Canadian Veteran Calls Black Ops Release Timing "Tacky"

Vietnam veteran Ron Parkes believes releasing Call of Duty: Black Ops so close to Veterans Day is not cool. Problem is, Activision's been doing just that for six years straight.

"I think it is very tacky to include the distribution of a graphic war-based game like this during a week that we are supposed to be honoring those who have fallen to the conflicts this game depicts," Parkes said to the Winnipeg Free Press. "Remembrance Day [Veterans Day in the U.S. -- Ed] is not a consumer advocate’s day and this company is clearly using the date as a marketing strategy."

"They could release it two weeks before or two weeks after and I wouldn’t have a problem with it," Parkes said. "But packaging it in with Remem­brance Day shows a lack of respect."

Maybe this is just the first time he's been able to get a quote in the newspaper, but it does seem like a bit of a late sentiment to have when you line up the releases:

• Call of Duty October 29, 2003
• Call of Duty 2 October 25, 2005 (PC), November 15, 2005 (Xbox 360)
• Call of Duty 3 November 7, 2006
• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare November 7, 2007
• Call of Duty: World at War November 11, 2008
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 November 10, 2009
• Call of Duty: Black Ops November 9, 2010

On the other hand, this is just a veteran expressing his opinion rather than some prominent public figure so we can't really blame him.

What do you think about Call of Duty's annual release timing? Is it all about holiday marketing or is Activision purposely trying to pair the games with Veterans Day?