Activision crass and inappropriate? You decide
I paused today (Nov. 11) to remember our veterans, as I do every Remembrance Day. After two minutes of silence I turned back to my computer and saw an e-mail from Activision: CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR INVADES RETAIL…
I paused today (Nov. 11) to remember our veterans, as I do every Remembrance Day. After two minutes of silence I turned back to my computer and saw an e-mail from Activision: CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR INVADES RETAIL SHELVES ACROSS NORTH AMERICA.
The time stamp on the e-mail was–and I am not making this up–11:00 a.m. My first thought was that selling video games on the back of Remembrance Day was very bad taste.
I deleted the e-mail and, today being a busy day, got involved in something else and forgot about it. Until the second e-mail arrived, this time at 2:53 p.m. It was also from Activision but this time it announced that "troops from around the world will be among the first to play one of this year’s most-anticipated new video games from Activision, Call of Duty: World at War." Here is that announcement.
It turns out that U.S. troops serving in Germany, Japan, Kuwait and a fourth undisclosed overseas base competed online against players on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While the press release noted the game is "rated M (Mature) by the ESRB for Intense Violence, Strong Language, Blood and Gore" it made no mention of whether it was appropriate to launch "World at War" on what the Americans call Veterans’ Day.
The involvement of the troops made me pause. Did I still question the marketing plan if actual soldiers were willing to be involved? Perhaps they have more right to judge than I.
On reflection, I still come down on the side of thinking this is in bad taste. While I understand the need to come up with innovative marketing ploys in the highly competitive video game market and while the participation of U.S. soldiers somewhat tempers my opinion, I have to think that sitting on a couch and play-acting "Intense Violence, Strong Language, Blood and Gore" is not the way kids should be commemorating veterans.
I would like to hear what others think.
Peter Wolchak
Backbone magazine
In case anyone bothered to notice, Tuesdays are the customary new release days for games, and movies as well. So yes, Remeberance Day fell on a Tuesday this year, and on this day the movies Get Smart and Hellboy II were released. Along with several video games including Activision's World at War. And as so many have already mentioned because it is a game it must be attacked.
I am in my 40's and have been fortunate enough to not have lived through the hell of war. But I read about it and watch the news. But when I played World at War was when I truly felt moved and humbled by the courage the men and women who fought through the two world wars must have had. Activision has done a wonderful job in recreating what the war was like for those of us who did not fight in it.
I played the game for about an hour…and then I spent the rest of the day thinking about how lucky most of us are for the sacrifices our Veterans have made.
Just to be clear, I am not questioning the creation of the game itself; I haven't played it so I can't comment either way on its quality, but there is no doubt that Activision has every right to create and sell World at War. No argument there.
I was, however, wondering out loud if Remembrance Day/Veterans Day is the best day to release the game. Overall, I still think not.
As for the specific time that the press release went out, that I think was purely coincidental.
Another interesting discussion is whether a video game actually informs players on what it must have been like to fight in the war. My initial feeling was that this is a silly idea: sitting on a couch, pushing buttons and therefore feeling like I understand battle.
However, I recently saw the Paul Gross film Passchendaele, and that certainly made me reflect on the utter stupidity of war.
If a movie can do that, I guess a video game can as well.
i feel that releasing the game on nov 11 at 11am was reflective of the marketers willingness to capitalize on the media(free) discussion that it would most certainly generate. no surprise. marketing often deliberatly uses a distastful act or image to garner free publicity in the form of indignant hullabaloo. disrespectful to those who served? yes i think so.
JQ on November 13 at 8:26 PM
But why would the troops want to play games that are so similar to their "day jobs?"
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I've never been in the army, but I bet that most soldiers have not experienced combat like in the video game.
No one was forced to play this game, or even buy it on Nov 11.
If you felt that it should not be released on this day, then you should not have bought it.
Thomas??? Are you insane? This game is like what your fathers and grandfathers went through?
Ummm no. They didn't restart when they died, One bullet kills you, there is no duck down and you'll magically recover feature in real life. If you die in the game, you still go home to your wife and children unlike the people in the actual war.
The release of this game on this day is sickening to me.
Why not release the Titanic board game on that anniversary or perhaps a 9/11 game. It is disgusting that they would do this. Just wait a freakin week why don't you?
Peter Wolchak.
Sorry Peter but I have to disagree. The movie makes you care about a character and you were moved because war is stupid and it shows far better in the movie than on the game. The game (one I would buy by the way, just not on that day, and now not at all), is not realistic at all. Let's release it on Remembrance day and give $2 from every game sold to the war veterans of that particular city. Okay now I am on board. Activision used Remembrance day to make money and it really ticks me off that they have made MILLIONS off the dead bodies of those who fought in the wars and that they have given nothing to the veterans who survived. If you want to make money off the wounded and dead, then give them some of it. Otherwise you are a terrible company. This should be a big deal.
So I totally agree with what that fellow said about the countless Movies and TV shows that have also been released on or around Nov 11. No one gets angry at them. So why get angry about a Video Game. They both do the same thing. They teach you how rough and brutal war was. |If you have ever played| any of the Call of Duty games you will realize that they are very accuarate to what soldiers had to go through. These games are very well done and after playing them, you wont easily forget what the experiance was like. I know for myself, I have played the games and after. Sat back and said to myself. "wow that really must have been terrible. Im glad I didnt have to fight" and it causes you to stop and think, and remember. Which ultimatly is what the day is meant for. To remember and give respects. That is why i agree with the games release.
Passchendaele was the battle of Ypres and is located 12 km from present day town of Passchendaele, Belgium. Flanders is close by also (In Flanders Fields). Here is a nice little map of the old battle fields
http://content.answers.com/main/content/img/oxford/Oxford_Military/0198662092.ypres-battles-of.1.jpg
Back in WW1, things were far different than strategies of today. Titles were bought, men of lower class were expendable and that created a war of attrition.
As far as Activisions' marketing is concerned, it is low class and I think the top brass of that company should volunteer for boot camp and then wonder off to active duty in the horror theater of war. It might bring new respect to Remembrance Day. It is obvious that somebody did not pause for a quiet moment of remembrance and that speaks volumes about the company and management itself.
o.k…i few things i would like to point out here. First off, i honestly don't think Activision ment any disrespect. The fact is there are so many different games about war or world conflict that come out at any given time and it's such a popular subject that i would simply chalk this up to coincidence. The e mails were most likely sent at random times and usually begin weeks before a games release. I could not help notice that you mention that you think "kids" are the target customers for this game. They're not, in fact the "m" rating for blood and violence is there for exactly the opposite reason, to inform parents of what's in the game and to keep those under 17 from playing it. The ratings are there for a reason but as long as the attitude that video games are only for young children stick around, there will always be people looking to put the easy blame on them like TV or rock lyrics before them.
Well, if you're a company working on a WWII game, and it's going to be ready for retail release around the middle of November, what's the first date that's going to come to mind? I agree that it's certainly not the best idea to release a game like this on a day with so much emotion and bad memories attached, but I'm not Activision. It would be interesting to see what veterans of WWII have to say on the topic.
They do their best to show how awful some of those battles were while still keeping it a fun game to play. Many people (particularly non-gamers) seem to forget that no matter what you do with a game, if it's not fun to play, nobody will want to play it. If all it took was one stray bullet to kill you and that was it, do you know how many people would stop playing out of frustration?
The other side of this is that a lot of people (many non-gamers) still think of video games as being for kids. You probably also need to be informed about the ESRB rating system. Just about every game has a rating for it on the bottom left-hand corner of the case. There's E for everyone, T for teens, M for mature, and AO for Adults only. M rated games are like R rated movies, and responsible retailers should be asking for ID before selling these games (and some already are).
Call of Duty: World at War is rated M for mature. It's every bit as violent and gory as some of the most graphic war movies you could find. If you don't want your kids playing games like this (and if I had kids, I wouldn't want them playing this game) check the rating in the bottom left corner of the case before you buy it or let them put it in their XBox or Playstation.
Notice how I left out PC gamers in that last statement because most of us are actually adults with jobs to pay for a good gaming quality computer, such as myself.
Activision and Treyarch knew that COD:WaW was going to be released on Remembrance Day. And that doesn't really bother me.
They could've at least had the respect to say something about remembering our lost ones. But they didn't. THAT bothers me.
Yes very bad taste Indeed, seems more and more these days people are forgetting why we have a Veterans Day. But yet a game developer such as Activision announced NOTHING in reference to vetrans world wide. I am now boycotting any Activision software due to this indiscretion and I think others should follow. Too bad Activision is so focused on their bottom line for a game. Just to have acknowledged rememberance day vets and be more "aware" Would have had much more impact on todays youth.
I think it is not only crass it is disgusting. These games get more and more gory every time you turn around and then the world wonders why kids are shooting, stabbling, etc. each other. Take for instance the fact that a 15 year Canadian Boy died because his parents felt, and rightly so that he was obsessed with a war game and slammed out of the house only to die in a fall from a tree.
It is time the government started looking very seriously at banning a lot of these ultra-violent games.
While I can see your point about it being crass or in bad taste just remember this- Tuesday just happens to be the day that a majority of video games are released. A company looking to make money (ie. all of them) are going to release all of their planned releases on time if possible because the costs are millions of dollars a day to delay.
It's just a bad coincidence and nothing more. Oh and for those who are making comments about violence in video games causing the youth of the world problems grow up. A responsible parent (like myself) doesn't allow their children to view or access content that is clearly too old for them. I have no problems with violent video games, because they are intended for adults. People need to stop thinking of video games as kids toys.
Yes, it is poor judgement to glorify and commercialize a ceremony such as Remembrance Day.
I am also disappointed with the corporations and advertising media for their speedy hustling of "Christmas" (read: Capitalismas). Hallowe'en candy was being marked down simultaneously with glitter and tinsel going up.
WAKE UP PEOPLE – we have MUCH more important things to do than constantly shop! Do you know that the American society is known for its consumptive style?
Please watch Story of Stuff, and learn something important about how we are living.
http://www.storyofstuff.com
I agree that it's in poor taste. However, in this jaded world that we live in, it's all about marketing. Case in point:
As everyone knows, actor Heath Ledger passed away after the filming of the Dark Knight movie. To no surprise, when the Dark Knight movie was launched, movie-related toys were available to the masses. What I found rather "appalling" was the Joker toy, which was made by Mattel. Once word was out that Ledger had passed and these Joker toys were made available, they were flying off the shelves at an alarming rate. Not to mention, at an alarming price: somewhere in the neighborhood of $89.99-$199.99! Granted, those prices were for the "Special-Edition-One-of-a-kind-Buy-It-Now" versions of the toy, but my point is this: if Ledger hadn't passed away, would we be paying this much for a toy? Hmmmm….
In the end, I guess there's money to be made by exploiting the death of others, be it Heath Ledger or any soldier/veteran that we deservedly honor during Remembrance Day.
Yeah, and we should ban all ultra-violent movies, TV shows, music, news programs, magazines, internets sites and books, too!
…yeesh.
Just because I played Super Mario Bros. it doesn't mean that I'm going to go jump on a turtle.
as a wife of a CF soldier i can say that no it doesn't seem that bad at all. it's just a game and shouldn't be taken so seriously. when did this world become so serious and everyone has to be careful of what they do and say at all times?? my husband fights for freedom but everyone else seems so offended all the time that they take those freedoms away. please tell me then what does he fight for??
I just picked up on this thread and figured I'd throw my 2cents in since games like these are usually targeting my age group. I am a gamer, my girfriend is a gamer, we own about 5 consoles, 2 computers and 2 handheld game systems.
I think they are using the day how they see fit, I may have flipped someone the bird or stuck my finger in my ear in public is that disrespectful to do on that day too?
All you people who say you care are only saying that for personal gain as a morality boost for your self. I'm happy with things and I think the soldiers who paid with their lives did an outstanding job and I only feel this way based on the games I have played and learned from. No one needs to defend them now they just want to be remebered and this aids that.
As one person above who is close to a soldier mentioned, what did/do they fight for? I hope its not the opression of education or against progression of technology. I thought it was for freedom, freedom to make a game and make money on it for yourselves not for some opressor… I know if I could I would…wait come to think of it ALL companies make money on remeberance day shun them too please.
Anyway I wanted my original point to be this, I don't own cable, I can afford it but I don't want it I am a gamer, I can check the news/weather online or on my Wii I don't need to stare at a black line on the bottom of a giant commercial to tell me what I need to know from TVI get my information on demand.
TIMES ARE CHANGING there is an enourmously large amount of factual information not to mention conceptual imaginative artful information in games today. The only reason most are upset is cause they love to hate video games they are jelous that some of us can be happy just playing games.
I hope that when I pass (we all do) I'm remebered for my achiements and triumphs not my sorrow and suffereing (we all have some at some level and I think its all compareable yet unique the the individual experience).