Look at the AP, trying to stir up controversy where none exists. I’m sure by now you’ve seen the leaked Modern Warfare 2 footage (the video is down right now) that shows a terrorist situation inside an airport. The AP (and HuffPo) is making a big deal out of the fact that you can shoot civilians inside the airport. And? Are they trying to go with that weak argument, “Oh, violent video games make people violent”? How can people still believe that?
Let’s face facts: Modern Warfare 2 will be the biggest game of the year, no doubt. It actually pains me to write that, seeing as though I was sorta “meh” toward the first one. (I just don’t like modern warfare setting. How about an FPS that takes place during the American Civil War, or from inside the trenches of the Somme? Now that would be interesting.) As such, it’s not as if gamers are going to see this footage and say to themselves, “Well! This crosses a line! I’m now going to deny myself a genuinely fun gaming experience because the AP thinks it’s too violent!”
What probably will happen is some guy who’s a casual gamer at best will hear about all this controversy, then, as he’s doing his holiday shopping at Wal-Mart, sees the game and says, “Hey, that’s that terrorist game. Let me check that out.”
Bam, more money in Activision’s pocket.
Never mind that the game is rated (here in the U.S.) M, for players 17 and older. If you cannot distinguish between real life and video game silliness by age 17 then you probably have bigger problems.