The crass timing of Modern Warfare 3's release By JOHN LAW, NIAGARA FALLS REVIEW Updated 7 hours ago
On Friday, we'll pause for a minute or two to remember every veteran who gave their life defending our right to do incredibly stupid things.
Like line up at midnight to buy a video game simulating the same stuff they went through. And often try desperately to forget.
Look, I enjoy the Call of Duty games as much as anyone, but this week's release of Modern Warfare 3 - three days before Remembrance Day - seems a bit crass. It's all about getting a head start on the holiday season, but that's the problem with two months of Christmas: The unbearable commercialism has now buried a day which truly deserves our attention.
It's bad enough Remembrance Day isn't a holiday for most of us in Canada. It's bad enough we can only offer two minutes at lunch to commemorate it. But during this solemn week, the endless hype and commercials for this video game is a bit much. I can't even begin to scratch the surface of the whole 'war as entertainment' industry, all I know is the release date bothers me much more than the content this time around. On any given night this week, you will see a TV spot saluting our war dead immediately followed by a Modern Warfare 3 commercial promising all kinds of 'shock and awe' fun.
I spoke with three veterans Monday for a feature story running in The Review later this week. When I asked one of them if there are things they won't speak about, he just nodded solemnly. There is stuff he saw in Korea he will never tell anyone. It will go to the grave with him.
Cue a clip from Modern Warfare 3. It's seen from the camera of a dad on vacation with his family in London. Big Ben is in the background. As his wife and daughter approach a street corner, a van pulls up beside them. It explodes, killing them both. The camera cuts out.
You feel uncomfortable watching it, which I guess is the point. It's still not as bad as the infamous sequence in Modern Warfare 2 in which your character infiltrates a terrorist group and goes on a shooting spree in an airport. In order to maintain appearances, you're expected to shoot innocent civilians. I've played the game a few times and I've never participated in this scene. I've mowed down endless zombies, aliens and drug cartels over the years, but this reprehensible scene was too much. In their quest to be as realistic as possible, the Call of Duty games have blurred an uncomfortable line.
By all accounts, Modern Warfare 3 is going to be another monster. Initial estimates say it will sell 25 million copies ($1.5 billion) over the next few months, possibly surpassing last year's Call of Duty: Black Ops as the top-selling video game ever. These are Hollywood blockbuster numbers. No question, this game is the biggest entertainment event of the holiday season.
But it would be that way if they sold it next week, or the week after. Why this week, when the reality of war should be on our minds? I can't think of a bigger insult for a veteran than kids gorging themselves on a Call of Duty game Friday instead of attending a Remembrance Day service, or laying a wreath, or thanking the few World War II survivors we have left.
They didn't play it. They lived it. And this should be their week.
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