Slashdot Mirror
On Training, Recruitment Uses For Army Games
wgrover writes "The New York Times Magazine (reg yada) has a new longform article exploring computer games funded for training/recruitment purposes by the U.S. military, as previously covered on Slashdot. 'For the past three years, the military has been entertaining the surprising idea that video games, even those that you play on a commercial system like Microsoft's Xbox, can be an effective way to train soldiers.' Aside from training, the games also improve young people's perceptions of the military: '30 percent of a group of young people with a favorable view of the military said they had developed that view from playing America's Army.'"
Americas army is too generic,ymra eht nioj would be much cooler! :)
[Aims M16] *BLAM*
First Blood. Haha.
Soko
"Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." - Anonymous
Solitare. Teaches a soldier how to hurry up and wait.
Does this give ammunition to the argument that video games promote violence?
I can imagine the disappointment of anyone who enlists with the expectation that service in the armed forces is anything like a video game. Sorry, kid: no aimbots, no wall-hacks, not everyone gets a sniper rifle, and if you bunny-hop on a 30 mile march once more the drill sargeant will take you behind the barracks for some wall-to-wall discipline.
What we really need are some mods for America's Army, like AA: KP and Latrine Duty or AA: Abu Ghraib.
k.
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
A soldier sees another soldier standing in one place behind some rocks, looking very tense and pointing a SAW into the distance.
Says one soldier to the other: "What the hell are you doing!?
The reply: "I'm camping their spawn point!"
oops...team kill! My bad!
10 Bits= $.25
100 Bits= $.50
110 Bits= $.75
1000 Bits= 1 byte
the army reports soldiers now routinely complain "teams" and "crappy map" and even sometimes complain about "lag" while in the field.
but mainly the use of the word? "pwned" is almost universal in combat.
actually I am happy to see you, however that is in fact a banana in my pocket.
---
Rikku: How many people had I already killed? There was those 70,000 hit points worth that I know about for sure. Close enough to blow their last breath in my face. But this time it was an Al Bhed and an officer. That wasn't supposed to make any difference to me, but it did. Shit... charging a man with murder in this place was like handing out speeding tickets in Grand Turismo. I took the mission. What the hell else was I gonna do?
---
Paine: Zero through nine, no maybes, no supposes, no fractions. You can't do hit point damage, you can't go out into the world map, you know, with, like, you know, uh, with fractions - what are you going to hit with - one-quarter, three-eighths? What are you going to do when you go from here to Bevelle or something? That's integer RPG math.
---
Tidus: You smell that? Do you smell that?... Firaga spells, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of firaga spells in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill hit with Bahamut summons, for twelve hours. When it was all over I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' fiend body. The smell, you know that brimstone smell, the whole hill. Smelled like... a level up. Someday this cut scene's gonna end...
--- Ban humanity.
"You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan Armada"
:-)
Prior art?
How do you mount an assault down an alley that's covered with a RPG on one end with elevation and infantry on the sides when your team of 8 is on the opposite end and has to make their way down said alley without casualty?
Usually it's easy to avoid RPGs and makes it harder for you opponent to snipe you when you jump around non-stop on the battle field.
You end up playing a disabled veteran holding a cardboard sign on a street corner.
I cleared all the mines in Minesweeper! Where can i sign up ?!
...is that my life expectancy in combat is around a few minutes when the officers run off rampaging without giving anyone orders leaving me to get killed trying to follow them.
How about The Last Starfighter ?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but GTA3 wasn't commisioned and funded by violent criminals/dangerous drivers in order too improve their image.
# cat
Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.