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US Troops Get European Xbox Gaming Centers
Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to an EStripes.com article discussing the 17 new Xbox gaming centers being installed at the US military's European Air Force bases. According to the article, airmen "..located in the Azores could race a virtual motorcycle against an airman stationed at Ramstein Air Base in Germany - then team up with someone from Izmir, Turkey, to win the Super Bowl on 'NFL Fever.'" This gaming network, being installed at a cost of nearly $200,000, is even trying to get the top brass involved, as the organizer of the scheme "..suggested to his deputy commander that the colonels from the different bases in Europe should have a commandwide Xbox death match."
In the previous thread about Nintendo's lack of online capabilities, regardless of what the actual numbers of people who use it are, it's good for PR purposes alone.
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Oncel Sam wants you now! Tired of playing your XBOX in your parents basement? Then this is the thing for you! We want trigger happy, folks to sign up now! And you can play all the games you want with others like youself! And in the case of war it will be just the same, only without the credits!
I fought the corporate America, and the corporate America bought the law.
Vista:XPSP2::ME:98SE
Before people go pissing and moaning about the cost of this, remember that at $200K each, the cost of the x-box hardware and games is almost negligible.
airmen "..located in the Azores could race a virtual motorcycle against an airman stationed at Ramstein Air Base in Germany"
Maybe they could play a game of Halo against Saddam Hussein stationed somewhere in Iraq??
I like the idea of troops playing hours upon hours of Unreal Championship only to get disoriented and confused on the battle field. "Wait! What happened to my Flak Cannon? And where are my anti-grav boots.....CRAP!" *BOOM*
Instead of deploying troops in Iraq to force our American way of life on others, we can settle things online.
Imagine, being able to overthrow a dictatorship in a few rounds of DOA: Xtreme Beach Volleyball!
IMHO, anything that keeps the troops happy (within reason) works for me. These guys perform an important job for the US - I hope this will be implemented in more locations worldwide where the guys need diversions from their "real" jobs in their off time.
Eat recycled food - it's good for the environment, and OK for you.
I can see how Xbox would be chosen, since it's an American-made system, and the military prefers American-made whenever possible, to be patriotic.
But what of region coding?
I wonder what will happen if a soldier buys a game off base while stationed in Europe, and brings it into the Xbox gameroom on base, and discovers it won't play.
Will all games have to be imported from the USA?
I would imagine Microsoft would make a special deal with the military, and give them regionfree consoles that would play anything, regardless of region.
Dr. Demento On The 'Net!
It's the supermarket/kmart on base that has all
sorts of American goodies no matter where you
are in the world. Chances are this with be the ONLY
place they can buy the correct region Xbox games to
play on these systems unless they order them
off the net. Imagine that!
For every annoying gentoo user, are three even more annoying anti-gentoo crybabies. Take Yosh from #Gimp for example.
I remember playing a few Xbox Live games with a soldier stationed in Korea, that was like in december 2002.
$200,000 is small change compared to how much it cost just to "drive the real thing." The A1 M1 Abrams MBT cost something like $4 million and a single mock battle would cost far more then $200 grand. The last thing the taxpayer needs is a bunch of grunts driving the "real thing" for fun. ;)
Spell cheek you've failed me four the last thyme!
of the Military-Industrial-Entertainment complex.
Yes, soon the needs of the US Entertainment industry will be driving US foreign policy.
As Eisenhower said 'We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge entertainment and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.'
"Free software as in beer, copy protection as in racket" - Telsa Gwynne
Always good to see our tax money spent on such worthwhile endeavors.
I have been stationed on two submarines, and I can tell you the single best moral booster was a couple of computers networked together and Unreal Tournament. The study was packed after a watch with people waiting a turn. Small price to pay for a bunch of people stationed on an island with nothing, and I do mean nothing (I flew in there last year) else to do.
Of course this give new meaning the the old bumper sticker. You remember
.. Travel to exotic countries meet unusual people and kill them NEW V 2.0 is available with virtual death online!!
Join the Air Force
With all the military cutbacks over the past ten years or so, troops are working longer and harders shifts and deployments. Morale needs to be maintained and the most effective way to do it is to get things the they guys actually like to do! What else would you spend the morale money on? a clown? some interesting literature? :)
When it comes down to it, they like to play video games. The troops can play video games for 2 hours and feel more refreshed for another 24 or 36 hour shift. Also, please try to remember that most of the people over there only make about $15k a year so it is not too much to ask for a nice benifits package
Nearly half of all people are below average
If you read the article, it sounds more like an advertisement for x-box than anything else. (italics article, bold for emphasis)
The Air Force chose Xbox over other game systems because of its online gaming network, Quinn said.
"It's really the premier gaming system" for playing online, he said.
for example, someone located in the Azores could race a virtual motorcycle against an....
I mean, give us a break! Personally, I love my x-box... but this is more an ad than news. Why do we want to know this?
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. -- Leo Tolstoy
I've been hearing a lot about how these evil FPS games are not good for the youth... I think we need to take away all that HALO, Unreal Tournament and the great satan Quake and provide them with some enriching games from the bible belt. These games are just not violent and show a strong moral lesson. For example this game here, you get to rain fire down on sinners, showing them the error of thier ways... etc, etc... I think lawmakers should get involved in selecting the games I am not serious about any of the above
Many of the Xbox Live games are actually not region-restricted - you can play a US copy of MotoGP 2 on a UK machine, and vice versa, for instance.
Even if this wasn't the case, the games will still play against each other. I have a basic unmodded PAL Xbox, and for my first Live game (only last weekend, coincidentally) I was playing Midtown Madness 3 against a Canadian, an American, a Begian, a Dutchman and a fellow Brit. Lag wasn't even a killer, and voice was still working fine. Its really cool, actually.
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"
when OPeration Flashpoint comes out for the Xbox it's almmost virtual training. Also, what about America's Army?
it would be nice to see a greater variety of game styles on the system, as it is i'd think that they would get tired of shooter after shooter after doing the real thing on a daily basis... :/
Large print giveth, and the small print taketh away