Again we appreciate the sensitivity, and know our AAFES based stores will continue to honor the great customer base in which they serve." Customers who enter our AAFES stores and wish to reserve Medal of Honor can and should be directed to the nearest GameStop location off base. As such, GameStop agreed to have all marketing material pulled by noon today, and to stop taking reservations. GameStop fully supports AAFES in this endeavor and is sensitive to the fact that in multiplayer mode, one side will assume the role of Taliban fighters.
At this time it does not include our 4 stores on Marine Installations. "GameStop has agreed out of respect for our past and present Men and Women in uniform we will not carry Medal of Honor in any of our AAFES based stores. Ostensibly in response to mounting pressure, on September 2nd, GameStop pledged not to sell the game at any of its military exchange or on-base stores, with the following announcement in an email to its employees: Though the British government soon distanced itself from Fox’ comments, and despite EA’s response that there weren’t any British soldiers in the game, the message was gaining momentum across the media landscape, particularly online. Fox has branded the new shooter from Electronic Arts "un-British" and has called on video games retailers to refuse to sell it.” “Liam Fox, the Defense Secretary, has launched a scathing attack on the forthcoming video game Medal Of Honor, over reports that it allows players to kill British troops as Taliban soldiers. On August 22, The UK’s Telegraph ( Liam Fox calls for Medal Of Honor to be banned) reported: Of course, Fox News took tremendous heat as the network that would never miss a beat in exploiting any story, even the sincere and heartfelt grief of a mother who lost her son in combat, for the sake of ratings. She argued that EA was being very cavalier and insensitive in releasing such a game while real US soldiers are being killed by that real enemy every day. Watch the latest video at īased on her interview and blog post, her position primarily seemed to be that its disrespectful and arrogant to celebrate the killing of US soldiers in a game that takes place while the US is at war in that very setting right now. Ken Ballard, was killed in Iraq in May of 2004, was interviewed about the upcoming game release. The very next day Fox News firmly thrust the story into mainstream discussion. In ' Medal of Honor' multiplayer, someone's gotta be the Taliban." Thier goes on to say that EA, along with DICE, the games co-creator, claim they weren’t trying to make a political statement and that it’s impossible to make a war game of this nature without generating controversy. The article’s author, David Thier, quotes Amanda Taggart, senior PR manager for EA, saying "Most of us having been doing this since we were 7 - if someone's the cop, someone's gotta be the robber, someone's gotta be the pirate and someone's gotta be the alien. The game is also set to launch amid the deadliest stretch of the Afghan war for the American military, which has lost more than 1,200 soldiers in the conflict so far.” forces via the game is indisputably more in-your-face.
children portray Taliban insurgents trying to gun down U.S. “While the Nazis in the old ‘ Medal of Honor’ came at the safe remove of history, having U.S. The root of the issue seems to be EA’s decision to allow gamers to play as the Taliban, rather than the usual non-descript “insurgents” or “terrorists.” With the US and key allies firmly entrenched in a long and vicious war in Afghanistan, with the daily list of casualties getting longer, not shorter, how could EA not spark controversy with such a game? One would think a giant like EA would be neither flippant nor careless in the face of such potential commotion and one assumes that they are no stranger to controversy or moral arguments on all sides of game-related issues.Īn August 13th piece in AOL News ( New Video Game Will Let You Play as the Taliban) nicely summed up the controversy: But let’s not let ourselves off so easily. Been there, done that, if you don’t like it don’t buy it. With today’s release of EA’s controversial new version of Medal of Honor, set in Afghanistan, you may be wondering what all the fuss is about, who’s upset at what and why did this story get so much traction in the months leading up the product launch.Īt a casual glance, you might think “guns, violence and mayhem in video games” are once again being used as easy media fodder.
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