Medal of Honor No Worse than Battlefield 2
by exterminat
©2010 Nicholas Laborde – [Ed: reprinted with express permission of author]
Recently, there have been stories regarding the upcoming Medal of Honor, and how it’s causing “controversy” within the general media, and the mom and dad brigade and anti-game people out-n-about the United States.
Well I thought it best to look at this logically, so I’m here today to tell you why it’s nothing but pure ‘bullshiite’ and why the media is simply wasting their time even pursuing the matter.
It all began, yes, who guessed it, on Fox News with the following video. As a result, it has been getting spread around more and more through a trillion different web news sites and internet sources.
The woman who speaks in this video does a terrible job of trying to support her dislike of the game, or stage any real argument to be honest. But ideally, you will be the judge of that, just do take the time to check it out from start to finish.
• Fox News Medal of Honor Taliban Controversy Video
The woman commented several times that “War is not a game…” she said, and so on and so forth. To show just how disorganized her argument is, she repeatedly emphasizes how her son died in the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan. Well, ma’am, you are not the only person who has had losses, and ‘every’ loss is one loss too many.
Let me name just a few games off of the top of my head that have gameplay and-or conflicts similar if not the same as Medal of Honor. Let’s start with Battlefield 2 (and expansions), Call of Duty 4, the entire Counter Strike series, and not to mention the Splinter Cell franchise, and while we are at it, even the game America’s Army, which is developed by the AMERICAN ARMY deplicts exactly or similar conflicts. And that is just a few ‘games’ off the top off my head.
The difference being? Nothing.
Except that Medal of Honor actually labels the enemies as the Taliban. Is there any fundamental difference between Medal of Honor and the previously listed games?
No. At one point or another, you do in fact kill ‘virtual’ Americans within the confines of the game. But oh dear, now, since they are labeled as being an enemy we know in modern times, it’s COMPLETELY different. Not like their character portrayed acts any different than in countless other games where they aren’t named.
Now, knowing this, you may not think it’s a big deal. But the reason why this is blown out of all proportion is because of countless misinformed ‘soccer moms‘ around the country who will see news reports like that one and instantly take that unorganized woman’s side because they know nothing about it.
A perfect example: I go onto MSN today to check my email. What’s the first thing I see? A heading right up at the top of the screen: Medal Of Honor – Play as the Taliban.
And what does this breed? People then view the game as some sort of American soldier killing simulator because they see that “Play as Taliban” tagline and automatically jump to conclusions without being given any facts. Which is normal for the ‘human being’ as a species sadly. Let’s do a little test, shall we?
I went on to Google Images and typed in ‘Battlefield 2.’ This was one of the first images I saw:
What do you see in this picture that is different than in Medal of Honor? Nothing. We can see an enemy soldier engaging an American tank.
We can see that he is of Arabic persuasion due to the turban he’s wearing and the weapon he’s firing, the standard issue AK47. Now, that puts it on the exact same level as Medal of Honor.
Let’s do another test. I typed “Battlefield 2 controversy” into Google.
And guess what? We see absolutely nothing. It is even more proof that the Medal of Honor controversy is getting everywhere by being the first search result. Battlefield 2 was in the same exact position as Medal of Honor, and nothing happened.
I played as an Arabic soldier and gunned down many Americans back in the day.
So tell me, what is the difference? They didn’t call their enemies the Taliban, but they look like them, sound like them and play like them. They just lack the name ‘Taliban’. And it is nowhere near being the only game like that.
In fact, there are literally HUNDREDS of similar games like this that exist out there, and nothing bad happened to them.
The only ones that got canceled due to public outcry were the ones mentioned in the video (Six Days in Falujah, which I was anticipating due to the fact that it was based off of real soldiers’ experiences, and then the game Shock and Awe).
• Medal Of Honor Single Player gameplay
Medal of Honor will not get canceled. It sits in the same exact seat as do hundreds of other games. It’s only getting public attention right now because the game actually names the Arabic enemies the Taliban, and the stupid public that consists of the American people see it and get false information.
Personally I believe people need to stop overreacting over such trivial things like as this and waste their broken debates on something like the oil spill. Hey, there was an explosion there. Can I say it was the Taliban and go on national television too?
©2010 Nicholas Laborde
• Source: Fans Of The Genre
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Filed under: 3rd Party Games, Blogbanter, Console gaming, Editorial, New Game Information, New Xbox 360 Games, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 News Tagged: | America's Army, Battlefield Bad Company 2, Counter Strike, DICE, Dice Game Developers, Medal of Honor, Medal Of Honor - Play as the Taliban, medal of honor controversy, Modern Warfare 2, MoH, Shock and Awe, Six Days in Falujah, soccer mums, Splinter Cell
If there ever was a bitch to be made, how about fox’s Sept 21 newscast (pretty sure I watched and heard it ‘right’) that falsely named a ‘Johnathan Hunt’ as a posthumous Medal of Honor recipient, when in fact it was Richard L. Etchberger?
Additionally, Fox has yet to reply to my emails, ie; asking about the ‘false report’ and if they’re going to retract their ‘falsely reported’ recipient’s name and correctly identify the man (would be nice if this time Fox afforded more than the 15 or so seconds to report on it).
Now that’s bitchable.
Look….out of the billions of people on earth there are bound to be some who don’t like any given thing, and they’re gonna bitch about it if and when given the opportunity. The lengths they will go to to put a negative spin on that thing commonly extends into non-factual statements and even outright lying to reinforce their tirade, and those who actually know the facts know that person for what they are.
It all comes down to some sick need for attention, and satisfying that need is more important to them than the truth — they’re gonna get it no matter what lengths they have to go to.
I see and experience it every day, and I give them about as much attention as I do the used toilet paper I flush daily. I am fully capable of forming my own opinions, on any given subject, without the input from some overzealous sicko, thank you!
-Seth
Unfortunately, most of what I’d have to say would read more like a political and social rant than a well articulated response. I’ll try to keep it on topic and brief.
Either way, as far as I’m aware the freedom of speech also extends to the freedom not to buy something you don’t want to if that’s how you want to make your statement. That should not preclude me, or anyone else, from that privilege because someone has an objection to a product that they would not buy.
And I have not only lost a brother over there, but I was also in the service myself. The offensive nature of having a named enemy (whom you play only in multiplayer as far as I’m aware, and how else are you going to have a multiplayer aspect of the game without 2 sides) is fairly hypocritical when you only object to this game.
A few questions. What of the Nazis, do they not have feelings too? Or just about any other game where shooting takes place and it isn’t just aliens that are the enemy? Will we have this same politically correct BS if we ever find intelligent life out there? Is it only correct to shoot an islamic guy with an AK if he isn’t known to be in the Taliban?
All of a sudden, he’s in the Taliban so he’s off limits? Why hasn’t Age of Empires received this much attention? They had specific. real world names and countries. Oh wait, all of those previous ones were just “games” and this one somehow is not for some strange reason.
Leon, when I wrote this article, opinions such as yours were the ones bursting in my head. It’s just so ridiculous and full of so much bs that it makes you want to find the nearest wall and bang your head against it several times.
Sadly, that is how the world works: never with the slightest bit of logic.
There’s a difference have you lost someone you have worked closely with in a very dangerous time? I’m sure you haven’t so you do not know how it feels to say screw the us lets play as terrorist and kill us soldiers. You know what I’m sorry for speaking my mind but I in the military and a gamer and I think this game has potential and I will play it but I do see how it might offend some
True, and my father was also a 36 yr vet of several conflicts just as bloody, if not more than the current ones, so i personally understand, having lost some ‘uncles’ in the wars over the years, not to mention my partner and mother all within a short period of time.
I think the writer is pointing towards the hype that the media gives ppl that want to bemoan such things and use the wars and loss of life in them as a platform. The media is certainly responsible for many things, and most of it is about disinformation, more than information. As it thrives on negativity, rather than positivity.
The games that are used for the purpose of desensitising soldiers (as you’d be aware of) aren’t drawn up into the medias eyes, mainly due to the fact they are government run or backed. They are definitely very similar if not more severe that the games you and I play at home, that’s for sure. The fact that the information is misrepresented is the main thing and the main issue really. To get a balanced perspective, the ‘reporter’ should have done some research, and found that most ‘war games’ are based around the similar themes, and there are just as many games out there aimed at awareness – just like Medal Of Honor.
The media loves a scapegoat, and if it can find someone with not all that much information, they’ll certainly exploit it. There’s several movies series about that have shown that, and how the media spins things to suit their own goals, not that of the troops or the war efforts. Perhaps they should put themselves on trial, rather than the game industry.
But yes, I do understand that such things do offend many, but again, it comes down to adults making choices, as the game is clearly an adult game, and marketed at that age group. If adults let their children play such games, then they have only themselves to blame for a game of this nature getting into the hands of a minor, wouldn’t you agree?