Industry News - You can't train a soldier with video games!

Former US Marine and Iraqi Freedom veteran Benjamin Busch has come out with his opinion on the new Medal of Honor in his essay to National Public Radio (NPR). He discusses the creative changes that Medal of Honor has made in its latest game, such as changing "Taliban"Â to "Opposing Force"Â
"I honestly don't like that Medal of Honor depicts the war in Afghanistan right now, because "â‚¬Å“ even as fiction "â‚¬Å“ it equates the war with leisure of games...change the name of the enemy doesn't change who it is"Â

He went on to include that Medal of Honor cannot train its players to be actual skilled as special Ops, nor can it convert anyone into Islamic fundamentalism and that the game is to make modern war into a participatory cinema because that is what the creators do as a business.

I took away from his essay that Benjamin is basically saying you cannot really hide from what something is truly about. Opposing Force whether it be in Modern Warfare, Medal of Honor, or whatever game is a representation of Islamic fundamentalists such as the Taliban or any of the cells of Al Queda regardless of what politically correct term you are going to call it. And that while we should recognize the truth behind the slapped on label of "Opposing Force"Â, we must also recognize that these are forms of entertainment and far, far away from real training of those brave enough to serve our country.

Sources:

http://kotaku.com/5661732/former-us-marine-medal-of-honor-turns-war-into-participatory-cinema

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130435221

Written by Evil Ambassador - Geroncio Copiozo