Spring Break
Infinity Ward has gone too far
John Bailey
Issue date: 11/4/09 Section: Focus
Complaining about "Modern Warfare 2" seems both tired, because everyone's doing it, and futile, because everyone else is going to buy it anyway. But just when I'm ready to stop yelling, Infinity Ward goes and screws something else up.
For a long time - long in video game terms, which means maybe five years - "Halo" and its sequels were the standard bearer for "normal gaming." Sure, wispy guys with cowlicks and Bawls could Master the Chief, but the average Halo player looked a lot like the average guy. Halo was part of video games as basic pointless activity, as time-waster rather than hobby. Then "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare" kicked Halo out on its ass with snappy, high-octane gunplay and instantly accessible experience system. Maybe Modern Warfare's appropriation of the terrorist-blasting zeitgeist helped, too: dominant militarized masculinity cut with a Tom Clancy wet dream. Powerful stuff, and it's become synonymous with "gaming" in the mainstream.
"Modern Warfare 2" is all set to continue publisher Activision's money-printing dynasty; current sales predictions suggest that even people without game consoles will want the game, because the disc is delicious fried in butter. Aside from the small, shrieking PC minority (Dedicated servers! Give us liberty or give us blue screens of death! We're a hopelessly obsolete market demographic!), everyone will have a copy, and nobody will be doing their homework.
With this kind of cultural visibility, we could expect Activision and Infinity Ward to play nice with our tender public sensibilities. But last week, Infinity Ward released a viral promotional video on YouTube advertising the game. The video stars Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels publicly lambasting "grenade spam." Random grenades, he admonishes, are "for pussies." The video closes with a fictional sponsor: "Brought to you by Fight Against Grenade Spam." Or, well, you know. You can pull out the acronym.
It's a secure coffin Infinity Ward has nailed: a derogatory sexual epithet, a well-known athlete and a guy being blown up by grenades. A perfect triumvirate, as it were, of American masculinity. No wonder the games sell so well.
For a long time - long in video game terms, which means maybe five years - "Halo" and its sequels were the standard bearer for "normal gaming." Sure, wispy guys with cowlicks and Bawls could Master the Chief, but the average Halo player looked a lot like the average guy. Halo was part of video games as basic pointless activity, as time-waster rather than hobby. Then "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare" kicked Halo out on its ass with snappy, high-octane gunplay and instantly accessible experience system. Maybe Modern Warfare's appropriation of the terrorist-blasting zeitgeist helped, too: dominant militarized masculinity cut with a Tom Clancy wet dream. Powerful stuff, and it's become synonymous with "gaming" in the mainstream.
"Modern Warfare 2" is all set to continue publisher Activision's money-printing dynasty; current sales predictions suggest that even people without game consoles will want the game, because the disc is delicious fried in butter. Aside from the small, shrieking PC minority (Dedicated servers! Give us liberty or give us blue screens of death! We're a hopelessly obsolete market demographic!), everyone will have a copy, and nobody will be doing their homework.
With this kind of cultural visibility, we could expect Activision and Infinity Ward to play nice with our tender public sensibilities. But last week, Infinity Ward released a viral promotional video on YouTube advertising the game. The video stars Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels publicly lambasting "grenade spam." Random grenades, he admonishes, are "for pussies." The video closes with a fictional sponsor: "Brought to you by Fight Against Grenade Spam." Or, well, you know. You can pull out the acronym.
It's a secure coffin Infinity Ward has nailed: a derogatory sexual epithet, a well-known athlete and a guy being blown up by grenades. A perfect triumvirate, as it were, of American masculinity. No wonder the games sell so well.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Brian
posted 11/04/09 @ 3:19 AM EST
Are you kidding me? John Bailey, it must be a slow news day. I've seen the add, and its just that; a joke. If you're insisting that they are out with the malicious intent of promoting mass-homophobia then you need to lighten the hell up. (Continued…)
Matthew Walker
posted 11/04/09 @ 4:43 AM EST
John Biley sounds like your average console/xbox360 player with is asinine "Aside from the small, shrieking PC minority (Dedicated servers!", over 2 million PC gamers bought CoD 4, PC gamers are what started IW, and we far out number the console crowd, as there are 250 MILLION gaming PC's inthe world, and dedicated servers are the only workable solution for FPS onlineplay using a PC. (Continued…)
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