America's Army Games Cost $33 Million Over 10 Years

Responding to a Freedom Of Information Act request, the US government has revealed the operating costs of the America's Army game series over the past decade. The total bill comes to $32.8 million, with yearly costs varying from $1.3 million to $5.6 million. "While operating America's Army 3 does involve ongoing expenses, paying the game's original development team isn't one of them. Days after the game launched in June, representatives with the Army confirmed that ties were severed with the Emeryville, California-based team behind the project, and future development efforts were being consolidated at the America's Army program office at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. A decade after its initial foray into the world of gaming, the Army doesn't appear to be withdrawing from the industry anytime soon. In denying other aspects of the FOIA request, the Army stated 'disclosure of this information is likely to cause substantial harm to the Department of the Army's competitive position in the gaming industry.'"

Comments

Re:How about relative to other recruitment methods

[Anonymous Coward]

Fuck you from a proud veteran

Re:Less than the cost of a single cruise missile.

[d3ac0n]

Great post, except the part where you ascribe untruths to the Democratic party. They (we) represent a majority of Americans right now, and are not "far left" and DEFINITELY don't "hate the military". In fact many leaders of the Democrats (including Murtha) are retired military. Heck even many leaders of the far left, including Kos of DailyKos, are retired military. We may disagree about what is best for the military and the country, but please don't assign motives where none exist.

"Untruths"????

Did you not watch the video or read the quotes? Are you denying what is right there for everyone to read? The fact that members of the Democrat Party have, in the past, served, DOES NOT invalidate or absolve them from actions they have taken and things they have said since then.

Stop trying to use "Military Service" as a shield for heinous actions and statements. It's a braindead, strawman argument.

Oh, and the Dems representing a "majority" of the people is BS, complete and total. I mean, how can you POSSIBLY square that circle when poll after poll shows that Americans, OVERWHELMINGLY don't agree with the direction the Democrats are taking the country in, and that they don't trust the Dems?

Yes, Political PARTY affiliation is slightly higher with the Dems than the GOP, Although that is shrinking.

However if you look at IDEOLOGY, Conservative vs Liberal vs Moderate, you will find that Conservatives FAR AND AWAY outnumber Liberals, and the "Moderate" group is shrinking, with more former moderates now identifying as Conservative. The Liberal group is also shrinking.

The nation is moving AWAY from far leftism as rapidly as it can, and Americans are becoming MORE conservative than ever before. So to say that the Far-Let Democrat party "repreresents a majority of Americans" is prevarication of the worst kind. To put it bluntly, you are full of shit and it is laughably easy to prove it.

Re:Less than the cost of a single cruise missile.

[Shane dot H]

While I can't speak for other country's militaries, being a member of the American armed forces is actually quite difficult. Not merely on a physical level, but it is VERY mentally challenging.

Thus you will find that a very large portion of the American armed forced are highly intelligent and more often than not from middle class families. Despite some politician's desire to paint the military as a bunch of dumb poor people, the truth is the exact opposite.

As a servicemember, I appreciate the sentiment, but I think you're wrong. My colleagues, subordinates, and superiors clearly aren't intellectuals by any means. I had a military intelligence lieutenant ask me WHILE WE WERE IN IRAQ what the difference between Sunni and Shia was. I've met 2 soldiers who were unable to list all 12 months of the year. I have never been in a mentally challenging Army school, and I have yet to meet an officer who graduated from a good university. Culturally speaking, the Army sorta pushes out their best and their brightest while retaining a lot of the dead weight. The truth is, Soldiers are individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds. We're not stupid, but I would never label Army work "mentally challenging," much less "VERY mentally challenging."

For the typical college student at a decent school, I would imagine that the conventional (non spec ops) military is neither physically nor mentally challenging.