stupid we Americans can be, The broad who started al this did so because she thought it was a disgrace to soldiers who are currently serving. Because it was possible to play as the Taliban in the game and kill U.S soldiers in MP. NOT because you can kill U.S soldiers mind you, but because you can kill them as the Taliban. So as long as they’re called OP FOR then it’s ok ? If she REALLY gave an eff about U.S soldiers she would want any game where you can kill U.S soldiers banned. So that would be every COD, BF, and any other modern or historical military shooter ever made. So it’s ok to kill U.S troops in COD 3 or COD W@W ? Are there not still vets alive that served in WW2 ? Ahhhh screw them ! She and people that agree with her only gives an efff about current U.S soldiers. Soldiers who served in WW1, Korea, Vietnam some still alive, some dead, screw you guys. Effin hypocrites.

well said DSB, and artdafoo. really sad that things had to happen this way.

@52 There’s a difference between shooting hypothetical soldiers in a hypothetical war with hypothetical Russia, and shooting genuine soldiers in a genuine war with the genuine taliban.

Although I’m sure a lot of WW2 veterans wouldn’t like to play WaW, even so. I’m sure a lot of Vietnam vets wouldn’t like to play Vietcong either.

The difference with those two is that those vets aren’t getting those games thrown at them as soon as they come home. They’ve had time to come to terms with things.

http://www.industrygamers.com/news/feature-special-operations-forces-members-discuss-medal-of-honor/

Either you ban all games where you can kill U.S soldiers, either in real or made up scenarios. Or you let game makers do what they want. Saying you can’t make a game set in a current war but a game set in a past war is ok, is disrespectful to the soldiers who served in past wars. Then again take a look at our war Veterans and how our government and we as a society have treated them. So i’m not surprised one bit by this broads selfishness. She and other like her could care less about our soldiers, it’s only when they themselves loose someone in war that they become pro-active.

” The difference with those two is that those vets aren’t getting those games thrown at them as soon as they come home. They’ve had time to come to terms with things. ”

Tell that to all the screwed up Korea, Vietnam and 1st Iraq war and prob some WW2 veterans living today. ” Sorry guys you’ve had a couple of decades to get over seeing your bodies head blown off and watch him bleed to death in your arms. We only care about the feelings of current war soldiers and their families “.

Effin hypocrites.

Nice move EA, way to cave in to the right wing nutjobs of America.

@56 You’re argueing like a hysterical bitch yourself, you’re just batting for the other side. Nobody’s telling you what you can or can’t publish. Even if they did, the constitution says otherwise, and that’s always gonna get the last word.

Nobody gives a damn about a hysterical woman on Fox News. What you should give a damn about is people coming home to see characters that could be themselves or their friends getting blown to bits by IEDs on computer screens, for points.

Nobody’s saying you shouldn’t care for both WW2 and Vietnam veterans, but it seems like you’re a little full of Hollywood images of those veterans. Most of those guys heal over time, and most of those guys accept it as history, even if they’re still worse off for going to war. And so will the guys who are coming home today. They just won’t get there for a while.

Most veterans from WW2 and Vietnam don’t still have the blood of that friend on their clothes or under their fingernails. They might be missing a leg, an arm, an eye, or all of the above, but they’ve had time to come to terms with that.

This stuff worries me. It’s like south park; Anything goes, they offend everyone and therefore it is ok because they are showing no prejudice.
They start changing shit because someone got offended at them showing the Prophet Muhammad and they just open the flood gates for other people.
So we can’t play Taliban, so what, no one really cares. But whats next, we can’t play as police because of rioting related deaths? We cant play as Special Agents because of Dr Evil related deaths?

WHEN DOES IT END PEOPLE.

This would probably be a more moving dispute if it wasn’t a made-to-order seasonal blockbuster shooter from EA.

The Taliban reference is not a critical facet of a work of fiction. It’s a bullet point in an extensively manicured list of features for a videogame compiled to engineer buzz and hype. “Featuring The Real Taliban” was adopted to drive up sales, like every other speck of this project, and was dropped when it was judged it might wind up hurting sales.

(In the interim, it was trumpeted incessantly, especially to interviewers who republished the hype in hushed prose, as if an arcade-y holiday shoot-’em-up with set-piece fights and regenerating health could capture the reality of a contemporary conflict.)

See: other EA masterpieces like the fake Dante’s Inferno protesters, the Godfather brass knuckles, and the Sexually Harass A Booth-Babe Contest.

I can certainly appreciate how some may take offense to the inclusion of taliban as a playable faction. I don’t think the game should be banned or censored though and it hasn’t. The game being banned from military bases was necessary. As someone who suffers from ptsd I can appreciate them not selling this to those actively serving in a war against the taliban. I mean its kinda low class and from my point of view extremely tacky to include the taliban. Id much rather see single player narrative that explores the motive and politics of war, not some cheesy airport level ya know. If you believe thats what were getting with medal of honor then I think your mistaken. It’s just another cheesy military shooter with a 3rd grade narrative and gameplay mechanics ripped off from your local cod shebang thats been given way more attention then it ever deserved.

” Most veterans from WW2 and Vietnam don’t still have the blood of that friend on their clothes or under their fingernails. They might be missing a leg, an arm, an eye, or all of the above, but they’ve had time to come to terms with that ”

Shit I’m sorry yeah, you’re right. WTF was I thinking, it’s just a leg, eye, arm. I mean that’s why god gave us two of those right ? Go take a tour of a VA hospital then come back and act like it’s no big thing. Hey Iraq veteran ! So you lust your lower intestine in the war, so what ! DSB the couch soldier said get the eff over it ! I know a guy from grade school that was in the 1st Iraq war. His company came across a burned out car that had 2 grown ups and 3 kids in the back seat, all burned to a crisp. To this day he can’t tell you the story without tearing up when he tells you about the melted dolls next to the kids. Next time I see him I’ll be sure and tell him to get the eff over it, I mean c’mon dude that was back in 91′ ! for Pete’s sake. I’m sorry DSB we can’t all be as tough as you.

@62 Again, I never said it was no big thing, you’re just being a hysterical bitch and making all kinds of stupid assumptions on my behalf. I’m sure Fox News would love to have a guy like you around.

I know some of those soldiers myself. None of them wounded, but very much marked by war.

Nevertheless, in spite of their troubles, a guy who’s had 19+ years to heal can handle a movie like Three Kings or Jarhead being made, whereas a guy who returned two weeks ago, might take a pretty furious offence to it.

It’s that simple. I’m sorry you don’t grasp the basics of how these things work, but it’s still fully relevant.

To put it plainly – If something bad happened to you a week ago, you’re allowed to ask for consideration, that’s the here and the now. If something happened to you 20 years ago, tough break, it’s history.

DarkElfa you left wing zombies are a bunch of idiots. The right wing had nothing to do with this and this is a smart move by EA for various reasons. You leftists are a bunch of hypocritical fanatics.

It allows EA to sell on US military bases, it pisses less people off, and it doesn’t change the game at all besides for a name. Is a fanatical terrorist group a fanatical terrorist group by any other name?

Medal of Honor multiplayer is MW2 type crap anyway and totally unrealistic, it would be disgraceful to represent what our soldiers are really facing over there as arcadish BS. This sidesteps that problem.

US army was ready to withdraw it’s official support for the game, once they learned about the taliban, late in the day. Specifically, earlier this week.
http://kotaku.com/5653601/playable-taliban-jeopardized-us-armys-support-for-medal-of-honor

For guys who go out there, fight and put their lives on the line they sure are a bunch of whiny pussies.

For people that have no clue what these men and women go through every day, sure are insensitive assholes.

Read the article, if EA had shown the Army that there would be a multiplayer with taliban, they would have pulled their support faster than Mel Gibson at a synagogue.
Pretty simple, Quid pro quo. The Army allowed EA to record the sounds off Apaches and guns and even supported the game right until Army found out through 3rd party that the multiplayer was going to be based on an ongoing war.

@66 Whereas you’re clearly a brave man who knows what he’s talking about.

Let’s put you in a ring with one of those pussies and see who makes it out. Any bets?