And Now Medal of Honor: Warfighter Has Bin Laden-Themed DLC

Reminds me of the time that people stood up and applauded during the Hitler death sequence in Inglorious Bastards. Good ol' Hollywood.

@mewarmo990 said:

Touche. I was just thinking back to what Patrick said on the podcast, though -- even after multiple marketing screw-ups (DS2, SWTOR), it seems like they haven't learned anything from the way this newest game is being handled.

Well, it's gotta be working for them, or they'd have stopped after everyone got angry over their Dante's Inferno stunts. Either that, or their marketing department truly is that fucking dumb.

@YukoAsho said:

@mewarmo990 said:

Meh. Unsurprising.

Why can't EA's marketing can't do anything right with MoH?

Just MoH?

Touche. I was just thinking back to what Patrick said on the podcast, though -- even after multiple marketing screw-ups (DS2, SWTOR), it seems like they haven't learned anything from the way this newest game is being handled.

@mewarmo990 said:

Meh. Unsurprising.

Why can't EA's marketing can't do anything right with MoH?

Just MoH?

OSAMA BIN LADEN IS DEAD AND MEDAL OF HONOR IS ALIVE.

came here to watch that that video after what Ryan said on the podcast. yeah, that was pretty amazing.

Meh. Unsurprising.

Why can't EA's marketing can't do anything right with MoH?

Jesus....

Personally I'm not shocked with it.

Marketers gonna market after all...perhaps badly.

Least it's going to charity I guess.

It is no less shady than shoving recruitment ads in Game Informer, honestly.

This is so morbid..

We get all kinds of offended when angry mobs of brown people celebrate killing western soldiers, but at the same time we have no problem making whole video games and movies around the execution of brown people and one of their "leaders".

No hate for the US and no hate for the middle east, it just feels like i'm living in the twilight zone when reading stuff like this. Warmongering and propaganda stay just that, regardless of how well it's polished, presented or which side presents it.

Huh, I was wondering why that video was uploaded to the GB YouTube account. Nice job, Alex.

I still have my copy of Fugitive Hunter with me. Game seemed pretty fun when I was like... 10.

All that HONOR, all that SACRIFICE

So the bad guy is OWS but you also get to relive shooting a man in his bed while he's unarmed, what crowd are you going for here?

Danger Close and EA have absolutely no idea what they are doing with this franchise. All of the Tier 1 crap from the first game fell flat. Lets use an obscure term for something that sounds dumb when the common vernacular people are used to is SEAL Team or Delta Force.

The Linkin Park thing is even weirder and more forced than Transformers. A band that fell from relevancy 7 years ago and is generally a punch line to jokes now.

And now promoting Zero Dark Thirty through a map pack is so bizarre. Not the Bin Laden angle but just associating with a movie no one seems excited for from a director who filled her (albeit critically acclaimed) last movie with glaring inaccuracies that anyone with passing familiarity with the military could point out.

Anyone whose served in Iraq utterly hates The Hurt Locker for not getting anything right. And for MoH which is trying to be hamfistedly reverent to the military is now promoting another movie that will likely be inaccurate and totally fictional.

I wish there was some sort of game that could mix together cheesy Linkin Park songs, mediocre first person shooting, and my Fox News informed fascination with Terrorist Fugitive Osama Bin Laden....oh wait. It looks like my lord and savior EA has answered my prayers! Rejoice!

@Brodehouse: jeez, I never even said that the gaming shouldn't be able to do this, just that it needs to be more careful.

and if you wanna get technical books can continue without audience participation if you are listening to an audio book

I love how the helicopter gets there and the dude kicks Bin Laden in the head three times and tiger knees him into the helicoptor

@Brodehouse: you miss the inherent difference between games and anything else; you directly participate. You, or a character you control, are part of the story of this world. I wasn't even saying that it shouldn't happen (like you seem to have inferred), but merely that games have to be, at least, twice as careful with really morally bankrupt stuff than any other medium does. I'm not even talking the common tropes; killing tones of dudes in some fake GTA city is one thing, but killing a bunch of "real life" Al Qaeda is quite another. I just think you have to be aware of the difference between gaming and other mediums.

Barack Hussein Obama

MoH's is different. Its setting is very plausible and caters far better to this type of DLC than other modern FPS.

@sofacitysweetheart said:

Oh... it's another EA COD clone. lol

Well that's ok, since CoD was originally a Medal of Honor clone. "Takesies backsies" is actually one of the most important rules of gaming, not that you would understand since you're not in the industry.

A modern military shooter doing something exploitative? Stop the presses. This has never happened in every single modern military shooter ever.

being called "Warfighter" is honestly enough to make me not buy this game. It's so ridiculous.

EA kinda reminds me of a 5 year old running arround screaming and begging everybody to watch how much sand he can eat

@Dark_Lord_Spam said:

@Patman99 said:

I really hope there are not people out there who will buy the game solely for that map.

It's had quite the opposite effect on me. I've now gone from mild interest in seeing if this game turns out to be a solid, fun shooter to utter disgust and rejection. Great job, marketing team!

I'm not disgusted, I mean they can do whatever they want with MoH, but I just know this won't give any actual insight into the events that lead up to the death of Bin Laden. It'll just be by the numbers shit.

But anyway, this may be the nail in the coffin for a few people ... either way, it's not as popular as CoD, looks less fun than Battlefield and doesn't have enough of a point of difference to be on my radar. This is a series in need of an identity.

I am surprised no one has gone with the "MoH laden with Bin-Laden headline".

@GAMEPHRENIC: please don't have children.

@Dark_Lord_Spam: There is still hope for this world. This kind of stuff drives me nuts. Shameless marketing at its best or worse depending on your point of view.

@EndlessLotus said:

Wow. Something rEAper didn't steal from CoD....

To me, the charity seems like some half-assed copy of http://www.callofdutyendowment.org/.

This just sounds so...gross, for lack of a better word. I just don't feel good about it. It seems so tacky to somehow cash on the "former whereabouts" of such a horrible individual.

@thedj93 said:

@CH3BURASHKA said:

@BlastProcessing said:

FUGITIVE HUNTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

"Bulletproof vest; shot to the chest" fo life!

I feel slightly embarrassed by this, but having watched this trailer, I'm actually very intrigued by the game. The weapon variety looks fun, and the tech looks decent for an early 00's game.

holy fuck dmx?

Thankfully(sadly), it's not him.

@GAMEPHRENIC said:

If anyone does not realize how GREAT MOHW is, then your a complete idiot. My copy has been ordered. Its also likely, those that does not pick up #MOHW likely lives with their Mom and needs permission to purchase a game.

Its a Man's Game, so keep being a COD Noob, only real Men are allowed on MOHW....hate that the future is here and stay small minded. Intelligent Men will purchase #MOHW, the rest are just kids!

what makes you so sure its really good? have you played it yourself?

@CH3BURASHKA said:

@BlastProcessing said:

FUGITIVE HUNTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

"Bulletproof vest; shot to the chest" fo life!

I feel slightly embarrassed by this, but having watched this trailer, I'm actually very intrigued by the game. The weapon variety looks fun, and the tech looks decent for an early 00's game.

holy fuck dmx?

@Patman99 said:

I really hope there are not people out there who will buy the game solely for that map.

It's had quite the opposite effect on me. I've now gone from mild interest in seeing if this game turns out to be a solid, fun shooter to utter disgust and rejection. Great job, marketing team!

@Brodehouse: you miss the inherent difference between games and anything else; you directly participate. You, or a character you control, are part of the story of this world. I wasn't even saying that it shouldn't happen (like you seem to have inferred), but merely that games have to be, at least, twice as careful with really morally bankrupt stuff than any other medium does. I'm not even talking the common tropes; killing tones of dudes in some fake GTA city is one thing, but killing a bunch of "real life" Al Qaeda is quite another. I just think you have to be aware of the difference between gaming and other mediums.

It would be good to mention that basically the entire country of Pakistan, and even most of the citizens of Abbottabad do not believe that Osama Bin Laden died at that facility. He definitely is dead, it's possible that he may have been there at some point, and a few of his wives definitely lived and died there. It's however highly unlikely that he died there.

@Saganomics said:

@Brodehouse said:

@Animasta said:

and there's a difference between reading someone's story of what actually happened and playing it and I hope you'd know the difference.

And here's why our medium isn't even taken seriously by the people who claim to enjoy it. It's okay for books, or movies, or graphic novels, or music to focus on real life war stories, but if there's a controller involved, suddenly it's gauche. This is the exact dialogue that says video games are not a meaningful form of expression, and not a legitimate art form. The problem is that they are art, and they can express the thoughts and feelings of the situation just like any medium.

You're right in general, but if you think yet another game where you are a badass white bro gunning down hundreds of brown people single-handedly is actually a meaningful expression of anything (other than the unquenchable thirst video game enthusiasts have for jingoistic power-fantasy murder porn) then I don't know what to tell you.

Video games are absolutely a legitimate form of art, it's just that very, very few developers bother saying anything worthwhile with them.

Well said.

@Animasta said:

@Brodehouse said:

@Animasta said:

and there's a difference between reading someone's story of what actually happened and playing it and I hope you'd know the difference.

And here's why our medium isn't even taken seriously by the people who claim to enjoy it. It's okay for books, or movies, or graphic novels, or music to focus on real life war stories, but if there's a controller involved, suddenly it's gauche. This is the exact dialogue that says video games are not a meaningful form of expression, and not a legitimate art form. The problem is that they are art, and they can express the thoughts and feelings of the situation just like any medium.

there is a DIFFERENCE between playing a game and watching a movie or reading a book though. you know that; if there's a movie about, say, killing osama, and there's also a game about killing osama, the game is automatically going to be way more impactful since you're playing it. and games can do that, but it's a lot harder to get right, and medal of honor is NOT going to get it right. fuck, man, other than spec ops can YOU think of a good modern military shooter that actually has a good message and a good story, whatever? I think Metro 2033 has a good story and message but that's post apocalyptica.

There is a difference in that the mediums are not identical. Otherwise there would be no distinction between them. But the intrinsic value of artistic creation itself doesn't stop just because it's an interactive piece instead of passive. Absolutely not. Interactivity does not somehow require that it prove it has a right to exist anymore than images or words.

Medal of Honor might not get it right, but that's on the writers, not the medium. Find who the writers are and say they shouldn't write stories based on recent world history, don't say games can't do it.

Oh, and 'good message'? It's not up to art to be positive, reaffirming, or speak to preferred social mores. Judging art's right to exist on perceived social value rather than its intrinsic value as art is something the Soviets implemented, with predictable results.

@Saganomics said:

@Brodehouse said:

@Animasta said:

and there's a difference between reading someone's story of what actually happened and playing it and I hope you'd know the difference.

And here's why our medium isn't even taken seriously by the people who claim to enjoy it. It's okay for books, or movies, or graphic novels, or music to focus on real life war stories, but if there's a controller involved, suddenly it's gauche. This is the exact dialogue that says video games are not a meaningful form of expression, and not a legitimate art form. The problem is that they are art, and they can express the thoughts and feelings of the situation just like any medium.

You're right in general, but if you think yet another game where you are a badass white bro gunning down hundreds of brown people single-handedly is actually a meaningful expression of anything (other than the unquenchable thirst video game enthusiasts have for jingoistic power-fantasy murder porn) then I don't know what to tell you.

Video games are absolutely a legitimate form of art, it's just that very, very few developers bother saying anything worthwhile with them.

Look into every other form of art in the world. Yet another brown shooter is yet another love song is yet another crime novel is yet another police procedural is yet another impressionist landscape. A preponderance of a stylistic choice does not equate with denial of its right to be created.

@Amaru25 said:

Bin Laden was a terrible human, but we did murder him. No one seems to have a problem with that. sickening.

Yeah, the world is likely a better place without him in it, but I found myself pretty repulsed by the crazy amount of celebration footage aired on the news when word spread about killing him. For a nation that constantly claims the moral high ground, sometimes we're kind of bad at the whole morality thing.

The jump-knee of justice.

I am in the target demographic of Medal of Honor. I enjoy modern military FPS games. I could easily be excited for Medal of Honor. For a brief amount of time, I was. I cannot wrap my head around how EA is marketing the game. The game's pretty much a non-entity in their marketing campaign, it's all IRL-angles - Linkin Park, Real Life Soldiers, the charity angle... and now Bin Laden/movie themed DLC.

Unless reviews put this game on the map big time, or a demo/beta blows my mind, Medal of Honor doesn't stand a snowballs chance in hell to grab my attention and time and money. Mostly - because their entire marketing budget is being spent on hogwash, instead of showing me the game. EA spends a lot of money on not showing the game. That's not only suspicious, it's retarded.

Aside from 3 trailers with some gameplay snippets, the following footage is pretty much the only one on the net. One month from release. WTF!

Wow. Something rEAper didn't steal from CoD....

Here is the official blog post the piece does not link to, not sure if its the same as the press release:

http://www.medalofhonor.com/blog/2012/09/zero-dark-thirty-map-pack

The trailer is silly, but the text is fine. I'm not in the "this is awful" camp on this.

@ThatPrimeGuy said:

What Jeff said about the game during the PAX Panel is dead on, they're trying to make a good game, the teams commited, but every time they open their PR mouth.....

Pretty much!

Bin Laden was a terrible human, but we did murder him. No one seems to have a problem with that. sickening.

Still sums up my thoughts about this game entirely.

They will do anything to get anybody's attention this close to the release date. The timing of the information being revealed is also a little unsettling...being 9/11 and all (UK time at least lol)

@Brodehouse said:

@Animasta said:

and there's a difference between reading someone's story of what actually happened and playing it and I hope you'd know the difference.

And here's why our medium isn't even taken seriously by the people who claim to enjoy it. It's okay for books, or movies, or graphic novels, or music to focus on real life war stories, but if there's a controller involved, suddenly it's gauche. This is the exact dialogue that says video games are not a meaningful form of expression, and not a legitimate art form. The problem is that they are art, and they can express the thoughts and feelings of the situation just like any medium.

there is a DIFFERENCE between playing a game and watching a movie or reading a book though. you know that; if there's a movie about, say, killing osama, and there's also a game about killing osama, the game is automatically going to be way more impactful since you're playing it. and games can do that, but it's a lot harder to get right, and medal of honor is NOT going to get it right. fuck, man, other than spec ops can YOU think of a good modern military shooter that actually has a good message and a good story, whatever? I think Metro 2033 has a good story and message but that's post apocalyptica.

In other news, I just ordered Fugitive Hunter: War on Terror! I *need* to do some video with that.

@Iodine: Tell me when you leave, I´ll tag along.