The main reason stated by Electronic Arts for their name change of Medal of Honor‘s ‘Opposing Forces’ (from the ‘Taliban’ in the original build) was the respect to the service men and women and their families. Despite the acquiescence to the complaints of military families and pundits, the game remains inaccessible on military base stores and affiliated GameStop locations.
After a full review was conducted “to fully understand the extent of the modifications”, the Army and Air Force Exchange Services (AAFES) claimed the name switch an insufficient to the project to retract the ban.
“Out of respect to those touched by the ongoing, real-life events presented as a game, Exchanges will not be carrying this product,” AAFES Commander Maj. Gen. Bruce Casella said in a statement. “While we regret any inconvenience this may cause, our position is consistent with the direction stated a month ago. I expect the military families who are authorized to shop the Exchange are aware, and understanding, of the decision not to carry this particular offering.”
In response to the decision, an EA spokesperson stated, “We respect AEFES’ authority to decide what’s best for their customers. EA has not asked for, and does not expect, a change in the Defense Department’s decision to restrict the availability of Medal of Honor on bases.”
This isn’t going to stop armed service members from buying the game off-base.
Oh, politics.
Yeah, I have read that some service members have switched their pre-orders to another store off base.
I sort of understand why they aren’t stocking the game, but EA changed the name of the Taliban to “Opposing Forces” probably in attempts to get the games stocked on shelves. I mean, we didn’t hear about Modern Warfare 2 being not being stocked on military base stores, but then again MoH is based on true events, but still fictional, whereas the MW series is all fictitious.