"Activists call on religious leaders to join petition asking U2 frontman to stop release of Pandemic's sandbox shooter set in Venezuela."
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Militaristic games set in contemporary times benefit greatly from incorporating as much realism as they can. Real-world weapons, vehicles, and tactics bring an air of authenticity that doesn't require risking life and limb for. However, add what many claim to be a plausible plot based on current events and the fictionalized "real world" hits a little too close to home for some.
The Venezuelan Solidarity Network is asking for help to stop production of Pandemic Studios' upcoming game Mercenaries 2: World in Flames. The game follows guns for hire as they help topple a "power hungry tyrant" in Venezuela. While no real names are used, protestors see the plot as a clear parallel to the Unites States' troubled relationship with Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, and are labeling the shooter as anti-Venezuela propaganda.
The organization is seeking to gather the signatures of various religious leaders for a letter (PDF format) intended for the one man they feel can and should stop the game from going to market--U2 frontman Bono. The Irish crooner and part-time activist is one of the board members of Elevation Partners, the venture capital firm that is a majority stakeholder in the partnership between Pandemic and BioWare, which brought the two independent game developers together under the name BioWare/Pandemic Studios.
The letter from the Venezuelan Solidarity Network to Bono reads: "The aim of the video game is full devastation, so any 'person' who moves should be 'shot,' and all the buildings, such as the headquarters of PDVSA, the Venezuelan public oil company, can be 'destroyed.' Our concern is that this game will only deepen an already antagonistic relationship between the U.S. and Venezuelan governments. Millions of Venezuelans fear an invasion from the U.S.; knowing that a company that works for the US military has created a game in which their country is completely destroyed will increase those concerns."
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What was Pandemic's response? According to Josh Resnick:
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"While we're flattered that people think Mercenaries 2 is a commentary on the real world, it is just a video game--and as they say in the movies, all characters and events are purely fiction. Our setting provides gamers with the overall look and feel of Venezuela, although it is not an accurate street by street depiction and the characters as well as the storyline are completely made up. More to the point, the characters are categorically not based on any real political figures in Venezuela or elsewhere."
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Source:
Gamespot
On another similar note -
Mexican Mayor of Juárez, Héctor Murguáa Lardizába, recently ranted on Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 and is
"asking Mexican federal authorities to act immediately to get the game out of children's reach, reports the El Paso Times."
When you think about it though, you don't see many Western-developed games based on the events which occurred in Iraq and vice versa. But I sincerely don't buy the "your games are offering realistic depictions of our mother land" logic. Movies are very much in the same category within that regard. How friggin' easy is it to get a map of a countries' terrain, especially when you got
Google Earth of all things. Hell, the coming of the Internet itself might as well be blamed for helping out those unbathing, terroristic whack-jobs. Curse you, Al Gore! You never did save Florida!
Anyway, do you think these kind of games are helping Osama and his posse out?
Don't make "Shooty-Bang-Bang" Games about our Country, geez!
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