"Who the F*ck are you?" Says every injured soldier ever. "Thanks for the game, my f@ggot son will love it." Says every bothered soldier ever.
Call of Duty voice actors visiting troops
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Activision donating copies of Black Ops II to military bases and hospitals; voices of Menendez, Woods, and Mason to meet with soldiers.
Call of Duty: Black Ops II has minted over $1 billion for Activision, and now the publisher is giving back to real-world troops. Forbes reports today that Activision will donate copies of Black Ops II to military bases and hospitals across the world. In addition, several of the game's leading voice actors will embark on a tour to visit soldiers and staff.
The effort is part of a USO/Armed Forces Entertainment tour that will see Black Ops voice talent Kamar de los Reyes (Raul Menendez), James Burns (Sgt. Frank Woods), and Rich McDonald (Commander David Mason) play against troops at each tour stop beginning today and running through February 4.
"We play at war on the safety of our sound stages, with imaginary weapons and pretend enemies. These men and women face the real thing every day. We want to honor that fact and give the real heroes the attention they deserve," de los Reyes said. "I've always been humbled by the sacrifice our military and their families make every day to ensure our freedoms. I can't wait to look these men and women in the eye and express to them in person how much we appreciate their service. It's an honor that leaves me speechless."
Activision also runs the Call of Duty Endowment, a nonprofit company launched in October 2009 that helps soldiers transition to civilian careers following their military services. De los Reyes said he is happy that Activision is involved in this area, but noted there is much work to do.
"Not enough attention and support is given to our military when they transition into civilian life. It's an enormous problem, and moreover an embarrassment that we don't focus more on veteran affairs," de los Reyes said.
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
62 comments
As much as this could be cynically written off as a PR stunt, I really can't complain. They're thanking the troops and handing out free games. PR stunt or not this isn't hurting anybody. Besides, more exposure to video games means less potential idiots using them as scapegoats for our problems. Remember, 89% of parents think video game violence is a problem.
1 Like If my friend is shot to the head and survives, the most reasonable thing to do is to donate my copy of Max Payne 3 to him so he can experience it over and over again. /sarcasm
I think first this team should visit the game developers of Crysis 3 so that they can finally learn to boost the Graphics of their ugly pre-historic game and bring-in some serious FPS action rather than the usual run-of-the-mill shit-fest they shove down our throats every fuck*ng year.
@SachBro treyarch and IW have stated multiple times they will never change CoD in any way that makes it run less than 60FPS, because that's what makes CoD the game it is. if you're going blame anything, blame consoles (as stupid as that argument is) because at least it's rational.
at the end of the day, i'd rather play the same 60FPS cod on a console than a 30FPS cod that looks slightly better, just like crysis and battlefield.
@fazio93 @SachBro First of all, your argument is not stupid, I agree that Consoles are to be blamed here a little coz graphics were indeed toned down to suit them. However if you think that the graphics in Crysis or Battlefield are slightly better than that of COD, you really need to visit an optician. I'm telling you dude, it's day and light. Did you check out the new Crysis 3 gameplay video? Did you check out the frog in its trailer? Please do.
@SachBro @fazio93 that's my point, those games look better, but they play like garbage on consoles because consoles can't handle them. when i play any game other than CoD on a console it feels like i'm walking and moving in 4 feet of snow because it is slow sluggish and the frame rate is so much lower. that's what CoD developers are avoiding
@SachBro They can't shove it down your throat unless you allow them to do so, by buying the game. Anyway, this years CoD seems a bit better than previous ones and I'm sure there are military personnel who like CoD, but I wouldn't consider this something to be happy about, although I generally feel that wars are a waste of resources, time and people.
What? So a soldier is injured and possibly suffers from trauma in the battlefield and Activision expects them to play what is effectively a warfare simulator.... I just can't..
I don't know why, maybe it should, but this doesn't seem as great as when someone like, say... Christian Bale visits people in hospitals, or takes a family to Disney Land.
Hmmm, BO2 voice actors. Not exactly the same as the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders. Now they are good for a soldiers morale.
Hmm...because the voice actors can understand what it's like to be on the front lines? They can compare war stories? I'm all for morale boosting, but surely Activision could get their PR whilst sending people the troops might actually want to meet?
Of course, despite making over $1 billion on the game they can't even get Sam Worthington to join the other voice actors FAIL
I wonder if any of the troops are new recruits who joined because the Modern Warfare games made war look like fun? They might be harboring a little bit of resentment.
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@Emfanever Not all people who are mentally retarded are the same or suffers from the same disabilities, so I guess some recruits with a certain mental retardation could pass. Though I generally think that following an order, whatever it might be, without question, without ability to refuse/discuss it is mentally retarded. I know there isn't always time/opportunity to discuss things, but that's why wars suck and should be avoided.
I think if I was in a hospital from combat, the last thing I would want is a modern shooter game... I guess it's better than nothing, but not by much...
Being a veteran and serving several tours in Afghanistan, some of you might be surprised but this would cheer up a lot of troops. It's an escape from reality for awhile. I don't see a problem or don't see it as a PR stunt by Activision.
You'd be surprised how little things can boost your morale.
@mjf249 " don't see it as a PR stunt by Activision" Are you kidding me? How old are you? 18? Of course it is a PR stunt. No shit you are in the military.
A lot of gamers might hate activision , because of there practices, but this is not a PR stunt, they actually could care less, if a company wants to do something good for a change so be it.
Reminds me of the scene in the Captain America movie where he does his act for the troops.
yeah because this what our heroes want, the voice actors of a mediocre polished turd, once again activision fails
I wonder if these guys are being paid to go do this PR work with the troops, and if so (which I would guess they are, but I could be wrong), how much.
Personally, I wouldn't care about voice actors visiting to play a game that dramatizes what they do. I respect voice actors and their field, but I highly doubt this is something the troops are really that psyched about.
1 Like I came to post my own "what...really?' comment, but the comments here are great already.
9 Like "Not had enough WAR?! Play some CoD! Oh and here are these guys that voice some of the dudes..." I'm sure this is just exhilarating for everyone involved.
11 Like so the voices of COD are visiting soldiers....who cares about their voices? IT's an ONLINE SHOOTER! It's as thrilling as receiving an autograph from the cameraman of Jeopardy.
I just need to know something, isn't one of the actors for this game, the same actor for Ieyasu Tokugawa on Sengoku Basara because I swear every time he speaks, all I can think of is TADAKATSU!!!
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@queuing_for_PS4 Not nearly as bad as what EA pulled with Medal of Honor. Activision and EA are getting weirder and weirder.
@ryan0991 @flammable_zeus he brought some of them home, but send even more to Afghanistan several years ago. hypocrisy at its best.
1 Like @flammable_zeus I'm not excusing Obama, but at least he has brought some of them home.
@ryan0991 @Emfanever And Obama has kept them there despite the fact that a lot of them want to come home.
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Related Game
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
- Publisher(s): Activision
- Developer(s): Treyarch
- Genre: Action
- Release:
- Classification Board: MA
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