War Video Games Have Marketing Ties to Gun Manufacturers

Product placement not a new thing

As Electronic Arts prepared to market Medal of Honor Warfighter, the latest version of its top-selling video game released in October, it created a Web site that promoted the manufacturers of the guns, knives and combat-style gear depicted in the game.

Among the video game giant's marketing partners on the Web site were the McMillan Group, the maker of a high-powered sniper's rifle, and Magpul, which sells high-capacity magazines and other accessories for assault-style weapons.

Links on the Medal of Honor site allowed visitors to click through on the Web sites of the game's partners and peruse their catalogs.