Taliban get to play (in) Medal of Honor
The latest in the “Medal of Honor” video game series comes out in October. The popular first-person shooter games are usually set in World War II. Players can do things like storm the beaches at Normandy or survive the attack on Pearl Harbor.
But this latest version has a new twist–it takes place in Afghanistan. The company that makes the game, Electronic Arts, consulted with soldiers who’ve fought in that country.
Of course, nobody’s seen the game yet, but it’s already creating controversy. That’s because it allows players to fight as members of the Taliban.
Over the weekend, the United Kingdom’s defense secretary called the new game tasteless. The mother of a fallen soldier recently said on Fox News that war is not a game.
EA Games president Frank Gibeau has defended his company’s vision for the new “Medal of Honor,” asking why films and books set in Afghanistan are considered OK, but games are not. We talk with a couple of gaming experts, Heather Chaplin and Ian Bogost, about games as art, as war, and what standards they need to meet if they want to be taken seriously.
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