craig-owens
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Medal of Honor marketing director explains 'Taliban' removal
In writing about the "controversy" surrounding Medal of Honor's multiplayer and the subsequent name change of one faction from "Taliban" to "Opposing Force," we've heard from two sides, primarily -- EA corporate and the Army and Air Force Exchange Service. But we've never heard directly from the folks developing MOH -- Danger Close Games. Earlier this week at an EA event in New York City, we talked with Danger Close marketing director Craig Owens. Owens spoke to why he believes the name change occurred, what it will accomplish, and how internal reactions have been at Danger Close. In his eyes, it wasn't a result of AAFES-based GameStop stores not carrying Medal of Honor -- as he points out, the change hasn't affected the AAFES' sale embargo of MOH. "The objection was, kind of from an older generation that doesn't understand games, that the soundbyte was 'Play as the Taliban and kill US soldiers,'" though he admitted "There still is, it seems, a group that's still a little bit leery of a game taking place around an active conflict." Owens further clarified, adding that "Really the big thing was playing as a Taliban killing US troops. So we basically just changed it to 'Opfor' -- which is a term they [the US Armed Forces] use, some of our competitors use -- more out of respect." The AAFES, he contends, didn't factor into the decision whatsoever. He also pointed out that during the beta earlier this year, there were "about 500,000 people playing it, as the Taliban, killing US troops," without a single complaint. He further lamented the nefarious "soundbyte" that lead to the seemingly inevitable controversy, adding "Later that soundbyte kinda caught wind and got taken out of context, really."%Gallery-103178%
The 'Medal of Honor' Beard Cover Interview
In early December, EA revealed the cover for its Medal of Honor reboot and all anyone could say was: "BEARD!" Well, after months of trying to get an explanation of how that grizzly (Adams) decision went down, Craig Owens, director of marketing at EA Los Angeles, has finally delivered the answers. Here are the declassified details of our exchange: Joystiq: How did you select the cover image for the Medal of Honor reboot? Craig Owens: What you see today as the key art (or box front image) is the result of a long process that's been going on for nearly a year now. When we set out to reboot the Medal of Honor franchise, we knew that the key art of the new game had to accomplish two very important things. First, it needed to stay true to the authenticity that the brand is known for. Secondly, it had to be unexpected not only for the brand but also for the shooter genre. After several months of reviewing many, many concepts, it wasn't until this past summer that the new face of Medal of Honor was born. During an agency pitch meeting with several creative agencies, our current partner – Ignition Creative based in Santa Monica, California – revealed a concept, using a photographed model with this real, epic beard. That concept was nearly identical to the final image you see today. When the development and marketing team first saw it, we immediately knew that was our guy. He was authentic to a Tier 1 Operator and unexpected for both MOH and the current characters out there in the gaming space. %Gallery-79326%
