“Destroy All Humans” is the name of one of rock star Bono’s for-profit business endeavors, a video game played from the perspective of space aliens with the goal to “eradicate feeble humans.”
This might be funny if it weren’t for Bono’s other endeavors on the global scene. Bono is a Managing Director and Co-Founder of Elevation Partners according to the Elevation website. According to a press release at this website,
“The private equity firm Elevation Partners has announced the formation of a creative and management partnership with Pandemic Studios, LLC and BioWare Corp (bioware.pandemicstudios.com), two leading independent video game developers. The combined investment, including future capital needs, will be more than $300 million, creating one of the world’s best-funded and largest independent game development houses.”
According to research done by Bud Press of www.christianresearchservice.com, here is a brief run-down on Pandemic and some of their games:
About Pandemic Studios:
http://www.pandemicstudios.com/about.php
“Pandemic Studios consistently delivers outstanding entertainment for Playstation 2, Xbox, and the PC. Over the past 8 years, Josh and his partner, Andrew Goldman, have built Pandemic into a company of over 250 highly skilled programmers, designers, and artists working on a wide variety of high-profile titles for consoles and PCs at their offices in California and Australia.”
Go to http://www.pandemicstudios.com/insider.php and scroll down to “Pandemic Studios’ 2005 Awards Sepctacular, where you will find:
“‘Gassy Award’ trophies of gas-masked silver heads were given out to winners by MC Tom Abernathy. In deference to the big Bioware-Pandemic partnership this year under flagship Elevation Partners (U2 singer Bono being a “partner”) the awards categories were themed after hit U2 songs. Award winners included Pandemic’s Marky Domowicz, James Conrad, Jeff Vaugh, Young Choi and Greg Borrud. Special ‘Gassys’ were also awarded to Josh Resnick and Andrew Goldman!” (emp. added)
DESTROY ALL HUMANS!:
http://www.pandemicstudios.com/proj_dah.php
“Play from the Alien perspective and finally know what it feels like to have the upper hand. Arm yourself with a variety of alien weaponry on land or in the air. Use the Ion Detonator, the Brain-Exploder, the Zap-O-Matic, the Sonic Boom, or even the Quantum Deconstructor to eradicate feeble humans.”
MERCENARIES 2: WORLD IN FLAMES
http://www.mercs2.com/game.php
“Mercenaries 2: World in Flames™ is an explosive open-world action game set in a massive, highly reactive, war-torn world. A power-hungry tyrant messes with Venezuela’s oil supply, sparking an invasion that turns the country into a warzone.”
FULL SPECTRUM WARRIOR: TEN HAMMERS
http://www.pandemicstudios.com/proj_fsw2.php
“Sequel to the critically acclaimed squad-based real-time tactical combat game, Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers™ takes the brand’s innovative and authentic military gaming experience to the next level with new features in every aspect of the game.”
STAR WARS: BATTLEFRONT II
http://www.pandemicstudios.com/proj_swb2.php
“Star Wars Battlefront II™ takes the best-selling Star Wars video game of all time one Imperial-walker step forward with all-new space combat, playable Jedi, and never-before-seen environments straight out of the Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith film. Fans of the original Star Wars Battlefront™ will also enjoy an all-new single-player experience that takes players through an epic, story-based saga where every action the player takes impacts the Battlefront and, ultimately, the fate of the Star Wars galaxy.”
MERCENARIES
http://www.pandemicstudios.com/proj_mercs.php
“Mercenaries™ has revolutionized the world of 3rd-person action-shooters. Set in the near future and inspired by real world events, Mercenaries™ places you in the role of an elite bounty hunter covertly dispatched to a Korean peninsula that is swiftly plunging into anarchy.”
Pandemic Studio Project Archives:
http://www.pandemicstudios.com/archive.php#darkreign2
THE DISCONNECT
UHHHH… isn’t there a “disconnect” here between a man who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and one whose for-profit endeavors include selling desensitizing war games like “Destroy All Humans“?!
This isn’t the only ethical dilemma concerning Bono. A press report came out this week,
“Bono, Preacher on Poverty, Tarnishes Halo With Irish Tax Move,”
which questions his recent move to the Netherlands to “avoid paying taxes on royalties.”
“After Ireland said it would scrap a break that lets musicians and artists avoid paying taxes on royalties, Bono and his U2 bandmates earlier this year moved their music publishing company to the Netherlands. The Dublin group, which Forbes estimates earned $110 million in 2005, will pay about 5 percent tax on their royalties, less than half the Irish rate.”
And here — in this brief little blurb — we have a perfect case example of the conflicting goals of the three partners in Peter Drucker’s 3-legged stool that we’ve been describing this week (and in previous posts). When one partner (the State) raises the taxes, the second partner (the for-profit Corporate) bolts the scene. And who loses? You guessed it! The third leg of the stool!
We’re talking about human lives here, and not some virtual reality game. Bono is simply following Drucker’s ideologies about abandoning an activity if the results (profit$) aren’t attained. Drucker applied the concept of “abandonment” to nonprofit activities as well, with apparently no ethical concerns about the effect upon human lives.
The Truth:
“Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:1)