IndustryGamers, September 21, 2010

New York Times, September 8, 2010

“One of the buzzwords tossed around frequently by the Medal of Honor team is “authenticity.” The game has more than 50 actors, delivering thousands of lines of dialogue, with foreign dialogue recorded in Pashto, Gulf Arabic and Chechen… The scale of the effort devoted to this can be mind-boggling. Using more than 100 microphones, audio engineers recorded actual weapons fire at Fort Irwin in California, in a mock Iraqi village used by the military for training. With the Pentagon’s permission, the audio team attached microphones to Apache helicopters and recorded the sounds of takeoffs and landings, as well as the sounds of the helicopters firing their rounds.”

Off Duty Gamers, September 8, 2010

“What also seems to be additionally disturbing is his looking to go after officially sanctioned participation by military personnel and commands with EA/MOH on the game.”

Industry Gamers, September 3, 2010

Medal of Honor Removal Chaffs Army Vet

Kotaku.com, September 3, 2010

“That's not offensive to me as a soldier. The offensive thing to me as a soldier is AAFES thinking I can't protect myself from a product I deem harmful. If it feels potentially damaging to an individual, then the individual doesn't play it and that's all that needs to happen.” - Lucas Siegel, Veteran of Operation Iraqui Freedom and Site Editor of Newsarama.com
"It's a video game, and I like video games. It's a shame that soldiers who like video games and want to play this one won't be able to simply pick it up at their local shop." - Lucas Siegel, Veteran of Operation Iraqui Freedom and Site Editor of Newsarama.com

Off Duty Gamers, September 2, 2010

“The bottom line here is dont hop on the bandwagon, if it makes YOU uncomfortable then YOU should decide whether to play or not. We fought for and defended FREEDOM in this country and for many other nations to allow people a CHOICE. One we dont have to agree with or in some cases violently disagree with but that is up to those who live under the banner of freedom to choose.”

Off Duty Gamers, September 2, 2010

“I think a ban on a game is over-emotion speaking but if individuals feel they wont buy and play it then that is their right as consumers. I believe this is the first major release game that features an active ongoing combat mission and it hits hard to some but in my opinion most making a lot of the noise are either on the noise bandwagon or just dont play games like this enough to be fair.”

New York Times, September 1, 2010

“Medal of Honor allows you to play as the Taliban only during multiplayer matches. In such matches there is no story — and no presumption of success. And there is no sense of character development. The job is to match wits with the other humans on the other end of the Internet and defeat them through coordination, tactics and execution under pressure. The actual identities of the combatants are no more meaningful than the choice of black and white in a chess game.”

The Guardian, 28 August 2010

“Where does the secretary of state stand on actors playing Taliban in TV dramas, I inquire of a spokeswoman? Is he in favour of retroactive prosecutions for thespians who portrayed Germans in second world war movies? Or is he of the view that despite being subhuman scum, they're so old and frail now they might as well die incognito on their ranches in Argentina, or in actors' benevolent homes on the south coast? Perhaps most pressingly, has Dr Fox got enough to occupy himself with? "He's very busy," comes the affronted retort. "But he wanted to comment on this as it's part of the wider picture of defence." Hang on – the secretary of state believes a video game is part of the wider defence picture? "Yes, he does." Aha. Are you on the point of seeing why we're losing? Most people would want to be sure that every last terrorist/freedom fighter/cheeky shepherd had been hunted down and captured before the defence secretary started farting out quotes on computer games.”

Gamerfeed by VGChartz.com, 19 August 2010

“Features Editor Stephen Kelley and I contacted some members of the U.S. Armed Forces and asked them some questions. We received a good number of responses, and because of the nature of the issue we thought it best to give everyone we asked the chance to speak their mind about the topic.”

Kotaku.com

“As a former Army Medic, now working as an entertainment journalist covering comic books, video games, movies, and TV, my soldier past comes up far more often than I would have ever expected. The news about Medal of Honor including multiplayer modes where players will control the Taliban, naturally, has become a topic that friends who know of my two backgrounds now ask about on a regular basis. With Thursday's further news that Gamestop has chosen not to sell the game at US Military bases, I was quite simply incensed.”

Kotaku.com

“As for me personally, I had already preordered the game from Amazon. I don't have any problem with the content, but I certainly won't show it around base. I actually deal with Operation Enduring Freedom everyday and expect to be deployed to Afghanistan within a year. I want to go. Anyways, sorry for the diatribe. I felt I could offer a rational military perspective on the issue. Please consider some sort of feature on reactions from warfighters. This is one of the only real videogame news outlets that can run in depth opinion pieces. For an issue like this, a comments section probably isn't enough.”

Zeit Online, 25 August 2010 (Germany)

“One may say that rather rarely a video game and its content is taken so seriously. Also not from the gamers by the way. And it is possible that this is the biggest misunderstanding of the critics. The plot is completely in the background in war games. It is all about good game play, the rest are accessory parts. Who choose to play as Taliban doesn’t give a political statement. He just want to play.”

Stars and Stripes.com, September 3, 2010

“The Army and Air Force Exchange Service was in the news this week not for what they've done but what they won't do. Today, officials there confirmed they will not carry the new "Medal of Honor" video game because of its realistic depictions of Taliban fighters killing American troops. AAFES commander Maj. Gen. Bruce Casella said the decision came “out of respect to those we serve."

Earlier this week, AAFES officials also confirmed that they will not be showing “The Tillman Story,” a documentary exploring the U.S. government’s cover-up after the death of former NFL football player Pat Tillman, at Reel Time Theaters overseas. Spokesman Judd Anstey said that decision was not based on its controversial nature but instead because other movies would appeal to a larger audience.

AAFES operates more than 3,100 facilities worldwide in more than 30 countries. For troops in Iraq and Afghanistan -- and many other overseas areas -- it's often their key link back home, the only reputable place to get American products or keep up with U.S. trends.

Were the decisions the right call? Should AAFES limit access to controversial titles or products?”

I have no problem with any of these games, and think soldiers should be able to choose on their own what they think and how they spend their money. They censor this and not MW2 and its "No Russian" mission? Not to mention EVERY OTHER GAME with possibly "objectionable" content? Ridiculous. This is a slippery slope, AAFES. Better be prepared to take it all off the shelf if this is a fight you want- games, movies, porn, cigarettes. Somebody could be offended by your clothing line choices too…”