Games

Antiwar Group Attacks America's Army

Ubisoft is accused of breaking the law

By Calin Ciabai, Games Editor

7th of August 2008, 17:06 GMT

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The America's Army series of games exists ever since 2002, when Ubisoft released the first title, but it is only now that an antiwar group has decided to protest against the decision to create video games that serve as real recruiting tools for the US Army. Actually, the reason stated by the antiwar group is that potential recruits targeted by the series were as young as 13 years old, because the game is rated T for Teen.

The United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict forbids recruitment of children under the age of 18, and apparently that's what the antiwar group considers the game is doing. The group named Direct Action to Stop the War (DASW) wants the Army to post the following warning message on the game covers: "Warning: this video game has been developed by the United States Army to recruit children under the age of 17 in violation of the U.N. Optional Protocol and international law. Combat service has been known to cause death, irreparable injuries, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and lifelong feelings of overwhelming guilt."

Although DASW kind of has a point here, it does exaggerate a bit: the US Army has been clear, since the game debuted as a free download, that it is targeted at young Americans to increase their interest in military service. This does not mean that they were planning to actually recruit underage children, right? Well... it seems that some things really don't matter to some who have a rather noble cause, but lack the real means to fight for it.

DASW announced that an antiwar rally would soon take place close to Ubisoft's offices in San Francisco, with one goal in mind: to call attention to the grievances of the group in regard to the games in question.

TAGS:

America's Army | DASW | antiwar group | Ubisoft | US Army

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