Locally-made "GRAW2" Banned in Mexico

Ubisoft-owned Red Storm Entertainment, which is located here in the Triangle, made a killing last year with "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter," which was one of the top-selling games of the year. The just-launched sequel, "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2," has now been banned in part of Mexico.

Both games are set in the not-so-distant future of 2014 and involve Ghosts, elite U.S. soldiers, taking on missions south of the border. The first game involves the kidnapping of the U.S. President, and it drew ire from Mexican officials who didn't like the fact that gamers were blowing away Mexican soldiers throughout the game. The sequel involves Central and South American rebels and nuclear weapons, and the U.S./Mexican border figures into the plot. Like in the original game, the plots are worthy of a Tom Clancy novel and make for riveting Hollywood-style interactive storytelling.

The governor of Chihuahua (the town, not the dog) has banned "GRAW2" from being sold and has ordered all copies confiscated. This comes on the heels of the mayor of Juarez, a city on the Mexican border of the U.S., blasting the game for instilling poor values and portraying his townspeople as violent.

Every videogame, movie or novel has to have good guys and bad guys. It's quite a simple concept. In "Halo" and "Gears of War," it's aliens. In "Call of Duty" and "Medal of Honor," it's the NAZIs. In "GRAW" and "GRAW2," it involves Mexicans, as well as other Central and South American rebels. It's just a videogame. I don't think this game is going to have any more negative impact on U.S.-Mexican relations than already exist with the problem of illegal aliens in this country. It's just a form of entertainment. And it's a gripping story.

Also, one of the reasons this franchise has sold so well is because of the online multiplayer options. This is a great game to play with or against others online with a variety of different game modes. This franchise has received stellar reviews from the gaming press, including multiple perfect scores from the likes of Gamespot.com. And it's crossed over from hardcore to casual gamers. It's the gameplay and polished product that's selling this game, not anti-Mexican sentiment.