EA Buckles, Removes "Taliban" Name from Medal of Honor

Here's the problem: EA wanted Medal of Honor to be modern and ripped from the headlines... but you can't do that and be safe. There is no "safe" when you start dealing in modern wars.

Either stay in World War II or be ready to offend people. Activision and Infinity Ward didn't shy away from controversy with a far, far, FAR more disturbing scene in Modern Warfare 2.

And MW 2 is the highest grossing game of all time.

Jonah Falcon

"Activision and Infinity Ward didn't shy away from controversy"

The controversy still happened here. They got the publicity without the offense. Again, I refer you to the 2001 Time Magazine "Person of the Year" controversy.

"And MW 2 is the highest grossing game of all time."

No, it just had the largest grossing opening of any media, and the best selling PS3 and 360 game. Being the highest grossing game ever would require even more sales, or some other source.

I don't know if that record has ever been recorded, but I think World Of Warcraft likely holds it.

edited 1st Oct '10 10:44:14 PM by DragonQuestZ

I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.

So..................what's the person of the year controversy?

"Every opinion that isn't mine is subjected to Your Mileage May Vary."

^ In 2001, Osama Bin Laden was considered for person of the year. There was not merely an uproar. People were literally threatening to pull their subscriptions if he was chosen.

As the most likely suspect for instigating the September 11 attacks (this was before he finally took credit), he really did have the most impact that year. But this is a capitalist system, and for a commercial product, principles cannot make up for lost sales.

So they went with Rudy Giuliani, who was considered a unifying force for New York after the attacks. He technically wasn't as influential, but obviously much safer, and at least had some importance to that year.

Now I need to look it up to verify, but I think sales were quite healthy due to both the controversy and due to not losing sales from angry readers.

edited 1st Oct '10 11:40:00 PM by DragonQuestZ

I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.

It's not so much that it's capitalist as that people couldn't get it through their heads that "Person of the Year" doesn't translate to "Our Favorite Guy In The World".

It isn't a Medal of Honor game. Why won't EA create a new franchise for this sort of thing? Or at least, it should realise that Medal of Honour modern warfare would be competing with its own Battlefield Bad Company from the offset.

Requiem ~ September 2010 - October 2011 [Banned 4 Life]

Am I the only person who have trouble telling these games apart? Medal Of Honor...Modern Warfare...Battle Field....etc.

The only war based FPS I can easily tell apart is Return To Castle Wolfenstein...

edited 2nd Oct '10 1:00:11 PM by Signed

"Every opinion that isn't mine is subjected to Your Mileage May Vary."

^Medal of Duty: Honor Call: Modern Battle.

"Hipsters: the most dangerous gang in the US." - Pacific Mackerel

...the sad part is, I could totally see someone making an american war based FPS with either of those names.

"Every opinion that isn't mine is subjected to Your Mileage May Vary."

No, I also get those confused often. I mean, when I think of them, I know which one's which, but when I quickly read or hear about them, I can easily forget which one is talked about. It doesn't help that they've all become rather similar games.

Helpful Scripts and Stylesheets here.

"It's not so much that it's capitalist as that people couldn't get it through their heads that "Person of the Year" doesn't translate to "Our Favorite Guy In The World"."

It actually is considered an honor by Time, so people had reason to think so.

I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.

I just have a few problems then...who the hell is Rudy Giuliani?!

Shouldn't people of the year be known by a lot of people? I've never heard of anyone named Rudy Giuliani in the news or anything. What bs.

You forgot...Modern Duty...I like the word duty.

edited 2nd Oct '10 8:08:31 PM by Signed

"Every opinion that isn't mine is subjected to Your Mileage May Vary."

"who the hell is Rudy Giuliani"

First of all, how old were you in 2001? Second of all, just use google.

I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.

@Rocket Dude - Game Informer already did that joke. >.>

It isn't a Medal of Honor game. Why won't EA create a new franchise for this sort of thing? Or at least, it should realise that Medal of Honour modern warfare would be competing with its own Battlefield Bad Company from the offset.

I'll wait and see. If it's like the original Medal Of Honor games, should keep its title... and judging by the equal parts stealth/disguise/sabotage/assassination missions, and the "blast your way out of something" missions, it might be.

Half-Life: Dual Nature, a crossover story of reasonably sized proportions.

^Actually, I took that from a Cracked article.

Anyways, that mix of missions sounds like CS:S Sci Fi 3: Hardwired.

"Hipsters: the most dangerous gang in the US." - Pacific Mackerel

Well, there's an open beta from now til Friday. So you can see OPFOR for yourself.

Funny how they say EVERYTHING is the same... just not the name. EA is Completely Missing The Point, aren't they?

Jonah Falcon

OK this is just overreacting now. It's just a rename. Everything IS the same except the name of the Taliban. It doesn't affect the gameplay in any way.

Although, I am wondering if it will affect the dialog.

Wasn't this just concerning the multiplayer?

I know on IJBM tropers here were against calling it the Taliban.

Well he's talking about WWII when the Chinese bomb pearl harbor and they commuted suicide by running their planes into the ship.

Enter the open beta NOW. Only lasts til Friday.

The press release is comical in talking about "OPFOR". hee hee

edited 5th Oct '10 11:40:40 AM by JAF1970

Jonah Falcon

Jack Thompson celebrates this decision and tells anyone who disagrees to Go to Hell. He'll give you a cheat code for it.

Dumbo

As mentioned before. It's minor and doesn't affect the gameplay. But it shows every other twats out there that if they scream hard enough, they can make game companies bend over whenever they want.

I don't get what these people problem are. If you get offended by a mere name, don't play the game, no one wants someone sensitive

To put it short, oversensitive minority whined loud enough to get company to disregard what the rest of the fanbase thinks and just bend over for the loud minority.

edited 5th Oct '10 2:19:10 PM by Signed

"Every opinion that isn't mine is subjected to Your Mileage May Vary."

I can understand the position of the families, I don't think its unreasonable.

Well he's talking about WWII when the Chinese bomb pearl harbor and they commuted suicide by running their planes into the ship.

...why don't they just not play the game or pay attention to it then? Go watch news about the war or whatever. Go do whatever they do to support their troops.Don't go into places they don't belong (the gaming scene).

Imagine if Capcom caved in even more in RE 5 by changing "Africa" into "The enemy country" or whatever...or if there was a recent school shooting where a shotgun was involved, and game companies caved in to public demand by renaming shotgun, "the close ranged firearm-gun". Or if there was a rash of cases of little kids dying from eating mushrooms, Nintendo decided the newest games will replace mushrooms with Broccoli. I hate broccoli.

edited 5th Oct '10 2:27:15 PM by Signed

"Every opinion that isn't mine is subjected to Your Mileage May Vary."

That isn't the same issue, I'd imagine if my brother was killed in Afghanistan I would be offended by the notion of a game set in Afghanistan, especially with the IED mechanic in Mo H

Well he's talking about WWII when the Chinese bomb pearl harbor and they commuted suicide by running their planes into the ship.

Please tell me that someone understands that this crap is why I'm tired of tactical shooter after tactical shooter with parallels to the War On Terror up the wazoo.

It's sombre, unfun, and pretentious as all Hell. I get tired of hearing about "No Russian" and then this and then IE Ds and then that one Konami game.