LYRICS
Thousands of UK gamers queued into the night
for the launch of what may be the world’s most anticipated video game.
Video game retailers opened at midnight to sell the first copies of
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,
a game which is widely expected to shatter sales records.
The latest instalment in the Call of Duty franchise
was officially launched in the UK
at a cinema in Leicester Square in the heart of London’s West End,
a site usually reserved for the premiere of Hollywood blockbusters.
Actors dressed as soldiers patrolled the square
while British celebrities joined gamers
to take part in multiplayer sessions of the game.
The game, which is tipped to sell more than a million copies in the UK
in its first week of release,
features astonishing graphics and exciting gameplay
as the player takes on a group of ultra-nationalist Russian terrorists.
Predictably, the game has provoked a certain amount of criticism
as it is extremely violent and features a controversial scene
in which civilians are killed at an airport.
One British MP has attacked the game in the press,
describing his "absolute shock" at the violence portrayed in the game.
However, another MP has defended the game
by setting up a group on a social-networking website
which describes itself as "unashamedly pro-video games"
and which aims to "discuss how UK video gamers
can find their voice in newspapers and government".
More cynical observers have said that the game’s developers
deliberately included the scene in which civilians are massacred
in order to stir up controversy,
knowing that this will generate a huge amount of free publicity.
Whatever people’s views on violence in computer games,
the game is flying off the shelves around the UK
and is expected to generate $400m globally for its publishers.