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E3: Epic, US Army Develop Games as Recruitment Tool
securitas writes "Reuters and AP tell us that Epic Games and the US Army have announced the America's Army series of games, jointly developed by the Department of Defense and Epic. The first two-part game in the five-year project includes an RPG called Soldier and a first-person shooter called Operations. The game will be free of charge and available for download in July or August, with 1.2 million CDs simultaneously released, attached to gaming magazines. Does this remind anyone else of the war-room scene from Toys or Ender's Game?" Future installments will include Sim Mess Duty, Sim Standing Guard in the Rain, Sim Blister, and Sim Invading Iraq to Keep Approval Ratings High.
Frankly I'd like those people to have a firm understanding of how the "regular" military units and people operate.
Total agreement there. We have had that problem in Aviation since about 1983, when the branch was formed and immediately started training Aviation Officers within the branch from day one.
In the past, one had to work in another branch, at least through their Basic Course, before going to flight school and then they were still maanaged by their primary branch. We (I was Armor and Air Defense before going Aviation) had a much better understanding and appreciation of the "ground guys" than these newer folks seem to have.
On another note, they could add Sim bust-your-knuckles-repairing-track and Sim bang-the-crap-out-of-your-head-inside-the-tank, Sim fall-off-the-speed-rope, i.e., "you can get hurt without being shot" games.
Eve Fairbanks says I drive a hybrid!LOL
Don't forget number 4: War movies don't look like Captain America taking on the Nazi forces with his bar hands any more. They more like the real thing. The real thing that leaves people with nightmares, flashbacks, and deep psychological scarring.
Oh, and possibly number 5: First Person Shooters. Once you've seen yourself go down in two seconds among a hail of enemy fire, you start to laugh at the idea of entering a similar situation in real life, only with one hit point instead of one hundred.
I served on active duty for 7 years with the Navy and Marines. I was in Somalia when the shit hit the fan but guess what other than that two weeks of my life in the military... it was yes boring mundane stuff like posted above. My best friend from high school joined the navy to see the world and work on aircraft engines... he spent the first 6 months cleaning toilets on the USS Roosevelt.
I agree, I spent 4 years in the Marines as well (like an idiot I joined the Infantry, because I wanted action). I was in Somalia for 3 months, other than the time in Somalia life pretty much sucked. Some of the training is fun, but it gets old pretty quick. Especially when you're out in the field in Feb practicing the same thing over and over again.
It was a great experience, I would have never traveled the world and done a lot of things I did, but the job itself isn't all it's cracked up to be.