So will Activision cave over Modern Warfare 2's terrorist content?

(I say they'll end up cutting it or making it a cut scene if it gets major play on the news networks.)


Leaked video game footage shows terrorist attack
By BARBARA ORTUTAY (AP) – 7 hours ago

NEW YORK — Footage leaked from "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" reveals that players of the upcoming video game can shoot innocent civilians in an airport in a realistic rendering of a terrorist attack.

The game, which has an "M" rating for mature audiences, comes out next month in what its publisher hopes may be the most lucrative launch in the history of entertainment, not just for games but counting music and movies too.

In a statement, game publisher Activision Blizzard Inc. said Wednesday the footage was taken illegally and is not representative of the game's overall experience. Instead, the scene is designed to evoke the "atrocities of terrorism," Activision said in an e-mailed statement.

The game follows players as they "face off against a terrorist threat dedicated to bringing the world to the brink of collapse," the Santa Monica, Calif. company said. This includes a plot line in which the player infiltrates a Russian villain's inner circle to defeat him. Presumably the airport attack is one of the scenes in which the player acts as part of the villain's group.

In an interview before the footage was leaked, Vince Zampella, head of the game's developer, Infinity Ward, said studio intended for its game to startle players.

"We push the story," he said. "We want the player to be emotionally attached. We want them to be emotionally shocked."

Gamers are warned that the scene may be disturbing, and they can choose not to play through the part. It's unclear, though, how many gamers will heed the warning for fear of missing part of the game's intricate story. Activision says the game is designed so the part can be skipped over without losing any of the story.

The game's makers said before the leak that they strive for "real world" authenticity in weapon types, military tactics and locations, but the plot is more James Bond action movie than ripped-from-the-headlines.

"As far as the story goes, Makarov is this super villain and you are this task force," Infinity Ward creative strategist Robert Bowling said in a recent interview. "And it's good versus evil. So we really like to be cinematic but also not let that ruin the fun."

Infinity Ward hasn't shied away from disturbing imagery in the past. "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" begins with a character being driven through an occupied city, dragged out of the car, tied to a pole and then executed — all from the victim's point of view. The player controls other characters throughout that game, including one who perishes in a nuclear blast.

But what's different in the upcoming game is that people can play from the perspective of someone inside a terrorist group, similar to how gamers can play criminal in the "Grand Theft Auto" titles. The gamer can play a CIA agent who infiltrates a rogue group and appears to be a double agent.

"It's a very cinematic experience," Bowling said of "Modern Warfare 2" in the interview. "You get to play from multiple perspectives and get a broader picture of what this conflict is, and see that it's much more than just winning a war with a bullet."

Associated Press Writer Lou Kesten in Washington and AP Entertainment Writer Ryan Pearson in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

 

I got lost at "we want the players to get emotionally attached" With a CoD game?

Not a chance. :-o Emotionally attached to what? There isn't anything to be attached to.

 

I sincerely hope not...

Really? I found CoD4 to be one of the only recent single player games I have persevered with through to the end. It stood out to me as alot more gripping than the previous and more recent Treyarch games.

My only concern with MW2 is that it's 'James Bond'esque plot will detract from what made CoD4 appeal to me.

 

The game ships in 2 weeks. There's no way they'll cut it without delaying it

 

In the same way that anyone would object being a Nazi in a game instead of against them, because those guys are you know, pure evil

I don't like to play a terrorist in an airport, truth be told, as I m more of a Super Mario type of person anyway. I can however see the concern that this could be educational for fickle minds although I doubt that anyone would put their gaming experience to practice.

I categorize it under the same flag as drugs and other controversial topics.

In the end however, it is indifferent to me, I wouldnt buy the game either way as I generally despise "macho" war games that take themselves seriously and try to be "dramatic".

 

In my opinion, this is the video game equivalent of a shock movie. Is it wrong and disturbing? Oh yes. Will it get tons of attention and popularity? Probably.

I'm not sure if Activision will cut it, but unless there's a really big outcry, I doubt it.

 

That's what they're getting to though isn't it? Publicity. I wouldnt be surprised if this is a stunt and they ve set the marketing budget to pay for any legal fees

If Activision wasn't sitting on money they wouldn't play it so risky or allow the developers to include such things in the first place. They have legal teams that advise them on every single thing nowadays, I m sure this didn't just "slip" - it's intentional and meant to create product awareness.

 

Similar to the Manhunt 2 debacle...

 

This is a good example of the double standard the media has against video games: if this happened in a movie, no one would give a shit (after all, they made a fucking movie about WTC!), but because it's a game..

I don't know if they'll cut it from the game or not. On the other hand, they might get the wanted free publicity for the annual CoD season update if it turns into a huge deal, but on the other hand, it's not like boobs are showing like in San Andreas, so the American media at least might pass it by.

 

If the game is recalled free speech is dead

 

A very well thought out article on the topic...

The Daily Telegraph

 

I think they should leave it in, but re-rate.

It's despicable content, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be allowed to put it there. There are plenty of movies that depict stuff like this, why can't it be done in a game? I don't want to place any more restrictions on the medium than what already exists, but I wouldn't personally want to play this one.

 

the reasoning behind this is the fear that games offer the mimicking and mind-set to practice for an act. Most people know where to draw the line but some people get inspired and it all goes south then. Just like books and movies, but more so because there's interactivity.

 

meh,cant sink lower then titanic about games like this

 

Activision did a good job removing the video from all websites. Somewhere got a link to it?

 

Here you go: http://www.modernwarfare2forums.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1472&p=8514

 

Wow... that video is HORRIBLE. I highly doubt that would EVER happen. All the CIA Agent would have to do is take a step back and mow down the 5 terrorists or whatever. They literally killed a hundred people that were just standing around waiting in line. And the way the game slowly walks you through it is so menacing. What a joke, Infinity Ward did not have to include this in the game.

There better not be a consequence for not killing the civilians or an achievement for killing a certain number of civilians.

 

i got bored and just shut the window. Military FPS are so dull -.-

 

This has to be the stupidest move on a game publisher's part in recent memory. Modern Warfare 2 has been the most anticipated game all year and maybe since the original's release. To put a disturbing and controversial scene in such a game intended for a huge mass audience is the equivalent of putting a scene of a family getting killed in an Ice Age movie. Sure Mordern Warfare is more like a pg-13 movie, but you don't see Michael Bay putting Schindler's List level atrocity in his action films either.

I can possibly see this in a smaller distributed niche game. But in a game intended for every household including young kids (forget the M rating, the parents will buy) this is unreal. Whoever allowed this content at an executive level is definitely fired for sure on this one.

edit: I just watched the full video and its worse then I thought. Probably the sickest (as in bad) thing I've ever seen in a video game. Forget Custers Revenge, this is a new low. For this to come out of a triple A title I would never have imagined. Maybe its my first reaction, but thats how I felt.