Tabloid Rages Against Modern Warfare ‘Perverts’

The Daily Star has struck a blow against night-vision goggles in videogame collector’s editions.A recent piece, which can be seen on the Daily Star’s website, explains that “Geeky computer game fans are set to become an army of ogling pervs thanks to a giveaway of night-vision goggles with an edition of Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.”Presumably this is down to the well-documented fact that night vision goggles turn you into an “ogling perv,” and this has apparently led to the game’s Prestige Edition – which includes a pair of goggles – being called “Modern Warfare 2: Peeping Tom Edition.” By the Daily Star, presumably, as we can’t find any reference to this that doesn’t link back to them.Before continuing, I’d like to reiterate that this is apparently a real story.Anyway. The star reports that players – sorry, “joy-pad junkies” – can’t wait to get their hands on the goggles, so that they can “use the goggles for ‘stealth dogging’ and to spy on gay cruising spots.”This is presumably down to the Daily Star failing to appreciate the sarcasm or humour in the referenced comments on various gaming sites, like “They’re good enough for stealth dogging/cruising and I think that’s all anyone really cares about,” and “Now instead of squinting to see what appears to be a shadow in the house next door, you can put these bad boys on and become the Peeping Tom you’ve always wanted to be.”The Star also made the interesting leap of quoting game writer Rob Watson, who wrote: “Night-vision goggles are a bad idea. I shudder to think of someone who may have a hard time with reality anyway donning these goggles for real mischief – or even worse.”Which, to be fair, Watson did write. Sort of. Back in July. For the Philadelphia Inquirer. We’re pretty sure that there were closer sources that would’ve been happy to give a quote, but you can read what was actually written over here, which includes qualifiers like “I would say 99.9999 percent of gamers who buy the Prestige edition will have a blast with these new goggles, innocently playing around at night with them,” and appears to be aimed more at the PR problems the industry will have if someone does something stupid with them. We like to link our sources, you see.Of course, this all ignores the fact, considering the price, the night-vision goggles in question are likely to have visual acuity akin to the night-vision on a standard digital camera, or it’s almost impossible to believe they’re going to be above first-generation – fun for awhile, but certainly not military spec. It also ignores the fact that anyone who really wants night-vision goggles can buy them from, say, Amazon.Which leaves us with a sensationalist story from a tabloid that muddles the facts and quotes out of context, presumably to terrify those who don’t know better. Is it wrong that I expected something more?If you’re still interested in Modern Warfare 2 despite the fact that the Prestige Edition will turn you into a leering, hunchbacked, penniless pervert then check out our most recent preview here. Bear in mind, too, that it’s tipped to be the top-selling UK video game, whether you’re able to get your hands on the pervo-vision edition or not.