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British Defense Secretary Sticks By Call To Ban Medal Of Honor
This weekend British Defense Secretary Liam Fox heavily criticized the upcoming installment of Medal of Honor for featuring the ability to play as members of the Taliban, going as far as calling the game "un-British" and calling upon retailers to "show their support for our armed forces and ban this tasteless product." EA defended its decision, saying "In Medal of Honor multiplayer, someone's got to be the Taliban." Case closed? Not quite: Today we learned that Fox isn't letting up.
According to the BBC, a spokesperson for Fox stated that he's standing by his comments. "The point remains that part of this game allows you to play the part of the Taliban attacking ISAF troops in the area of central Helmand where British troops are operating."
Not so, says EA. "[Medal of Honor] does not allow players to kill British soldiers," a spokesperson for the company said. "No British troops [are] feature[d] in the game."
While it's not exactly new for politicians to latch onto video game controversy, others in the British government are reluctant to join in on Fox's criticism. The Department for Culture Media and Sport issued the following statement:
"Dr. Fox was expressing a personal view and we understand why some people might find the subject matter of the game offensive.
"There is a ratings system in place which exists to categorise games appropriately. In this case, the game in question is rated 18 so should only be sold to, and played by, adults.
"There is a clear choice for consumers which they can exercise when making decisions about purchasing video games."
Players can exercise their choice on October 12 in the US and October 15 in Europe.
[Additional quotes via Press Association]
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