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IGN Article: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and the Cruel Realities of White Phosphorous

its clear some of the replies did not read the quotes... typical

i read the title and came in thinking "what a wuss, its just a game" but then i read the quote and he has no problem with it in the game, the problem is that the damage it does is not correctly portrayed in the game, which i actually agree with

making something so extreme be shown as mild is not great tbh and makes it seem like they included the NAME just to get a reaction

Nukes typically decimate an area kilometers wide and make it inhabitable for weeks if not more and the effects last for decades. In video games they're usually a big boom that can be dodged. Napalm creates a meters-tall inferno that ravages the land instead of the usual flammable pisspuddle.

Almost every weapon is incorrectly depicted in games. Just because a weapon is currently fashionable or has a mean-sounding name it doesn't deserve an exception.
 

Ulysses 31

Member
its clear some of the replies did not read the quotes... typical

i read the title and came in thinking "what a wuss, its just a game" but then i read the quote and he has no problem with it in the game, the problem is that the damage it does is not correctly portrayed in the game, which i actually agree with

making something so extreme be shown as mild is not great tbh and makes it seem like they included the NAME just to get a reaction
Does the guy go into what kind of bullet wounds you can get from COD weapons IRL?
 

J-Roderton

Member
Seriously though, which is worse. Using white phosphorus on the battlefield....or misgendering someone on the battlefield?

We should all reflect on this.....ha ha ha. I'm just fucking kidding. Here's some Emma Roberts for ya.


6R48IPS.gif

Neat.

You're becoming my favorite poster.
 
Hate it when activist masquerade as "game journalists"
They (Game “Journalists”) have been trying to get White Phosphorus controversy going since the reveal more than a month ago.

Why the media collectively care so much about this in a game of guns, bullets, nukes, and drone missiles I don’t know. They just do what the hive mind tells them.
 

Shai-Tan

Banned
its clear some of the replies did not read the quotes... typical

i read the title and came in thinking "what a wuss, its just a game" but then i read the quote and he has no problem with it in the game, the problem is that the damage it does is not correctly portrayed in the game, which i actually agree with

making something so extreme be shown as mild is not great tbh and makes it seem like they included the NAME just to get a reaction

On the surface maybe but the distinction he makes in the article to specifically criticize white phosphorus wouldn't survive scrutiny. There's a reason why violence in games (and other media) is drained of realism, even media aiming to convey the horrors of war
 

VulcanRaven

Member
Its a game so I have no problem with it. MGS games have WP grenades and I don't remember anyone saying anything about it.
 
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Shai-Tan

Banned
They (Game “Journalists”) have been trying to get White Phosphorus controversy going since the reveal more than a month ago.

Why the media collectively care so much about this in a game of guns, bullets, nukes, and drone missiles I don’t know. They just do what the hive mind tells them.

I don't even disagree with them that it would be bad taste to flippantly include weapons that are considered crimes against humanity in the single player. Launching a nuke has different weight in a Tom Clancy inspired geopolitical pastiche than it does in the zero consequence goofing off in multiplayer but I trust developers are aware of that distinction.

Not to mention the fucking AC-130 mission/killstreak. :pie_eyeroll:


That was meant to make you feel uncomfortable like the no-russian mission?
 
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sol740

Member
Its a game so I have no problem with it. MGS games have WP grenades and I don't remember anyone saying anything about it.

Rainbow Six had willypetes too, and no one thought anything of it, because it, and COD, remain fictional, harmless depictions of violence as goal-oriented games. More importantly the context of that violence isn't meant to serve as a 1:1 realistic portrayal. The themes of the games can touch upon serious issues, and still have action-oriented gameplay that remains engaging for the player. The most famous send-up of the genres incongruous elements (Spec-Ops: The Line) was a slog to actually play through (maybe on purpose), and I love that game.

The author is just dusting up clicks by intimating that something so powerful/horrific in actual warfare be given the proper respect via in-game representation. This game also has one perfectly "recovering" from what would be IRL devastating gunshot wounds by ducking for cover, and not being hit for a short while. Not to mention mowing down hordes of nameless, faceless enemy combatants like Rambo on uppers. Nitpicking this one thing is just eyebrow raising.
 

Thabass

Member
I can understand where he's coming from. Though, I doubt many normal people are going to go out and kill people using White Phosphorous any time soon. I'm with him where I'd think WP would be a better story-element than using it as a kill streaks (Nukes are included in that), but, this also reads like someone in America is going to find how to do this shit.

Only a sick individual would do this.
 

iconmaster

Banned
I actually think this is one of the better-considered "ethics in videogames" articles.

I'm uncomfortable with realistic military violence in games (usually, though not always, intended for entertainment) as a general rule. I prevented my son from playing them while he was growing up. Shoot aliens and monsters, even zombies, sure; but recreating historical wars in which thousands or millions suffered terribly starts to make me very uneasy. There are thoughtful ways to do that, but you're not going to get them from Activision and EA.

As a way into that discussion, the white phosphorous angle isn't a bad one. For those saying "but gun violence is okay?" I think the answer is: it might not be a good thing either, presented in a realistic historical context.

I'm hesitant to absolutize that position, but I think it's worth talking about.
 
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Why stop with the realistic depiction of WP, after a game of team death match you should be made to spend 30 minutes writing letters to the families of the team mates who didn't make it, then spend a couple of hours in a PTSD simulator.
 

Shagger

Banned
I've suffered from 3rd degree thermal and chemical burns in the past (Chemical burns are worse), I know all too well what it's like and I would wish such injuries on nobody. However, as horrible as white phosphorus is, this still a video game and nothing more. So it's not a big deal, as least not to me. There has been worse used in gaming I'm sure, and there will be worse again. I like how this has stirred up conversations about such an undeniably horrible weapon, but in a game it's not that big of a deal.
 
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NickFire

Member
I seriously do not understand why IGN would run this article. I do not see any concrete objective from the publishers perspective, to basically run a prelaunch hit piece on what they know will be a huge game. Are they implying all weapons use must show realistic effects? Are they jumping on a bandwagon and giving one weapon sacred cow treatment? Are they laying the seeds for follow ups that lead to no more shooting games arguments? I honestly have no idea what their purpose is. All I know is the article comes across as either PTSD railing against the most popular shooting game, or some rambling mess of an attack against a game for click bait.
 
its clear some of the replies did not read the quotes... typical

i read the title and came in thinking "what a wuss, its just a game" but then i read the quote and he has no problem with it in the game, the problem is that the damage it does is not correctly portrayed in the game, which i actually agree with

making something so extreme be shown as mild is not great tbh and makes it seem like they included the NAME just to get a reaction

I'm pretty sure none of the damage done by any of the guns or weapons of war are "portrayed correctly". Have you seen what happens to a human when shot with a Barret 50 Cal, or a javelin, or a claymore? And thank goodness it doesn't potray it accurately because then the "vifeogame" would be far too disturbing to play.

Now, you can argue the game is already too disturbing to play and is causing social and socital problems, but then why only pick the white phosphorus? The blatent inconsistency screams alternative agenda or just plane stupidity.
 
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I don't see how you can be pro gun/grenade/nuke inclusion for a Call of Duty game but draw the line at White Phos. It smacks of recency bias and whilst WP is horrendous shit, at the end of the day, this is still a video game.

Maybe critique Call of Duty for its glamorisation and fetishisation of warfare and guns and how it actively funds arms manufacturers rather than something like this.
 

Saruhashi

Banned
I guess I don't understand exactly why this is the thing that crosses the line?

Personally, I am not a fan of CoD games but surely these games don't accurately depict being hit by a bullet either?
I mean, players get to respawn and get on with the game right?

It's not like players who get hit by a bullet in game get to experience what it does to the human body?

Oh no you got shot and your knee is shattered. At least you will live.
Now you have to lay up and home and you get depressed cos you aren't mobile anymore.
You're fucked up because of your experiences.
You can't keep up repayments on the house.
Your wife left you.
The kids won't look at you, you're a changed man.
You kill yourself in the woods on a late spring evening.
NOW you can respawn!

They sure are determined to get this controversy going, aren't they?

I wonder why. What's the point of all this?
 

Cravis

Member
Such a stupid article and reminds me why I don’t bother getting news from game journalist websites anymore. With companies able to reach directly out to consumers via the internet gaming journalism is archaic and going the way of the dinosaurs. They’re clutching at anything and everything to remain relevant and keep a job.
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
I got halfway through the article and got bored, I guess I have ADD.

I really have no passionate thoughts on the article in general either way, but I will say IGN in general has had an agenda at this game since E3, so I figure they'll find a way to trash it now and again until launch one way or another.
 
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AmuroChan

Member
IGN's standards have really tanked to publish an article like this. I remember the days when they used to publish well-written and thoroughly researched long-form articles. Now their site is just full of clickbaits and woke-tastic op eds.
 

TUROK

Member
Cognitive dissonance: the article.

Sometimes people get stabbed tons of times and die slow, agonizing deaths. Where's the moral grandstanding about knives?

Sometimes people get part of their heads, arms, legs, or torso blown off by gunfire, yet survive and end up living very handicapped lives. Where's the fluff piece about that?

I don't think I even need to go into minefields and the staggering number of children who get their limbs blown off by them.
 

Boss Mog

Member
Remember folks white phosphorus in MW is really bad but nukes in MW2 were :messenger_ok:. "Games journalists", not even one time...
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
Lemme get this straight. White Phosphorus is bad...and is controversial, but we had nukes 10 years ago. Nobody batted an eye.
 
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Bryank75

Banned
Numerous people asking him to post his 214 and he refuses to.

Everything about him and his tweets screams bullshitter.

Just read how he/him responds

It was always really fishy. He seems like too much of a self-righteous man-child to have ever been in any military. Also, any marine I ever met had impeccable manners and decorum... very different to how John behaves but maybe I'm wrong about him. I'll wait on proof.
 

Shai-Tan

Banned
Block is the appropriate move for dumb pile ons. No one needs to read what every random person has to say about a topic or be forced to host incessant replies that followers will see.
 
White phosphorus isn’t even illegal in combat. US and others used it in Syria. So, you say causes harm? Yeah, so does every other weapon ever invented. It’s not chemical weapon by the way. US used depleted uranium bombs in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Syria and those can cause cancer.

I think this is a reaction to horrible stories from Syrian war and some people are still sensitive to it. But it’s a video game, no one will be harmed. There are people though who, as we speak, are controlling UAVs with joysticks from some office in Nevada killing baddies along with few collateral damage civilians.

I think they should leave vg alone and focus on more important stuff.
 

Iorv3th

Member
Lemme get this straight. White Phosphorus is bad...and is controversial, but we had nukes 10 years ago. Nobody batted an eye.

10 Years ago these pussies didn't have an agenda to push. They weren't weaponized and told they where high and mighty and better then everyone else and had to push their ideals onto everyone. Everyone that was wrong with them was a nazi etc. Some of them haven't even been playing video games for 10 years.

Numerous people asking him to post his 214 and he refuses to.

Everything about him and his tweets screams bullshitter.

Just read how he/him responds


His entire twitter feed is about how Trump is bad and guns are bad etc etc. Guy is a walking advertisement for the squad.
 
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