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New pro-Islamofascist computer game
Outrage over Taliban game 
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By LOUISA HEARN - Sydney Morning Herald Last updated 14:13 19/08/2010
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/ga...r-Taliban-game
A screenshot from Medal of Honor.
!By LOUISA HEARN - Sydney Morning Herald Last updated 14:13 19/08/2010
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/ga...r-Taliban-game
A screenshot from Medal of Honor.
A new video game that lets players opt to fight alongside Taliban soldiers against the US in Afghanistan has provoked outrage.
Medal of Honor, which is due to launch in October, is a multiplayer game based on an elite group of US soldiers sent to "apply their unique skill sets to a new enemy in the most unforgiving and hostile battlefield conditions of present day Afghanistan".
But the new title from Electronic Arts has incensed the military community for using an ongoing conflict as a source of entertainment, and allowing gamers to pick which side they want to fight with.
Families of US Troops serving in Afghanistan have also condemned the new game. Karen Meredith, the mother of a US soldier who died in the conflict, told Fox News: "Right now we are going into a really, really bad time in Afghanistan ... this game is going to be released in October so families who are burying their children are going to be seeing this."
"My son didn't get to start over when he was killed - his life was over and I have to deal with that everyday ... it is just not a game," she said.
Electronic Arts is not the first game publisher to attempt to cash in on an ongoing military campaign.
Atomic Games faced a storm of criticism from UK war veterans when it announced a new game called Six days in Fallujah. The title was widely panned for trivialising the devastating events that went on in the Iraqi city. The title has had trouble attracting a publisher and is yet to be released.
Sony provoked similar outrage when it applied for a US trademark on the term "Shock and Awe" just two days after the US military commenced its bombing campaign in Baghdad.
Sony later chose to withdraw the application, describing its application as "an exercise of regrettable bad judgment."
However gaming industry advocates defend the release of games covering controversial topics such as war, on the basis that other entertainment media such as films also commonly depict conflicts as they unfold.
"The vast majority of homes have videogame machines ... so it stands to reason they will bring emotive content to this medium. There is an argument that this entertainment medium allows you to explore wider story and more closely engage with a particular issue," said Ron Curry, chief executive of the Interactive Game and Entertainment Association of Australia.
He added, however, that when it came to inappropriate content, the IGEA was "very supportive of classification regimes". "Obviously there is offensive material that shouldn't be out there," he said.
Medal of Honor, which is due to launch in October, is a multiplayer game based on an elite group of US soldiers sent to "apply their unique skill sets to a new enemy in the most unforgiving and hostile battlefield conditions of present day Afghanistan".
But the new title from Electronic Arts has incensed the military community for using an ongoing conflict as a source of entertainment, and allowing gamers to pick which side they want to fight with.
Families of US Troops serving in Afghanistan have also condemned the new game. Karen Meredith, the mother of a US soldier who died in the conflict, told Fox News: "Right now we are going into a really, really bad time in Afghanistan ... this game is going to be released in October so families who are burying their children are going to be seeing this."
"My son didn't get to start over when he was killed - his life was over and I have to deal with that everyday ... it is just not a game," she said.
Electronic Arts is not the first game publisher to attempt to cash in on an ongoing military campaign.
Atomic Games faced a storm of criticism from UK war veterans when it announced a new game called Six days in Fallujah. The title was widely panned for trivialising the devastating events that went on in the Iraqi city. The title has had trouble attracting a publisher and is yet to be released.
Sony provoked similar outrage when it applied for a US trademark on the term "Shock and Awe" just two days after the US military commenced its bombing campaign in Baghdad.
Sony later chose to withdraw the application, describing its application as "an exercise of regrettable bad judgment."
However gaming industry advocates defend the release of games covering controversial topics such as war, on the basis that other entertainment media such as films also commonly depict conflicts as they unfold.
"The vast majority of homes have videogame machines ... so it stands to reason they will bring emotive content to this medium. There is an argument that this entertainment medium allows you to explore wider story and more closely engage with a particular issue," said Ron Curry, chief executive of the Interactive Game and Entertainment Association of Australia.
He added, however, that when it came to inappropriate content, the IGEA was "very supportive of classification regimes". "Obviously there is offensive material that shouldn't be out there," he said.