My "brief" opinion on the MW2 Airport scene (spoilers)

If you have not seen the recently linked single player footage from MW2, and do not wish to be spoiled, stop reading now. Although honestly, I don't know how somebody would have avoided it by this point. If you have not yet seen this footage and wish to do so, here is the link.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Alright, with the sufficient spoiler warning out of the way, it's time to sound off on this controversy. For starters, there's no way to grasp the context of this scene without playing the game. The quality of the footage is too low to read the subtitles, but even if one had a translation, that wouldn't help put it in perspective with the rest of the game. But there are a few obvious things we can grasp. We're playing the bad guys, or at least undercover with them. This scene is not representative of the overall game experience, as there are very few enemies to actually fight. What we have is basically a semi interactive cut scene.
 
What it is, is obvious. Armed terrorists enter an area crowded with civilians and start shooting. There's a certain amount of precedence for this in the real world, but I'm not going to get too deep into the connections with actual events. It's certainly a chilling scene, and has already gotten some media attention that will likely only get worse after release. But it has to be put in perspective. For starters, this is an M rated game. All too often has the rating system been neglected, but M is a basic equivalent to a movie's R rating. This is not a game for children, it is for adults. That is a plain and simple fact that will undoubtedly get lost in the upcoming frenzy, but it's important to note.
 
What I'd really like to analyze though, is what this means for a gamer's experience. This is certainly something we have never experienced so graphically in game before. Similar to the nuke scene in the original MW, it puts players in a situation that is frankly uncomfortable. This creates an interesting scenario, and watching this scene really made me step back and think. At no point are you required to shoot unarmed people. The person running this demonstration chooses to at some points, but it does not appear to be necessary to advance the proceedings. What this really makes you do though, is think about who you are, not just as a character in a videogame, but the actual person holding the controller.
 
How would I react placed in this situation? I don't honestly know, and having this in the game allows me to confront that interesting idea in a harmless fashion. It makes you think about it and contextualize the outcome in a virtual scenario. That's a pretty powerful thing for a videogame to do. If it happens to tie into the campaign in such a way to explain your character's motivations, then that makes it even more significant.
 
In the end, this is mostly speculation at this point. The game will be out soon enough, and I'm sure this will be far from the only introspective done on this portion of the game before things are all said and done. The potential for outrage and media scandals are ripe, but what I really hope is that this pushes forward the movement for videogames as an adult form of entertainment. This scene isn't simply mass murder for mass murder's sake. It places the player in a situation, presents them with choices, and forces them to deal with the outcome on a personal level. That interaction is more potent than any other media can accomplish, and as such it should only be handled by those really mature enough to deal with it appropriately. Time will tell on this one.