[The Boston Globe report on the call made by dozens of U.S. organizations to Bono, the lead singer of the rock group U2, to stop production of Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, a violent video game in which players become hired mercenaries who invade Venezuela, where a tyrant has tampered with the country's oil supply. The game, developed by Pandemic Studios, is scheduled for release in autumn. Pandemic is also the company behind Full Spectrum Warrior, a 2003 game developed to train U.S. soldiers at Fort Benning. The U.S. Army base in Georgia was also home to the infamous School of the Americas -- now the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation -- that was accused of training two officers involved in a coup that temporarily ousted Chávez in 2002. --Ed]
Activists Ask Bono to Help Shoot Down Video Game About Venezuela
By Khristopher Flack - Boston Globe
March 25, 2007
Bono has developed a reputation as a rock star with a conscience. The leader of the band U2 has cofounded two lobbying groups that raise awareness about Africa's afflictions, created a fair-trade clothing company, and brokered a deal with several major American companies to donate millions of dollars to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS. But now he is caught up in a controversy over one of his own ventures.
Dozens of organizations are asking Bono to stop production of Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, a violent video game in which players become hired mercenaries who invade Venezuela, where a tyrant has tampered with the country's oil supply. Once there, the player takes orders from the highest bidder, buying, stealing, and destroying anything in sight. Samples of the game available online show the mercenary driving through corrugated shacks in jungle villages, firing shoulder rockets from a city sidewalk, and destroying a replica of the state-owned oil company's headquarters. The game, developed by Pandemic Studios, is scheduled for release in the fall.
Bono is a cofounder and chief investor in Elevation Partners, a media and communications company that formed a $300 million partnership with Pandemic in 2005.
"You always hear about all of the humanitarian efforts that he does, so I was surprised he would be involved in a violent game like this," said Jorge Marin, a Venezuelan immigrant who is a coordinator of the Boston Bolivarian Circle, one of the groups that have signed on to the Venezuela Solidarity Network's second campaign to write letters to Bono.
Since last summer, the network has called the scenario in the game a propagandist attempt to defame Venezuela's president , Hugo Chávez. The network sent its first letter to Bono in June; it went unanswered. The new letter appeals to Bono from a spiritual perspective, having collected signatures from dozens of religious organizations, including Fellowship for Reconciliation, the country's largest and oldest interfaith group working on social justice issues. The Globe's attempts to reach Bono for this story were unsuccessful.
Officials at Pandemic -- and gamers salivating over the game's release on online bulletin boards and blogs -- stress that the game isn't any worse than other works of fiction based on a real place.
"While we're flattered that people think Mercenaries 2 is a commentary on the real world, it is just a video game," Pandemic Studios President Josh Resnick said in a prepared statement. "Even though our setting provides gamers with the overall look and feel of Venezuela, it is not an accurate street-by-street depiction, and the characters as well as the story line are completely made up."
But Venezuelan network members point out the research done by Pandemic to give players an authentic experience: Buildings are modeled after photos taken in Venezuela by the company prior to production, and according to one of the game's online forums, Pandemic consulted a mercenary to sculpt its title characters. Pandemic is also the company behind Full Spectrum Warrior, a 2003 game developed to train US soldiers at Fort Benning. The US Army base in Georgia was also home to the infamous School of the Americas -- now the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation -- that was accused of training two officers involved in a coup that temporarily ousted Chávez in 2002.
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The continuing demonizaton of Chavez and Venezuela are real threats. Bono should do whatever he can to put a stop to this "game."
Posted by: Eugene Weixel | March 28, 2007 at 12:53 AM