Activision brings joy to US troops with gaming

Remember that story back in July where the United Service Organizations (USO) partnered with mercenary company Blackwater Worldwide to deliver Xbox 360s and Guitar Hero to US troops abroad? It seems the publisher of the game -- Activision -- is officially in on the deal. This holiday season, they'll be sending out copies of Call of Duty and Guitar Hero (presumably the latest games in each series) to the troops in order to provide them with entertainment and "to make a difference in the lives of service members around the world, offering them a taste of home and giving them a break from their day to day duties." What? A break from killing people to kill (virtual) people? Hmm.

"Through this partnership we are able to bring joy to troops that are serving across the globe this holiday season," said Mike Griffith, President and CEO of Activision Publishing. "The USO is an extraordinary organization and we are committed to working together to develop opportunities that show our support for the troops and celebrate their continued service to our country."

Starting Veterans day, Activision will be launching their Call of Duty: World at War (WaW) holiday promotion whereby gamers can attend pre-release events at GameStops in San Francisco (151 Powell St.) and Washington, D.C. (Pentagon City Mall, 1100 S. Hayes St. Arlington, VA) and play in tournaments against active servicemen and women stationed at Fort Drum, NY and 29 Palms, CA.

Interestingly, for every copy of WaW that is bought, $10 of it will be donated by Activision to the USO for the D.C. event; up to $20,000 will be given. $100,000 has already been dontated from Guitar Hero: Legends of Rock sales "for use in USO gaming lounges and mobile USO fleets both on U.S. military bases and across the globe."

I hadn't assumed the people behind the Call of Duty games were necessarily pro-war, as I think it's entirely plausible to present either an objective or anti-war stance through such an endeavour (which could be quite powerful, really), but there you have it. Topware, the guys behind Chromo SpecForce, have engaged in similar support in the past; this has got me wondering: how many war video games are "pro-war"?