In a response sent from Karen Meredith she simply stated in the subject line, “Small victory.”  She is one of the many parents who lost her son in the on-going war in Iraq.  She also spearheaded the campaign to get EA’s Medal of Honor game pulled from ALL U.S. military bases worldwide.

GameStop has on-base retail stores for in-service soldiers to buy video games, but one game our soldiers won’t see anytime soon is the new Medal of Honor.

Mrs. Meredith is upset that in the video game, in multi-player matches, players are able to play as Taliban soldiers in Afghanistan killing U.S. forces in bloody ways – knifing them in the back, shooting them, and throwing grenades at them.

“I’ve heard from people all over the world, many of them upset about this game, so at least this has started a conversation,” she said. “And this country needs to have a conversation about the place of violent video games in our society, especially a game based on an ongoing war.”

The game is not too far out from release, expecting to be in stores October 12th.  The new Medal of Honor has had a good response from gamers out there with the closed beta and has even gone so far to be defended by some U.S. soldiers.  Unfortunately though, it’s gotten some flack here recently from families who have lost loved ones and even from Great Britain’s Secretary of State for Defense Liam Fox, who stressed to retailers to “ban this tasteless product.”

EA has responded to the negative press by issuing a statement from spokesman Jeff Brown:  ”The criticism of ‘Medal of Honor’ is disappointing because I can’t think of another interactive game that has gone to such lengths to convey respect for soldiers. From the very first day of development, the ‘Medal of Honor’ development team has been dedicated to creating an homage to the soldiers who fight the Taliban in Afghanistan.”

“EA feels a deep sympathy and respect for the soldiers and people with family members killed or wounded in Afghanistan.” Brown also wrote, “We don’t see a distinction between a film like ‘Hurt Locker’ and a game like ‘Medal of Honor. We don’t agree that it’s OK to depict the war in films and books, but not in games. We don’t see a moral difference.”

That simply wasn’t enough for Meredith and her parenting friends, saying that by allowing gamers to assume the role of the Taliban and kill American soldiers, EA crossed the line.  She’s happy to get the decision to pull the game off of the shelves in military bases, but she’s still not satisfied and wants to take this further.

“The fact that the Army has responded this way tells me that I’m not the only one upset about this,” she said Friday. “Now I want EA to pull the game on their own because it’s the right thing to do.”

Some out there are calling this act of pulling the game “censorship”, but it still doesn’t change the fact that all pre-orders and reservations for the games on U.S. military bases will be canceled.  These pre-orders at the on-base GameStop’s will just be transferred mere blocks away to off-base stores.  The soldiers still have the option to go and get the game if they so choose.

“We regret any inconvenience this may cause authorized shoppers, but are optimistic that they will understand the sensitivity to the life-and-death scenarios this product presents as entertainment,” Casella said in a statement. “As a military command with a retail mission, we serve a very unique customer base that has, or possibly will, witness combat in real life.”

The article we pulled from doesn’t really go on to say who this Casella person is?  Maybe a GameStop spokesperson for the on-base stores?

This story brings up a good question:  Do you want to kill American forces when you play multi-player games like this?  Is it just a matter of EA had to put in two sides to the multiplayer rounds in order to get teams?  Seeing as this war is going on right now, would you like it if they just threw in Nazis into the Middle Eastern desert?  No!  You put the proper enemy and make it as real as possible.

Now while I can see their point of possibly turning the soldiers lives into an action game being wrong, I just see it as a celebration of our U.S. military forces.  Did anyone ever make a game about me?  Or you?  Probably not.  These gentlemen and women of our fighting forces go through fucked up shit on a daily basis (while probably not as explosive as a game).  Why not show just how much these soldiers go through?  EA has even gone so far as to consult and hire on real Tier 1 Operatives to make sure Medal of Honor is as true to form as it can be.  Who is to say that this game ISN’T dedicated to the men and women of our serving forces?

While I see her argument to get the game banned on military bases, you ultimately have to have two sides to a multi-player match.  In this particular case, it’s the Taliban.  The game just wouldn’t feel right if it was the U.S. vs. aliens.  I honestly don’t see myself quitting a match if the game servers decide to auto-level the playing field and I get put on the Taliban side.

[via Mercury News.com]

It’s not often when you can call an iPhone game a monumental success. Most fizzle away after a few weeks or a month, but a small handful have the staying power to really drive sales. Flight Control is in that handfull and has now surpassed the 3 million sales mark on iPhone and iPod Touch. This does not include the iPad version, which is even more impressive.

Since its release 18 months ago, the leaderboards have totaled over 2 billion planes landed in the game, which is roughly 5000 times the air traffic at LAX every day. Not too shabby. I know I’ve contributed quite a few of those landings, but I know some of you have done a lot more than me.

If you haven’t checked out Flight Control yet, shame on you. Whether you get it for iPhone, iPad, or the upcoming PSN version with Move support, make sure you check this one out. It’s one of my favorite portable games of the past 2 years and still in my regular iPhone play rotation.

6 days.

Look, we all hate Sony’s firmware updates. They take forever to download and install and they happen way too often. I have friends (<cough> Scuba </cough>) who haven’t been online on the PSN for over 4 months because they don’t feel like updating the firmware every time they turn on their PS3. While the update frequency has slowed a bit, I have a feeling it’s about to pick up, full speed ahead. Those damn pesky hackers are to blame.

Take a look at the PSP as a model for what’s about to happen. Sony and the hacking community are in a cat-and-mouse game of one upping each other. Sony releases a new, more secure firmware update, and then the hackers work around the clock to bypass all security measures to load homebrew and pirated games. The recent PS3 Jailbreak has set that path in motion on Sony’s home console. Firmware 3.42, a mandatory update, closed the security vulnerability that allowed the Jailbreak to run in the first place. But do you think that’s going to stop the hacking community?

The only hope we have is that Sony’s security measures are strong enough on the PS3 that hacks don’t happen every other week. If you’re anything like me, you’ll be cursing at your console and just giving up. I wanted to play some Super Street Fighter IV last night in the 20-30 minutes of free time I had. But between the firmware update and a game patch (which I can’t blame on Sony entirely, I can only complain about their ridiculous patching procedures), I would have ended up with 5 minutes of play time, which just wasn’t worth it. This has become and all too familiar scene for myself and many I’ve spoken to and heard from with the PS3. Ars Technica’s Ben Kuchera wrote a scathing editorial of the process about a month ago. It’s getting out of control.

The coming days and weeks will be interesting as the hacking community rallies to try and circumvent Sony’s v3.42 patch. Will they be able to do it? My guess is yes, since these are some pretty damn smart individuals who have nothing better to do with their time. But this tidal wave of firmware updates could cause quite a few people to stop using their PS3′s if it comes to fruition. Here’s to hoping the hackers can’t find a new Jailbreak.

If you are like me and have always said, “don’t hold your breath,” in response to someone hinting at a Duke Nukem Forever release date, well now you can finally breathe again.  The game has a publisher, it’s currently in the polishing stages, and is set to release next year.  That’s 2011 for all of you people out there not keeping up (or senile).  Gotta speak to our core demographic.

This week at PAX 2010, Gearbox Software announced it had picked up the crumbling staple of 3D Realms and was going to be releasing the title in partnership with 2K Games.

For those that need a refresher on the subject, Duke Nukem Forever has been in development since 1997.  Yeah, that’s a long time ago (in gaming years anyway).  It also hasn’t had the best development cycle.  3D Realms continued to press on and work on Duke Nukem, but 2K started to grow weary of the progress, wanting things to be released, eventually refusing to pay for anymore development time.  3D Realms failed to deliver, and layed off most of it’s staff and closed its doors in 2009, leaving Duke in video gaming limbo.

Fast forward a few years after the closure of 3D Realms and the game still was making progress and being worked on in the apartments and garages of a few 3D Realms guys.  Randy Pitchford of Gearbox got his start at 3D Realms.  It’s close to his heart.  He worked on Duke Nukem 3D and is a big Duke fan.  He met with these guys to see the progress and ultimately stepped in to be the middle man with 2K Games to have the game published (having success and good relationships after Borderlands and the Brothers In Arms series).  2K has spent so much money on the game (around 20 million already) that it would be completely stupid for them to NOT come out with Duke Nukem Forever.  That would just be money down the drain.

But not only is Duke Nukem Forever going to see the light of day and a full retail release on consoles and PC, we could very well see the continued release of Duke Nukem games after the fact.  Also announced at PAX 2010 is Gearbox Software owns the Duke Nukem intellectual property.  Yep.  That. Is. Awesome.  Duke Nukem officially has a steady home.

I don’t know about you guys out there, but I’ve turned red, purple and brown in the face holding my breath for Duke Nukem Forever.  It feels so good to see Duke rise up from the ashes.  It’s what Duke would do and how he would want it.  That and I can’t wait to get back to kicking ass, looking at strippers, and chewing bubble gum (I take that back, Duke always seemed to be out of gum).

I look forward to getting hands on with Duke Nukem Forever soon, and hearing about this awesome story with a great ending.  Keep an eye out gamers and we’ll continue to have news on this front as it happens.  But for now?  Breathe easy friends.  Your good buddy Duke is back.

One more week. Let that sink in. One more week. Starting today, Bungie is releasing all types of Halo: Reach related content onto Xbox Live. Check out the list below courtesy of EFG.

7 September – Day 7: “Halo: Reach Premium Theme”
8 September – Day 6: “Campaign Preview”
9 September – Day 5: “50% off Avatar Warthog Prop Offer”
10 September – Day 4: “Firefight Preview”
11 September – Day 3: “Deliver Hope – Director’s Cut”
12 September – Day 2: “Multiplayer Preview”
13 September – Day 1: “Halo: Reach Collection Update (Avatar)” 

Summer has met its unofficial end. Labor Day has come and gone, schools are getting back into full swing, and the Fall gaming scene is about to unleash hell. We’ve got one more week until Reach, so it’s time to squeeze in whatever non-Halo gaming we had planned before taking the reins as our Spartan better halves. So while you’re doing that, catch up on any of the hot shit we dropped on your asses last week.

Originals/Editorial/Loot Ninja:

• Happy Labor Day!
• What Are You Playing?
• Who’s Hitting up PAX?
• The New Value of Nintendo Wii… Is There Any?
• Loot Ninja’s Cosplay Girl of the Week for 9.2.10
• Move, Kinect, or Neither?
• What are Your Thoughts on the Xbox Live Price Increase?
• Opinion: Most Overrated & Most Underrated Game
• What The Eff: No Black Wireless Headset Yet?

Reviews/Impressions/Previews:

• First Impressions: Vanquish Demo
• Review: StarCraft II
• Review: Monday Night Combat
• Review: Piyotama
• Review: Madden NFL 11 (iPhone/iPad)

Podcasts:

• Twisted Gamer Radio – DUR! Don’t Play Torrented Halo: Reach

News:

• In A Time Of Price Hikes, Get It For Cheap
• Top Gear Game Coming Soon

It’s a Holiday weekend here in the States and we’re doing what every good American does today: nothing. That’s right, in celebration of Labor Day, we all take the day off, drink beer, watch fireworks, and fire up the grill. We roll deep.

Since we’re all off today, don’t expect much at the site. We’ll be back in full force tomorrow, so stay tuned and grab a beer.