14 DAY TRIAL // Electronic Arts has declared that the developers behind Medal of Honor will not surrender their creative vision because of the recent scandal caused by the misinformed United Kingdom Secretary of Defense Liam Fox.
Speaking to Develop, Frank Gibeau, the president of the EA Games label within Electronic Arts, said that his company was aware from the beginning that Medal of Honor was a creative risk.
“We respect the media’s views,” he said, “but at the same time [these reports] don’t compromise our creative vision and what we want to do.”
He continued to comment that, “The development teams care very much about what they’re building, and of course a bit of criticism from the media causes some to get demoralized, but at the end of the day we’re proud of what we’re doing. Bringing Medal of Honor back was no small feat.”
Gibeau went on to defend both the medium of games in general, as being too easily targeted by the controversy-seeking media, and Medal of Honor in particular, as title the means to portray the story of the soldier and nothing else.
“At EA we passionately believe games are an artform, and I don’t know why films and books set in Afghanistan don’t get flack, yet [games] do.
“Whether it’s Red Badge Of Courage or The Hurt Locker, the media of its time can be a platform for the people who wish to tell their stories. Games are becoming that platform.”
Danger Close and DICE, the EA subsidiaries that are working on Medal of Honor, have not crafted the narrative and setting by themselves, according to Gibeau. The teams worked with both the United States' military forces, as well as with the Medal of Honor association to create an authentic story.
A recent series of video interviews with various Tier 1 operators went live on the Medal of Honor official website. The soldiers seemed very impressed with how the developers took in their advice and opinions.
While they should be take with a grain of salt, as in the case of all marketing videos, it seems clear that Fox's allegations are quite misguided.
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