Despite EA’s effort to appease the masses by taking the Taliban name from their upcoming release, Medal of Honor, GameStop still refuses to sell the game on military bases around the world. According to Kotaku, a spokesman for the Army & Air Force Exchange Service Public Affairs told them of the decision. Although the decision isn’t necessarily a shocker, it will undoubtedly hurt sales, which is exactly what Electronic Arts needs to avoid considering the mass amount of competition in the gaming industry this fall.
The idea that a game that advertised itself using the Taliban name and the input from US military special forces personel won’t be supported or played on military bases is certainly ironic. Just last night an ad featuring Medal of Honor aired during Monday Night Football, and it was a minute long montage of commentary from the mysterious military minds. It begs the question: Was that footage shot on a military base?
Either way, people will buy Medal of Honor. Which they should. The beta was successful and certainly showed it to be a solid addition to the first person military shooter genre. Sales numbers will tell everyone exactly how good or bad the decision was to use the Taliban name as an advertising scheme.
