Reality Meets Gaming (Yet Again)

I'm a gamer. Not an uber one, but I'm still a gamer. That's why videos like this one make me drool. Awesome graphics, good story, blowing stuff up, and Linkin Park. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, according to the perpetual-panties-in-a-wad bunch, plenty. In the newest Medal of Honor game, you can play as the enemy our military is fighting against in Afghanistan-the Taliban. This is not a new concept. There always has to be someone playing the bad guy, and while sometimes it's the computer, a good chunk of the time it's another player.

I agree that when we're fighting a war, it's not in good taste to glamorize the enemy. I'm looking at the hardcore Left more than EA Games on that point. How is constantly whining that we need to "sympathize" with the people trying to kill us morally superior to playing that enemy in a fantasy world? What has done more to push the very ideology we're fighting against: Agitating to adopt the tenets of that ideology through "multiculturalism" or experiencing the full consequences of when the American military forcibly disagrees with you?

AAFES threatened to not stock MOH, which is probably the biggest reason EA Games waved the white flag and changed the Taliban in multi-player mode to... "opposing forces." It's a cosmetic change, to be sure, but I have to give credit to both sides here (sorry for the show of unity, Dan Riehl and Ed Morrissey). AAFES has a right to say that they won't stock something they feel denigrates the military, and EA Games has the right to make changes to their game in response to their audience.

I have a proposal that would please both sides even more. I know that the game is based off of a story from 2001, but let's make it even more realistic. If you play the "opposing force," certain things should happen to you. Whenever you start off a mission, your leader is taken out by a drone. Suicide bomber vests have a 2% chance of going off inside your own encampment. Your old equipment that's been sitting in a musty cave for decades has a 5% chance of exploding every time you use it. Your hideout has a 10% chance of being under bombardment. Sound like you want to play that side?

In truth, American gamers are itching to get their hands on this game because they want to kick some ass and emulate our military. I'm aware that mercenaries are a factor in this game, but they're still acting on behalf of American interests.

Am I going to buy this game? Probably not, but that's because I'm not good at first-person shooters (yeah, I'm pathetic!). Am I going to look forward to cool videos from it and play "The Catalyst" over and over as I play other games? You betcha!