Bono bites bullet on mercenary game

Mark Hilliard

Hugo Chavez (above) the Venezuelan leader reported to be the initial inspiration in 'Mercenaries 2' (centre); Far left: Bono

HE is the master of entertainment and political performance and now Bono has proven himself a dab hand at business – just don't tell the Venezuelans.
The U2 frontman's investment company has raked in millions of dollars from the sale of a computer game company behind a controversial title which will hit Irish shelves this summer.
Bono's private equity firm Elevation Partners came under fire in 2005 for investing in Pandemic Studios, the US -based creators of Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.
The game sparked condemnation following claims it was based on president Hugo Chavez's administration in Venezuela.
Its storyline involved gamers taking on the role of mercenaries hired to free General Carmona, who was arrested following a military coup in the country staged by a "power hungry tyrant".
Originally due for release last year, it was later delayed and according to anti-Mercenaries 2 campaigners, elements of the game's plot, including its 'Chavez lookalike' character, have since been changed.
The Washington-based Venezuelan Solidarity Network (VSN) – which orchestrated a global pressure campaign against Bono and the game – claim both the reworking of Mercenaries 2 and the singer's exit from Pandemic as a coup for their cause.
"What we think and what he [Bono] admits are probably two different things," Chuck Kaufman said from the VSN office in Washington.
"He made a lot of money off the sale so that alone could [have been] a motivation. But I can't help but think that he wasn't happy when he had a tour in Australia and the Australian Venezuelan Network was following him around and creating bad publicity for him.
"He can't have liked that so it seems to me a reasonable conclusion that he sold because of the game."
Whatever his reasons for selling up, Bono's Elevation Partners – of which he is co-founder and managing director – cashed in on both Pandemic Studios and BioWare Corp in October last year in a deal worth $860m. The sale came less than two years after Elevation paid just $300m for the companies.
Electronic Arts (EA) bought up Elevation Partner's VG Holding Corp, which held both companies.
Bono's original investment caused a sensation over what were perceived to be contradictions between his business interests and his social and political message over the years.
At the height of the controversy last year, one observer on the VSN forum noted: "How can Bono be behind this Mercenaries 2 propaganda game and perform songs like 'Mothers of the Dispersed', 'Bullet the Blue Sky' or 'One Tree Hill'? How is this possible?"
The VSN said: "A violent video game attacking a country that has been targeted for 'regime change' by the Bush administration is more than just a game. Pandemic Studios has [also] designed training videos for the army and the CIA. "We don't believe they just happened to pick Venezuela at random as the site for a new video game."

June 29, 2008

Comments

#1 Dermot Murphy commented, on July 1, 2008 at 1:43 p.m.:

Bono is a mighty man for talking out of the two sides of his mouth. Advocating help for the poor and third world obviously absolves you from the moral rights and wrongs of the rest of the world i.e. paying your tax and making profits on any which product you like never mind the moral stand point.
Bono, PAY YOUR TAXES!

#2 Gunnar commented, on July 6, 2008 at 12:13 a.m.:

Many thanks to Mark Hilliard for doing the follow-up on this story.

This story has a lot of elements to it that would blow the cover off not only Bono but the ties between the entertainment biz and the military strategies of the U.S., the U.K. and other "Western" powers.

Thanks Mark for following up and showing a bit of how all of this works.

#3 Arnold Matlin, M.D. commented, on July 6, 2008 at 3:49 a.m.:

Bravo to Venezuelan solidarity activists everywhere. (I'm from the U.S.,and am openly supportive of the Bolivaran revolution.) Games like Mercenaries 2 are not harmless entertainment. They support and encourage violence, especially against people who don't look like us and don't speak our language. Here in the U.S. the Army tours with something called the Virtual Army Experience. Groups of people are given a "mission," and can fire simulated weapons, call in air support, etc., etc., all via computer. Luckily—but unrealistically—the video ends before we see young people being fitted for prostheses or wheelchairs, or two soldiers in dress uniform walking up to a house to notify the family that their loved one has been killed. Whether you're in Ireland, Australia, or the U.S., you can make a difference by opposing militarism in whatever form it takes.

#4 Tom Baker nscchicago@igc.org commented, on July 6, 2008 at 4:12 a.m.:

Tom Baker here and you all are just a bit of the bit of a
whole lots more going on. I would say the militarization of
society, the teaching of violence, Bono is in on this; he
and a bunch of others. How dare you gloss over this.

#5 Banbose Shango bshango@yahoo.com commented, on July 8, 2008 at 7:51 p.m.:

The dishonesty of the rich continues to confound us. Bono's role in this violent computer game would have remained unchallenged if not for the consciousness of the Solidarity movement developing in support of the Bolivarian Revolution of Venezuela. These violent suggestive games create a mindset and ideology which could come to justify any attacks and coup de etat in South and Central America. I live in the US and thank the Sunday Tribune for exposing this and the solidarity movements and VSN for their work.

Comments

Comments closed

Related Articles

Share this article

Search

This issue 5 years ago

RSS Feeds