Venezuela claims game is prelude to invasion

[Toastburner B]

Or, the topic that has nothing to do with the Wii or the PS3.

Looks like the plotline for Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is not very popular in a certain South American country

Originally Posted by Yahoo! News

CARACAS, Venezuela - A U.S. company's video game simulating an invasion of Venezuela is supposed to hit the shelves next year, but it's already raising the ire of lawmakers loyal to President Hugo Chavez.

Chavez supporters in Venezuela's National Assembly suspect the makers of "Mercenaries 2: World in Flames" are doing Washington's bidding by drumming up support among Americans for an eventual move to overthrow Chavez.

"I think the U.S. government knows how to prepare campaigns of psychological terror so they can make things happen later," Congressman Ismael Garcia said, citing the video game developed by Los Angeles-based Pandemic Studios.

Pandemic describes "Mercenaries 2" as "an explosive open-world action game" in which "a power-hungry tyrant messes with Venezuela's oil supply, sparking an invasion that turns the country into a war zone." The company says players take on the role of well-armed mercenaries.

Chris Norris, a publicist for Pandemic in Los Angeles, said the game wasn't intended to make a political statement about Chavez, though designers "always want to have a rip from the headlines."

"Although a conflict doesn't necessarily have to be happening, it's realistic enough to believe that it could eventually happen," Norris said.

Lawmaker Gabriela Ramirez said "Mercenaries 2" gives a false vision of Chavez as a tyrant and Venezuela as being on the verge of chaos. She said the game could be banned under a proposed law aimed at protecting Venezuelan children from violent video games.

In the U.S., "it sends a message to Americans: You have a danger next door, here in Latin America, and action must be taken," she said. "It's a justification for an imperialist aggression."

U.S. officials have repeatedly denied planning an attack on Venezuela, though
President Bush said he is concerned about "an erosion of democracy" here — an accusation Chavez has called blatantly false.

For those who don't know, the current president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, spends his free time bashing Bush. He has also stated several times that he believes that the U.S. is gearing up for an invasion to attempt to topple the Chavez adminstration.

Needless to say, according to him, this game is to prepare the young people of America for that war.

Chavez is a bit of a loon, in my humble opinion.

[The Wandering God]

Wait, what?

The message it sends is
"We like making fun games. This one will blow the last one out of the water. You should buy it."

Ah, who cares. Mercenaries ruled, and when I get a PS3, this will come with it.

The Wandering God

[Toastburner B]

In hind sight, I should of given this a snappier title like, "Venezuela claims game is prelude to invasion" or something like that.

Anyways...it's a good thing these guys aren't in North Korea...every third military shooter nowadays is based in North Korea.

[Bamboozehound]

International politics is worse than a fucking sewing circle of old harpies.

[Krylo]

My only response to this is: They're making another Mercenaries game? Fucking sweet!

Also: You want a snappier title? You got a snappier title!

[Bells]

Well.. is not like there are many good games around today where you get to Open fire against the US...

Anyway, when someone decides to make a "DC : under siege" game, i would play it...

Mostly because im tired of every shooter being on a War of the past setting or "from the beach, Through the jungle, to the temple, to the camp, to the base, to the building/wherehouse where the Final boss lives..."

But also, because Advanced Warfighter dont run well on my PC...

[Magus]

Is the lack of an audience in Venezuela for this game supposed to be a threat at the game company or something? Is this really going to affect sales? Not to mention they're probably clever to go with this for a plot line, since tensions ARE heating up. It's almost like the Red Dawn of videogames, in a way, although the NK ones are probably closer to the mark. I foresee games based on war in Iran or some more in Sudan, really (I think there are games based in Sudan, correct me if I'm wrong).

Still looking for that Red Dawn-esque video game, actually. A combat game set in the U.S. would be a nice spin on things, and to avoid any offensiveness they could just make up a country, have us invaded by Latveria (and Dr. Doom). B^) Or they could do a War of 1812 videogame, but the excitement level might be a bit low on that one...

I suppose people COULD jump to the conclusion that Chavez is evil, if they haven't already. He's not the most lovable fellow in modern times, after all. But he's not any worse than a lot of other less-lovable fellows.

[Bells]

It seams that Chavez is seeing this game like "Anti-Venezuela" Propaganda

On that note, i could say that is the same as that Movie Bad Boys II did for Cuba... just not so Much

[Magus]

People watched Bad Boys II? B^)

[Bells]

Originally Posted by Magus

People watched Bad Boys II? B^)

Got watch it before saying it sucks